The official candidates list has been released for the June 12 by-elections in Calgary Elbow and Drumheller-Stettler. There are seven candidates in each race (and there's no shortage of right-wing candidates to split up the right-of-centre vote).
CALGARY ELBOW
Al Brown, NDP
Craig Cheffins, Alberta Liberal
Jane Greydanus, Alliance
Trevor Grover, Social Credit
Brian Heninger, PC
George Read, Green
Jeff Willerton, Independent
DRUMHELLER-STETTLER
Richard Bough, NDP
Larry Davidson, Social Credit
Tom Dooley, Alberta Liberal
Dave France, Alliance
Jack Hayden, PC
John Rew, Independent
Jennifer Wigmore, Greens
Though it's not unexpected, I'm still a little surprised at the amount of right-wing candidates that appeared out of the woodwork to run in these by-elections. Though Calgary Elbow still remains a race between Craig Cheffins and Brian Heninger, the Drumheller-Stettler race could end up having very interesting results depending on the vote split between Jack Hayden, Tom Dooley, Dave France, Larry Davidson, and Jennifer Wigmore.
(Apologies for the lame Lord of the Rings reference in the title...)
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Dear Dave,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you mentioning the Alberta Liberal candidates in a paragraph about the derth of right-wing candidates.
You are absolutely correct. There are almost no differences between the PC's, Liberals, or Alberta Alliance.
Thankfully people have other choices. The Liberal-Conservative agenda is clearly not working and average Albertans are starting to look for other choices.
Thanks for the information, dave.
ReplyDeleteThe Liberals have been getting some really good press in calgary lately and now that Stelmach is plumetting in the polls, I would absolutely agree that Elbow is a clear race between the Liberals and Tories.
Both Cheffins and Heninger look like solid candidates, so I think Elbow will be well represented either way.
"There are almost no differences between the PC's, Liberals, or Alberta Alliance."
ReplyDeleteExcept maybe their stands on most *cough* all social issues. Anyone who would write that is either a) uninformed about Alberta politics or b) looking for a spasmatic reaction.
The difference between the Alberta Liberals, Alberta PC's, and Alberta Alliance are many. Even the Tories and the Alliance, who both sit somewhere right of centre differ on many issues. Of course, it's not as clear cut as the simplistic left-right spectrum as most political parties enlist pragmatism to a certain point.
I think the key is to remember that regardless of political affiliation, each political party - whether NDP, Alliance, Liberal, Tory, or Green - is driven by dedicated Albertans who are involved because they want to make Alberta a better place (though they do disagree on what a *better Alberta* would look like).
Regardless of who I cast my ballot for, I have the uptmost respect for anyone who gets involved in politics - whether they are simply a member, a candidate putting their name forward, or a leader of a party - this includes Stelmach, Taft, Mason, Hinman, and Read. They all deserve more respect than attacks from semi-anonymous blog posting cowards.
It's not the easiest thing to stand up publicly in front of your fellow citizens and fight for something you believe in. I think anyone who is involved deserves the credit and respect for doing so.
The Liberal-Conservative agenda is clearly not working and average Albertans are starting to look for other choices.
ReplyDeleteHilarious. Which NDP executive officer wrote this?
Hey Dave,
ReplyDeleteThought I would drop you a note.
Thanks for linking to my website; it is appreciated.
Your readers may be interested in a couple upcoming Calgary-Elbow by-election events.
June 4, 7:15 AM CBC Radio "Calgary Eyeopener" will host a panel interview with the top four candidates; Craig Cheffins(Lib), Brian Heninger (PC), George Read (Green) and myself, Jane Greydanus (Alliance).
There is also a public forum on June 6. Last I heard only 3 candidates had confirmed. I will post further info if you are interested.
Regards,
Hello Ms. Greydanus,
ReplyDeleteThe weather must be especially good out there on planet Alberta Alliance. So good in fact that you have drank from the Kool Aid river and now believe you are part of the top tier of candidates in this by-election.
While I appreciate the hard work that you and other fringe party candidates are doing, I am afraid that this by-election is shaping up as a two horse race all the way. On the one side you have the "still happy with Ed" PC voters and on the other (much larger) side you have the "give us Ed's head!" mob that will overwhelmingly vote Liberal.
Of course the Liberal party will try to play a victory here as being symboloic of some larger impending change of government. Obviously that is not actually what a win here will mean.
The people of Calgary, and in particular Elbow, are mearly going to vote Liberal as a protest vote. A way of repaying the new Premier for his broken promises.
In the wake of losing Ralph's former seat, Premier Ed will apologize profusely, probably shuffle his cabinet to bring in more Cowtown MLAs, and realize that placating Calgary's municipal government is a large part of his new job.
If you really want the Alberta Alliance to move forward, you need to recruit Dr. Morton as your next leader. All that said, best of luck and happy campaigning.
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteWell, I can't take full credit for the term "top 4". It came from the CBC, simply based on the past elections results.
I certainly realize I am an underdog. One who offers a very viable choice to those who are disenchanted with the PC's.
Ted is very familiar with us and we (the party) have had many converstaions with him. He is still of the mindset that he can change the PC's from within. He truly is more of an Alliance stripe than a PC. With or without him, the Alliance is moving forward.
Cheers,
Jane
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let all of Daveberta's Edmonton readers know about an important town hall meeting the Alberta NDP are hosting tomorrow night.
http://www.ndpopposition.ab.ca/site/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.details&ID=134
This town hall is a chance for the public to come talk with our NDP team about the current rental housing crisis that Alberta is facing. We want to hear your stories and your ideas.
I hope to see a lot of you there!