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Monday, January 28, 2008

who's your candidate, alberta?

With an provincial election potentially only a week away, Albertans are stepping up to stand for election in constituencies across the province. Here's an update:

Calgary-Montrose - Hung Pham has been the Tory MLA since 1993, but he's not the nominated Tory candidate. The Alberta Progressive Conservatives have succeeded in defeating a group of Calgary-Montrose PC volunteers in a controversial lawsuit stemming from the 2004 Calgary-Montrose PC nomination scandal. What is it with these guys and lawsuits?

Edmonton-Glenora - It looks like Brian Mason's NDP may have lost a candidate. Where did he go? NDP candidate and U of A Engineering Professor Brian Fleck has been removed from the list of candidates on the NDP website. Fleck's website now forwards to the website of Edmonton-Whitemud NDP candidate Hana Razga. Edmonton-Glenora Alberta Liberal MLA Bruce Miller narrowly defeated ND candidate and former ATA President Larry Booi in 2004.

Edmonton-Strathcona - Edmonton-Strathcona candidate Tim Vant was joined by Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft as he was nominated as the Alberta Liberal candidate at a packed nomination party last Thursday. Vant is a the owner and manager of popular Edmonton-Strathcona restaurant Fiore's Italian Cantina. Vant is a lifelong resident of the Edmonton area and a staunch supporter of Edmonton’s arts community. Three-term NDP MLA Raj Pannu is not seeking re-election.

Red Deer-South - Former Red Deer Public School Trustee Diane Kubanek has been nominated as the Alberta Liberal candidate. Kubanek will face-off with rookie Tory candidate Cal Dallas. Four-term Tory MLA Victor Doerksen is not seeking re-election.

Strathmore-Brooks - Arno Doerksen was nominated as the PC candidate to replace retiring Tory Finance Minister Lyle Oberg. Doerksen defeated Mara Nesbitt and Don Weisbeck in the second ballot of Tory voting.

Wetaskiwin-Camrose - The Alberta Greens have nominated their Elections Coordinator Midge Lambert. Watch for a strong push by the Greens in Central Alberta constituencies such as Ponoka-Lacombe and a hand full of Calgary constituencies.

The full list of nominated provincial election candidates can be found here.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Arno Doerksen... any relation?

Anonymous said...

wasn't Don Weisbeck one of the founding members of the Wild Rose Party last fall? Does this mean he's coming back to the Wild Rose Alliance? He'd be a high profile candidate being a Mayor and all.

Anonymous said...

Did Fleck drop out? Fleck is a good candidate and probably stood a shot in Glenora. I've heard rumblings of members unhappy with Brian's leadership after the last polls came out and had us at 7% (down 3% from the last election). It would be a shame if Brian Mason was the cause of costing us a good candidate and a shot in Edmonton-Glenora. Hopefully Dave Eggen will step up and become leader after the election.

Glenora will go to the Libs.

Anonymous said...

NDP? Who are they? They're from Ontario, right?

Anonymous said...

Gotta love a Tory Gong Show!

Anonymous said...

Brian Fleck stepped down as a candidate for personal reasons.

Fleck stepping down had nothing to do with Brian Mason's leadership, in fact Brian Fleck first agreed to run largely due to Mason's success in getting oil royalties back on to the public agenda.

Rutherford Dipper sounds more like a Liberal trouble maker trying to start rumors than any legitmate NDP fan.

Anonymous said...

This type of dismissal of opinions is becoming more and more typical in the NDP in Alberta. I am a longtime New Democrat voter.

Anonymous watchers accusing me of being a Liberal-spy means little. Mason's been a disappointment and Fleck's loss will hurt us.

Anonymous said...

Two more shots at the party you supposedly vote for?

"dismissal of opinions...in the NDP"

"Mason's been a disappointment"

With friends like you, Mason's NDP doesn't need enemies. ;)

Now go help your Liberal candidate win, rather than taking shots at a 3rd party on a Liberal blog.

Anonymous said...

haha. anonymous NDP defender. I bet the 3 NDP staffers are spending their time defending Brian Mason on blogs.

Anonymous said...

What's inherently wrong with law suits? The system is there for a reason and if someone feels they have a case it's up to the judge to decide and the loser bears the costs. This is Canada, not Cuba (which is evident by the weather).

Alberta Report Editorial Collective said...

Kubanek is the wife of the previous candidate (Walter)- the prototypical lib lawyer candidate in central Alberta... she'll fall just as flat as he does. The only hope would have been Norm MacDougall in RD North, but who the hell decided to run him in Rocky? That's ridiculous... Cal Dallas is actually respected (and the NDs are throwing in a local teacher - not that they'll win or anything), Mary Anne Jablonski is just a flake. And the Libs are just throwing their old candidates into new ridings. This party is not yet ready for prime time.