At 9:25 a.m. on March 21, only hours before the nomination vote took place, the PC Party circulated an email notice announcing that “PC Alberta has disallowed Trudy Hauser and Mark Dyrholm from the Calgary-Shaw Candidate Nomination.”
Almost two hours later, at 11:19 a.m., party communications manager Bryce Forbes sent out another email stating the first email was a mistake. “As part of the vetting process, we lay out multiple different scenarios,” Mr. Forbes wrote in the email. It is not known what other scenario draft statements have been sitting in Mr. Forbes email waiting to be released or why this draft was even written. Were the PCs planning to disqualify these two candidates?
Although they were running for the PC nomination in this election, Mr. Dyrholm was a 2009 Wildrose Party leadership candidate and Ms. Hauser was briefly nominated as a Wildrose candidate in Banff-Cochrane before the 2012 election.
It is not clear whether the originally circulated disqualification email caused any PC Party members in Calgary-Shaw to change their vote or to stay home.
Party interference and controversy in other constituency nomination contests across Alberta has triggered frustration among some long-time PC Party members.
Banff-Cochrane: Former Rockyview School District Trustee Trudy Hauserwas acclaimed as as Wildrose candidate, which is not sitting well among some Wildrose supporters in the constituency. The group, including interested candidate Paul Ruggles, told the Cochrane Eagle that they felt the nomination selection was ‘closed-door process.’Lee Easton Calgary-Buffalo: Mount Royal University Professor and recent Alberta Party leadership candidate Lee Easton is seeking his party’s nomination in this downtown Calgary riding. Seeking the Wildrose nomination is the former host of 770AMs Calgary TodayMike Blanchard.
Calgary-Klein: Jeremy Nixon defeated former separatist leader Cory Morgan for the Wildrose nomination.
Calgary-Mountain View: Outgoing Liberal Party leader David Swann was nominated as his party’s candidate. Dr. Swann was first elected to represent the constituency in 2004 and was handily re-elected in 2008.
Edmonton-Manning: Catholic School District Trustee Cindy Olsen was nominated as the NDP candidate.
Lethbridge-East: Kent Prestage was nominated as the Wildrose candidate. Mr. Prestage was the campaign manager for former Lethbridge MP Rick Casson and made an unsuccessful run for the Conservative Party nomination when Mr. Casson retired earlier this year.
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills: Carstairs-based accountant William Stevenson is the first candidate to enter the nomination contest to replace retiring PC MLA Richard Marz. The PC nomination contest is expected to attract a crowded field.
Stony Plain: Two candidates have stepped up to retiring PC MLA Fred Lindsay. Town of Stony Plain Mayor Ken Lemke was the first to enter the nomination contest to replace Mr. Lindsay, who has represented the constituency since 2004. Constituency Manager Lorna Wolodkoentered this week. Arlin Biffert is the nominated Liberal candidate.
Wetaskiwin-Camrose: Camrose County Councillor Trevor Millerdefeated Tim Essington and Orest Werezak to become the Wildrose candidate. Mr. Werezak was the Wildrose Alliance candidate in Battle River-Wainwright in 2004 election and was the Federal Liberal candidate Crowfoot in the 2000 federal election.
