Over the course of the election campaign the daveberta.ca election team will be bringing a number of Alberta Election 2008 Special Features to your desktop. But, I can't do it without you - so I'll need your help!
Each Wednesday of the campaign (starting next week) I will be posting pictures from the campaign trail. If you have collected any interesting pictures of campaign offices, candidates, events, etc that you want to see on this blog send them to daveberta.ca@gmail.com.
Each Friday of the campaign, I will be posting the best YouTube videos of the week from the election campaign. So, if you come across some good Alberta political videos, send a link to daveberta.ca@gmail.com.
February 8, 2008: edspedia.ca, Laura Shutiak, Tim Stock-BatemanAlso, as part of daveberta.ca Alberta Election 2008 coverage, I will be profiling some of the interesting and "hot" races in constituencies across Alberta. A week or two ago, I asked daveberta.ca readers to send in their suggestions to what constituencies I should profile, after an overwhelming response of almost 40 emails, I've decided which constituencies to cover. If you see a constituency race that I've missed, feel free to send me an email at daveberta.ca@gmail.com and I'll try to include them in my Saturday Wild Card races.
February 15, 2008: 2008: alberta election odyssey
Here is the constituency profile schedule (subject to change):
- Calgary-Buffalo
- Calgary-Currie
- Calgary-McCall
- Calgary-Varsity
- Cardston-Taber-Warner
- Edmonton-Calder
- Edmonton-Castle Downs
- Edmonton-Meadowlark
Posts
8 comments:
Got a funny bit of news in the Lac La Biche-St. Paul riding today… seems that the original Liberal candidate, Elmer Jules Half, had some issues with bringing stuff he shouldn't be into the prison where he works...
Here's the Sun story...
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2008/02/02/4809098-sun.html
Anyway, by the looks of the site below - he is at least half-removed at the moment... I guess the local papers are running something about it, anyway.
http://www.albertaliberal.com/index.php/constituencies/candidate/laclabiche_stpaul
So... I don't know what the Sun spin will be, but why does the Liberal message of 'change' just seem to refer to quickly changing candidates when they are caught in an impropriety?
And is the new guy clean? I swear… the Libs can shed candidates like they would dirty shirts, but each new one they put on seems to have the same smell…
Never mind the weakness of Liberal candidates, how about the weakness of their leader?
On the same day that Brian Mason of the NDP calls for Albertans to get a truly fair share from oil and gas royalties, the Liberals Dr. Taft is actually saying gas royalties are already too high!
Could this Taft guy be any more bought and paid for by Big Oil? He thinks Alberta, land of the lowest royalties, should let these companies take even more money away from Albertans. All while they pollute our environment and send raw crude and jobs down to the US.
What an awful plan. If you love Alberta, do not vote Liberal.
re "Alberta, land of the lowest royalties", at a recent meeting of the Calgary Society of Financial Analysts, it was the premier of SASKATCHEWAN who received applause by declaring that Saskatchewan would not increase royalties. This while investment banks were circulating notes comparing Stelmach to Chavez.
"These companies" won't be sending any more "jobs down to the US" if the anti-corporate policies continue, since they won't be here anymore to send those jobs down in the first place!
How come no Edmonton-Strathcona profile? Isn't that your home riding?
You should add Calgary-McCall, Edmonton-Strathcona, and Edmonton-Decore to your wild card list.
Man I'm excited, my home riding is one of two opening slots!
Stelmach won't look into returning officers' Tory connections
By JEREMY LOOME, Legislature Bureau
Premier Ed Stelmach says he won’t look into opposition concerns that loyal Tories have been named to supposedly neutral returning officer positions.
It came after the Alberta Liberals noted that four returning officers appointed by the government have extremely strong Tory connections – including one officer who has openly criticized the Liberal candidate in her riding on a blog.
“So you’re saying that off the 83 there’s nobody there that has relatives in another party?” Stelmach said when told that the Liberals want officers appointed by a neutral third party.
Among those concerning the opposition are Robin Darsi, the returning officer in the anticipated tight Calgary Currie race between radio veteran Dave Taylor, who is the Liberal incumbent, and Arthur Kent, the former TV reporter. Kent ran and beat Darsi for the Tory nod.
In Calgary North Hill, Tory riding executive member Andrea Grubbe was given the role; in Calgary Montrose, it was handed to Lynn Warkentin, who is the wife of the PC riding association’s treasurer, Frank Warkentin.
And in Edmonton Meadowlark, Allie Wojtaszek has received the role, even though she is the wife of the PC riding association president.
Three of the four were not among the initial list of 63 returning officers appointed by the province in December, but were instead added to the roster by the Tories through an order in council earlier this year.
Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft said he can’t understand why the Tories wouldn’t favour neutral appointments and why the appointments weren’t made back in December, with the rest.
“These are people that should be absolutely neutral and should be seen to be neutral and when they’re close chums or spouses, or plugged right into the Tory election machine, they’re not. And nobody’s going to respect the premier.”
Although she has since removed it, Wojtaszek posted a scathing blog entry about Liberal candidate Debbie Cavaliere when she received the Liberal nomination Nov. 23. In her post, she said Cavaliere only switched parties when it was clear she couldn’t win the PC nod.
Wojtaszek also took a shot at departing MLA Maurice Tougas, saying he’d “decided that he’d rather be back ‘writing his gossip column’ at the Edmonton Examiner.” In fact, Tougas is the paper’s former editor.
jeremy.loome@sunmedia.ca
There are so many great people who are running for the Alberta Liberals. I was at the rally in Calgary today and what a fabulous slate of candidates--Swann, Roberts, Taylor, Chase, Robertson,Cheffins, Kent Herh, (sp) and others--so many talented, creative, passionate people. And you have to realize that the Liberals are up against a 37 year old propaganda wall (say 73 year old since Socreds). I can't understand why the media doesn't give more coverage to Kevin Taft.. He had a great rally today and only a few seconds on the news. He works, tirelessly, to get the message out. And the Herald says there are no alternatives to Stelmach--who wasn't even the first choice of his own party---I think this province is afraid of change. I can't understand why.
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