Tag: Zak Abdi

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Alberta Politics

Nolan Dyck wins UCP vote in Grande Prairie, Katherine Swampy running for Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin NDP nomination

Marketing company owner Nolan Dyck defeated City Councillor Gladys Blackmore, former chamber of commerce chairman Larry Gibson, and non-profit founder Tayyab Parvez to win the United Conservative Party nomination in Grande Prairie. 

Dyck is the Past-President of the UCP constituency association in the neighbouring Grande Prairie-Wapiti riding and serves as the connections manager at the Peace River Bible Institute. Dyck supported Travis Toews’ campaign for the UCP leadership and his nomination was endorsed by Peace River MLA Dan Williams.

Dyck succeeds one-term UCP MLA Tracy Allard, who is not running for re-election. The NDP have not nominated a candidate in the riding.

Swampy running for NDP nomination in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin

Katherine Swampy NDP Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin candidate nomination
Katherine Swampy (source: Katherine Swampy / Facebook)

Samson Cree Nation Band Councillor Katherine Swampy announced her plans to seek the NDP nomination in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin. Swampy previously ran for the NDP in Drayton Valley-Devon in the 2015 election, and for the federal NDP in Battle River-Crowfoot in 2015 and Edmonton-Centre in 2019.

Ather Quraishi and Tabatha Wallace have also announced their plans to run for the nomination.

Three comrades to carry Communist Party flag

The Communist Party of Alberta has named three candidates for the next election. Party leader Naomi Rankin will run in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, with comrades Jonathan Troutman running in Calgary-East and Corrine Benson running in Edmonton-Meadows.

Rankin has served as leader of the Communist Party of Alberta since 1992 and has been a candidate in every provincial and federal election in Alberta since 1982.

Other nomination news:

Zak Abdi has withdrawn as the Green Party candidate in Edmonton-City Centre and will be stepping down as the party’s deputy leader, due to personal health reasons. Abdi initially planned to run for the provincial Liberal Party in the downtown Edmonton riding but then switched to the Greens and became deputy soon after. after.

The chaos in the Independence Party is causing some confusion about who is and isn’t running for the party in the next election. Despite supporters of Pastor Artur Pawlowski retaking control of the provincial board last weekend, some of the deposed leader’s staunchest allies have dropped the IPA label and are running as Independent candidates. Independence candidates now running as Independents include Bob Blayone in Camrose and Marie Rittenhouse in Maskwacis-Wetaskiwin. 

Total nominated candidates

Total number of candidates nominated by each party to run in the next election as of tonight:

  • United Conservative Party: 82/87 
  • New Democratic Party 78/87 
  • Green Party: 26/87 
  • Alberta Party: 12/87 
  • Liberal Party: 8/87 
  • Independence Party of Alberta: 6/87 
  • Communist Party: 3/87

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Alberta Politics

MLA Leela Aheer drops bid for re-election under UCP banner, NDP have 63 candidates nominated

Leela Aheer United Conservative Party MLA Chestermere-Strathmore
Leela Aheer (source: Alberta Newsroom on Flickr / photography by Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta)

The big nomination news last week was the announcement by Chestermere-Strathmore MLA Leela Aheer that she will not run for re-election as a United Conservative Party candidate in the next election.

Aheer was vague about whether she would run as an Independent or for another party, but it became increasingly clear that she would have a very difficult time winning the UCP nomination in her riding.

The second-term MLA placed last in the recent UCP leadership race and is facing a strong nomination challenge from Chantelle De Jonge. The former MP constituency assistant has stressed her conservative political credentials in contrast to Aheer’s more moderate conservative positions on social issues like abortion and public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Jonge’s recent endorsement from Bruce McAllister, who Aheer unseated as MLA in 2015 and now serves as Premier Danielle Smith‘s executive director at the McDougall Centre, sent a pretty clear message that there isn’t room for Aheer in the UCP.

McAllister is only one of the former Wildrose Party MLAs who crossed the floor with Smith to the Progressive Conservatives in 2014 to reemerge in the new Premier’s orbit.

Former Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson is Smith’s Transition Team Chair and Executive Director of the Premier’s Office, and former Strathmore-Brooks MLA Jason Hale was appointed last week as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.

New NDP candidates

The Alberta NDP have nominated Caitlyn Blake in Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, lawyer Andrew Stewart in Calgary-Hays, and teacher Liana Paiva in Peace River. The NDP now have 63 candidates nominated to run in the next election.

UCP nominees emerge

Since Smith won the party leadership, the party has opened up nominations in a handful of ridings. The deadline to enter nominations in Drayton Valley-Devon, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Livingstone-Macleod, St. Albert and Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright is October 31, and in Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock, Airdrie-Cochrane, Airdrie-East, Calgary-Varsity, Edmonton-South and Taber-Warner is November 7, and Calgary-Elbow is November 10.

A number of prospective UCP nominees have recently announced their plans to run:

  • Tunde Obasan Edmonton South UCP
    Tunde Obasan

    Martine Carifelle is seeking the UCP nomination in Lesser Slave Lake. She is incumbent UCP MLA Pat Rehn‘s former constituency manager. Rehn has not publicly announced if he is running for re-election.

  • Tunde Obasan is running for the UCP nomination in Edmonton-South. He was the party’s candidate in the riding in 2019 and ran for the federal Conservatives in Edmonton-Strathcona in 2021. Saad Siddiq and Karen Stix are also seeking the nomination.
  • Angela Wood is seeking the UCP nomination in St. Albert. Wood placed second in the St. Albert mayoral election in 2021.

The other parties

  • The Green Party has nominated Zak Abdi in Edmonton-City Centre, Chitra Bakshi in Edmonton-Mill Woods and Carl McKay in Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock.
  • Interim party leader John Roggeveen announced in an email to Alberta Liberal Party supporters they has opened up applications for people to run under the party’s banner in the next election.

Total nominated candidates

The NDP have now nominated candidates in 63 of Alberta’s 87 ridings. The UCP have candidates named in 36 ridings and the Green Party has 18 candidates. The Alberta Party has nominated 3 candidates.

Here are the scheduled upcoming nominations:

  • November 8 – Calgary-Peigan NDP
  • November 8 – Calgary-South East NDP
  • November 16 – Calgary-West NDP
  • November 20 – Airdrie-East NDP
  • November 23 – Livingstone-Macleod NDP

I am maintaining a list of candidates running for party nominations, so if you are seeking a nomination and would like you name added to the list please let me know. Thanks!

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In my latest column on Substack I write about the old PC Party’s survival instinct, and I ask if Danielle Smith’s UCP inherited it and if Notley’s NDP will play it safe or be bold in 2023.

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Alberta Politics

UCP MLA Mark Smith not running for re-election, NDP nominates MLAs Kathleen Ganley and Marlin Schmidt

MLA Mark Smith (source: Mark Smith on Facebook)

United Conservative Party MLA Mark Smith has publicly confirmed that he will not seek re-election in Drayton Valley-Devon. He made the announcement while speaking at an event for UCP leadership candidate Travis Toews in Devon on Sept. 9.

Smith was first elected as a Wildrose Party MLA in 2015 and was re-elected under the UCP banner in 2019. The former social studies teacher was the center of controversy during the 2019 election over comments he made about gay people.

Despite the controversy, Smith was re-elected with 71 per cent of the vote.

Carol Vowk and Andrew Boitchenko (Source: Mark Smith MLA Facebook PGe)

Carol Vowk and Andrew Boitchenko are already seeking the UCP nomination in Drayton Valley-Devon, located southwest of Edmonton, and rumours have been circulating in political circles for months that Enoch First Nations Chief Billy Morin could seek the nomination. Morin has endorsed Toews for the UCP leadership and previously endorsed Pierre Poilievre in the federal Conservative Party leadership race.

Kathleen Ganley at the Calgary-Mountain View nomination meeting (source: Joe Ceci on Twitter)

NDP members acclaimed Kathleen Ganley in Calgary-Mountain View and Marlin Schmidt in Edmonton-Gold Bar. Both MLAs were first elected in 2015 and served as cabinet ministers during the NDP’s time in government.

“This is sure to be a pivotal election for Alberta, and I am honoured that my community has put their trust in me to continue being their representative,” Ganley said in a statement. “I hear from folks every day about how they don’t trust the UCP, and how their families are struggling more now because of them.”

MLA David Shepherd is seeking the NDP nomination to run for re-election in Edmonton-City Centre at an October 11 nomination meeting. Shepherd was first elected in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019 with 66 per cent of the vote.

Also in Edmonton-City Centre, Zak Abdi announced on Twitter that he is no longer running for the Liberal Party nomination and will instead will seek to become the Green Party candidate in Edmonton-City Centre.

And in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright, Dawn Flaata running for NDP nomination at an October 15 meeting. Flaata is a local author with a long history of involvement in the chamber of commerce in Vermilion. She is also a former Constituency Assistant to former Conservative MP Leon Benoit. Vermilion Public Library.

Upcoming nomination meetings:

  • September 20 – Edmonton-Castle Downs NDP
  • September 24 – Calgary-Shaw NDP
  • September 24 – Edmonton-South NDP
  • September 25 – Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood NDP
  • September 27 – Spruce Grove-Stony Plain NDP
  • September 28 – Sherwood Park NDP
  • September 29 – Chestermere-Strathmore NDP
  • October 1 – Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills NDP
  • October 2 – Calgary-Foothills NDP
  • October 5 – Red Deer-North NDP
  • October 11 – Edmonton-City Centre NDP
  • October 15 – Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright NDP
  • October 17 – Calgary-Beddington NDP

I am tracking candidates and building a list of people running for nominations to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. If you know of someone running, please post a comment below or email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you!

(I am launching a Substack. Sign up at  Daveberta Substack).

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Alberta Politics

Adriana LaGrange faces UCP nomination challenge, second NDP candidate enters race in Red Deer-North

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Premier Jason Kenney (Source: Government of Alberta)
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Premier Jason Kenney in 2019 (Source: Government of Alberta)

United Conservative Party MLA and Education Minister Adriana LaGrange will face Andrew Clews in a nomination vote in Red Deer-North on August 18.

LaGrange was first elected in 2019 with 60 per cent of the vote and previously served as a trustee with the Red Deer Catholic Regional School district. She has served as Minister of Education since 2019 and has championed the UCP’s controversial curriculum rewrite.

Clews is a construction project manager and spoke on behalf of the “Hold the Line” group at an anti-COVID restrictions rally in Red Deer in December 2021.

Jaelene Tweedle is the second candidate to enter the Alberta NDP nomination race in Red Deer-North. Former city manager Craig Curtis declared his candidacy last month.

Tweedle ran for Red Deer Public School board in 2021 and spoke at a pro-choice rally in July 2022. LaGrange is the former president of Red-Deer pro-life and was on the board of directors for Alberta pro-life.

  • UCP members in Camrose will select MLA Jackie Lovely or Beaver County Reeve Kevin Smook in a candidate nomination vote scheduled for August 4, 5, and 6.
  • NDP members in Edmonton-Ellerslie will choose MLA Rod Loyola or challengers Judi Malone and Manpreet Tiwana at a nomination vote on September 10. Loyola was first elected in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019 with 50.9 per cent of the vote.
  • UCP nominations in Calgary-Acadia and Highwood remain open. Nominations in Calgary-North West and West Yellowhead have closed but candidate acclamations or selection meetings have not yet been announced.
  • MLA Marlin Schmidt is currently the only candidate in the running for the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Gold Bar scheduled for September 17. Schmidt was first elected in 2015 and served as Minister of Advanced Education from 2016 to 2019.
  • The Alberta Party announced on Twitter that it is preparing to announce several of its candidates for the next election. The party has nominated two candidates so far – party leader Barry Morishita in Brooks-Medicine Hat and Kerry Cundal in Calgary-Elbow.
  • Zak Abdi is running for the Alberta Liberal Party nomination in Edmonton-City Centre. Abdi currently works in the financial services industry as an analyst at a large OEM and has volunteered with the Black-Owned Market in Edmonton (BOM YEG) as finance lead. The riding was represented by Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman from 1997 to 2015 but the Liberals failed to run a candidate in the riding in 2019.

I am tracking candidates and building a list of people running for nominations to run in Alberta’s next provincial election. If you know of someone running, please post a comment below or email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you!

(I am launching a Substack. Sign up at  Daveberta Substack)

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