Tuesday, April 28, 2009

rumble in strathcona: ryan hastman vs. rahim jaffer.

Ryan Hastman has launched a website and a facebook page in his bid to win the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona. The riding is currently represented by NDP MP Linda Duncan, who defeated four-term Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer in the October 2008 Federal Election. Since his defeat, Jaffer has maintained a candidate-like website and has announced his intentions to seek the nomination.

Two of Hastman's notable facebook supporters include Calgary-North West MLA & Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett and Calgary-Bow MLA Alana DeLong.

UPDATE: Scott Abbey writes that Cathay Wagantall is also seeking the nomination. Wagantall is the President of the Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont Conservative Association and is MP Mike Lake's former Campaign Manager.

20 comments:

  1. The next MP for Edmonton Strathcona will depend in a big way on who the Liberals run. Claudette Roy ran a weak election campaign and if the Liberals can win some votes back from Linda Duncan then whoever the Conservative candidate is will become the next MP. Duncan depends on those votes and if Ignatieff has more appeal than Dion, she's toast.

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  2. Hastman looks like a promising candidate, young and energetic. From what I hear, his campaign is pretty focused and organized and is already working quite hard. Should be a tough race!

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  3. Get ready for another candidate to join the field.

    Big name former City Councillor.

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  4. Anyone supported by Alana DeLong is not worth voting for.

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  5. The "Big Name" former City Councillor" is Ian Crawford? Whoop-dee-do.

    Hastman seems like a young professional with the energy to do the job right.

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  6. Cathay Wagantall is also seeking the nomination for the conservatives in Edm-Strathcona.

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  7. No, the big name former Councillor who is planning a run for the nomination is Mike Nickel.

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  8. Excellent. Yet another candidate who accomplished the seemingly insurmountable task of being defeated as an incumbent city councillor. Usually, that only happens when they get caught with a live goat. Big name, indeed.

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  9. Cathay Wagantall was Mike Lake's Campaign Manager and the President of the Mill Woods-Beaumont Conservatives.

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  10. Alberta has a history of electing young MP's and MLA's. Some: Jason Kenney, Rahim Jaffer (although defeated now), James Rajotte, Rona Ambrose, Rob Anderson (beat a former mayor), Jonathan Denis (beat a former city councillor), Kyle Fawcett, Manmeet Bhullar, and the list goes on.

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  11. Linda's been doing a good job. It will be a healthy competition!

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  12. "Alberta has a history of electing young MP's and MLA's."The examples you've listed really only indicate that Alberta has a history of electing people with "Conservative" beside their names on the ballot, no matter who they are.

    Because, as I said in another comment, in many ridings it's the colour on the signs that counts; people will elect a potted plant to the Legislature if they run as a Tory. No kidding.

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  13. The flaw in the last poster's logic is that nominations for conservatives are typically very hotly contested. Younger people seem to have a way of campaigning hard and winning these nominations and then move on to the general election - and the nominations can be very difficult.

    For whatever reason, Alberta has a history of electing younger MP's and MLA's.

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  14. Who is the Liberal candidate?

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  15. "The flaw in the last poster's logic is that nominations for conservatives are typically very hotly contested."
    Of that, I have no doubt. Namely, because winning a Conservative nomination in a number of Alberta ridings, whether federal or provincial, makes an actual election essentially a formality - or at least, a whole lot easier.

    We've had a number of examples of Conservatives in recent years - provincial and federal - forgoing campaigning in their home ridings in favour of shoring up campaigns out-of-province, or not showing up to candidates' forums in their home ridings -- and still managing to coast to victory.

    At the very least, Albertan voters are dependable.

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  16. Some of those nominations are really vicious. Anyone here worked on one? Stories?

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  17. "Linda's been doing a good job. It will be a healthy competition!"

    Really?? Come on. She's spent he time rallying for a National Hockey Day, supporting the Liberal/NDP/BQ coalition, and railing against the oilsands. That sounds productive.

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  18. with Hastman as a former PMO staffer, its no accident he's contesting this riding. sounds like the Party Brass are trying to get the Strathcona Tories engaged again to topple Duncan. now if only the libs leave strathcona alone and the NDP's leave city centre for Linda Sloan or whoever ends up contesting city centre for the libs, then that's a start.

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  19. Hey Daveberta, if you're so non-partisan why haven't you done a story on Dave Taylor's "monkey" comment yesterday?

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  20. FYI Cathay Wagantall WAS the President of the EMB eda. She has since stepped aside.

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