As Ms Soapbox read the decision of retired superintendent Paul Manuel, formerly of the Calgary Police Service, in the disciplinary proceedings against two members of the Lethbridge Police Service who conducted unauthorized surveillance of an NDP Cabinet Minister at a breakfast meeting with four stakeholders, a thought crossed her mind:
Continue readingTag: Harvey Locke
Alberta Politics: Green Party of Alberta chooses Coral Bliss Taylor, former Calgary council candidate, as interim leader
The Green Party of Alberta has chosen Coral Bliss Taylor, not so long ago a candidate for city council in Calgary civic election, to serve as its interim leader while it figures out what to do after the sudden resignation of its last permanent leader in March. Ms. Bliss Taylor,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: ‘Foreign influence’ had nothing to do with Tory Joan Crockatt’s Calgary Centre election defeat in 2015
PHOTOS: Joan Crockatt, during her brief spell as Conservative Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre. Below: Liberal Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, who beat Ms. Crockatt in 2015; environmentalist Chris Turner who ran against her for the Greens in 2012 and did very well; and environmentalist Harvey Locke, who ran
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A Dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2015
TweetAs 2014 reminded us, politics can be an extraordinarily unpredictable and forecasting the future can be a tricky business for political pundits. Aside from the obvious choice of Premier Jim Prentice, here is a list of a dozen Alberta MLAs worth watching in 2015. Rob Anderson (Airdrie): The outspoken rookie MLA left
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Conservatives approach a full-slate of nominated candidates in Alberta
TweetWith the next federal election less than one year away, the Conservative Party of Canada is close to nominating a full slate of candidates in Alberta’s 34 newly redrawn ridings. By my count, Calgary Rocky Ridge, Edmonton-Griesbach, Lakeland and Peace River-Westlock are the only ridings without nominated Conservative candidates in this province.
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Source: MLA Kent Hehr to run for Trudeau Liberals in Calgary-Centre
TweetPolitical Calgary is abuzz with rumours that popular MLA Kent Hehr will seek the Liberal nomination in the federal riding of Calgary-Centre. Reliable sources say that Mr. Hehr has gone so far as to request nomination forms to become an official nomination candidate for the federal Liberals. Mr. Hehr would be
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Underdog Liberal has a shot in Fort McMurray-Athabasca by-election
TweetFour federal by-elections will be held across Canada on June 30, 2014, including in Alberta’s Macleod and Fort McMurray-Athabasca ridings made vacant by the retirements of Conservative Members of Parliament Ted Menzies and Brian Jean months ago. While most general elections in Alberta can be counted on to result in broad Conservative sweeps, Albertans
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Will any Calgary Grits be going to Ottawa in 2015?
Nenshi made history in 2010. His Chief of Staff might do the same in 2015. We’ve all heard the jokes. When Calgary was hit with flooding in 2005, the Calgary Herald ran a delicious cartoon showing a giant ark being loaded up at the Stampede grounds, and Noah lamenting that,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: A by-election in Cowboy Country. Conservatives line up in Macleod
TweetFour candidates have stepped forward to duel for the yet to be scheduled Conservative Party nomination in southern Alberta’s Macleod riding following the resignation of Member of Parliament Ted Menzies. A by-election is expected to be held in the eastern slopes of Alberta’s cowboy country the next six months. John Barlow,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Alberta Liberal merger with federal Liberals an idea worth considering.
TweetProvincial Liberal leader Raj Sherman wants his party to work more closely with the federal Liberal Party. Conventional wisdom would inform us that the Alberta Liberals should always do everything in their power to distance themselves from their federal cousins, who remain tainted in the province after a long-string of
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: New Map: Calgary-Centre by-election results.
TweetElections Canada recently released the official poll-by-poll results of the November 26, 2012 federal by-election in Calgary-Centre. The hotly contested by-election was narrowly won by Conservative Joan Crockatt, who fended off strong challenges from Liberal Harvey Locke and Green Chris Turner. While the Conservatives were able to win in this
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: 2013 is the Alberta Liberal’s year to shine
The Alberta Liberals are under attack. The Liberals are being assailed from every party from every corner of this province. The march to the middle has been of pronounced presence by almost every political faction in Alberta. The NDP have made open moves toward Liberal voters, campaigning hard in long held
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Todd’s Letter: The NDP Merger
I’m not interested in merging with the NDP. Todd Van Vliet, party president of the Alberta Liberals, isn’t a fan either. There was one point, almost a year ago, that I was. And I was quite frustrated then. I’m still frustrated, but more on that later. But I’m tired
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Progressives need a crash course in basic electoral math, writes MLA.
TweetBy Kent Hehr Like many progressives, I watched the Calgary Centre by-election with great interest. Although I was hopeful that one of three outstanding candidates who represented the center/center-left side of the spectrum would win, Joan Crockett…
Continue readingAlberta Diary: And the winner is … no one: everybody missed Monday’s biggest story
Alberta families like this one just stayed home Monday and watched TV. Below: Pollster Janet Brown. So who stayed home? While poll analysts and pundits pontificated yesterday about what the somewhat-less-than-stellar victory of Conservative Joan Crockatt in the Calgary-Centre by-election might mean for the national political parties, the real story went largely unexamined – to …
Continue readingThe Equivocator: Lessons for the Liberals from the Calgary-Centre by-election
Harvey Locke ran a great campaign in Calgary-Centre taking a strong second place. and keeping the Conservatives under 40% in the so-called “Conservative heartland” is nothing to sneeze at. I am proud of the campaign the Liberals ran in all … Continue reading →
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Calgary-Centre: The Day After
It has been a wonder of a campaign. For the Harvey Locke campaign the Liberals doubled their support from 2011 (going from 17% to 32%) and sent a message that Calgarians were willing to give the Liberals a crack at representing them. It was a 4% spread…
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Old Habits Die Hard
In all my years blogging about Calgary politics, I never thought “Liberals blow by-election” is a story I’d have to write. “Liberals lose” is a common headline for a party that hasn’t won a seat in Calgary since 1968, during the height of Trudeaumania (the first round of Trudeaumania that is). But while some Liberals have come down with “candidate’s disease” over the years (symptoms include house hunting in Ottawa), the reality is the Liberal Party is never even in … →
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Go back to sleep everyone: another Tory win in Calgary
Joan Crockatt, the first pest past the post, flanked by Calgary MPs Rob Anders and Jason Kenney, gives her victory speech in Calgary last night. Actual victorious Alberta Conservatives may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The unsuccessful Liberal, Green and NDP candidates; the real Ms. Crockatt. Oh, how very depressing. Progressive voters outnumbered Conservatives, …
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Joan Crockatt wins close race in Calgary-Centre.
TweetIt was an exciting race for the history books! Conservative Joan Crockatt has narrowly defeated her opponents to win the federal by-election in Calgary-Centre. At 10:30pm with 241 of 263 polls reporting, Ms. Crockatt’s 9,479 (37%) votes plac…
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