live from don iveson hq.

Volunteers are pouring in and out of Don Iveson's campaign headquarters in Edmonton's Ward 5.

Phones are ringing off the hook. The website is buzzing. Campaign volunteers are working hard to get the vote out. With an episode of the West Wing playing in the background, the Edmonton Journal has released a new story about voter turnout in Ward 5:

The biggest voter turnout today has been in Ward 5, where two incumbent councillors, Bryan Anderson and Mike Nickel, are facing a challenge from 28-year-old Don Iveson and one other candidate. Ward 5, in southwest Edmonton, traditionally has a high voter turnout; its population tends to be higher income and better educated.

where to find the results.

Once the polls close at 8:00 p.m. tonight, updated results can be found at Elections Edmonton and CBC Edmonton.

And of course, I will be providing live commentary from the Don Iveson for Ward 5 Election Night Party at The Underdog.

vote today and vote for don iveson in ward 5!

Today is Election Day in Edmonton and it's important that you get out and vote!

See my previous post for more information on what you need to do in order to and where you need to go to vote!

Also, I encourage voters in Ward 5 to join me in supporting Don Iveson to become one of Ward 5's two City Councillors.

Don's ideas for Edmonton and Ward 5 will bring a much needed new perspective to Edmonton's City Council.

Don has run a substance-based campaign focused around the three principles of Efficiency, Environmental Responsibility, and Vibrant Communities - and more on his campaign website.

Don has also released a number of YouTube videos focusing on Smarter Urban Planning, Public Transit, Affordable Housing, and Community Consultation.

Edmonton's Jam Union has also released a great podcast interview with Don.

As mentioned previously, I will be live-blogging commentary and election results from the Don Iveson campaign party at the Underdog on Whyte Avenue after the polls close at 8:00 p.m.

UPDATE: I've voted!

get out and vote tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Edmonton's Municipal Election, so remember to get out and vote!

To vote, you must:
* be at least 18 years old,
* be a Canadian citizen,
* be a resident in Alberta for the six consecutive months immediately preceding election day (as of April 16, 2007)
* be a resident of Edmonton on election day,
* not have voted previously in this election

Voting stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

DON'T FORGET - all voters must present identification at the polls. The ID, such as an Alberta Driver's Licence, Alberta Health Care Card or a Canadian passport, must confirm your age and identity.

To find out where to vote, click here.

For more information on the election, click here.

To read profiles of the Mayoral and Ward elections, see below.

Edmonton Election 2007: Race Profiles
The Non-Race for Mayor
Ward 1
The Race in Ward 2
A Race in Ward 3
Something about Ward 4
Choice in Ward 5
Wrath of Ward 6

election night live-blogging.

Tomorrow is Election Day in Edmonton and I will be live-blogging tomorrow night after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. from the Don Iveson for Ward 5 campaign party at the Underdog on Whyte Avenue (on the extreme northern boundary of Ward 5).

Election results, blogging, and beer. A solid election night combination.

edmonton election 2007: my predictions.

In preparation for tomorrow's Edmonton Municipal Election, here are my predictions for the Mayor, City Council, and Edmonton Public School Board elections...

2007 Edmonton Municipal Election Predictions

Mayor

1. Stephen Mandel
2. Don Koziak
3. Dave Dowling

Ward 1

1. Karen Leibovici

2. Linda Sloan

3. Andrew Knack

Ward 2

1. Kim Krushell

2. Ron Hayter

3. Dave Loken

Ward 3

1. Ed Gibbons

2. Harvey Voogd

3. Tony Caterina

Ward 4

1. Ben Henderson

2. Lewis Cardinal

3. Jane Batty (within 1,000 votes)

Ward 5

1. Bryan Anderson

2. Don Iveson

3. Mike Nickel

Ward 6

1. Dave Theile

2. Amarjeet Sohi

3. Chinwe Okelu

Edmonton Public School Board

Ward A
1. Bev Esslinger

Ward B
1. Wendy Keiver
2. Ken Shipka

Ward C
1. Sue Huff
2. Don Williams

Ward D

1. Dave Colburn

2. Amanda Beisiegel

Ward E
1. Ken Gibson
2. Neil MacDonald

Ward F
1. Don Fleming
2. Susan O'Neil

Ward H
1. Catherine Ripley
2. Neil Robblee

Ward I

1. Gerry Gibeault

2. Judith Axelson

a day with don iveson in ward 5.

On Thursday, October 11, I joined Ward 5 City Council candidate Don Iveson and volunteers for an afternoon and evening of campaigning. Here's my story of the day:

12:30 p.m. Don Iveson and his Deputy Campaign Manager Leanne Brown pop by my house to pick me up.

12:45 p.m. We start doorknocking in the Belgravia neighbourhood. As a first time candidate, I was surprised at the amount of positive support Don got at the doors. The big issues I heard of at the doors with Don were transportation, and the sorry state of our roads and planning in Edmonton.

It also wasn't uncommon to hear complaints about the demon dialing ways of another Ward 5 candidate.

We also got eight lawn sign requests in less than an hour in Belgravia. Go team!

1:50 p.m. Don, Leanne, and I head off to the Queen Alexandra Seniors Lodge in the Queen Alexandra neighbourhood.

Don spoke to a group of about 40 seniors and covered a wide range of issues. Following Don's introductions, the residents had a chance to ask Don questions about his platform and what his stances as a City Councillor for Ward 5 would be.

Questions ranged from snow removal, the labour shortage, the difficulty of keeping up with Alberta's and Edmonton's growth, roads and potholes, sidewalk maintenance, and the state of infrastructure in Edmonton's mature neighbourhoods (such as Queen Alexandra).

Don's was also able to cover issues spanning from smarter planning, public transit, road maintenance, education, and fair taxation.

As we were leaving the Seniors Lodge, one of the residents leaned over to Don, thanked him for speaking to the residents, and told Don that he "had learned more about Edmonton in the one hour talking with Don than he had in the past 10 years." Touching and powerful.

3:10 p.m. Leave the Queen Alexandra Seniors Lodge and hard off towards Riverbend!

3:30 p.m. - We stop to have a quick lunch at the Fresh Start Cafe in Riverbend neighbourhood. I had a great roast beef sandwich with a tomato soup (not really relavent to this story, but good none the less).

While at Fresh Start, we meet up with Dr. Rob Agostinis, President of the Terwilliger-Riverbend Advisory Council, who joins us for some doorknocking in Riverbend.

3:45 p.m. After a quick lunch, Don, Leanne, Dr. Agostinis, and I head off to Riverbend to do some doorknocking!

Some big issues at the doors in Riverbend include transportation, I hear something at the doors that sticks in my head:

"there is a great willingness to take public transit, if service was improved and made more convenient for the residents in Riverbend."

I also canvass a surprising amount of families who will be voting for Don Iveson and Mike Nickel. An interesting mix. There seems to be quite a bit of hostility towards Ward Five's other City Councillor, Bryan Anderson, in this neighbourhood.

I also sense some strong support for Edmonton Public School Board candidate Catherine Ripley in this area.

7:10 p.m. Now that the sun has set, I join Don and his team as we depart Riverbend, pick up another volunteer, and head to downtown Edmonton to listen to an urban development lecture at the Citadel Theatre. The lecture was part of the Edmonton 2007 Cultural Capital of Canada program delivered by Dr. Roberta Brandes-Gratz.

Dr. Brandes-Gratz is an award-winning journalist and urban critic, lecturer and author of The Living City: Thinking Small in a Big Way, and Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown. She is an international lecturer on urban development issues and former reporter for the New York Post.

It was a very interesting lecture (and really makes me wish I studied Urban Planning, rather than Political Science). Dr. Brandes-Gratz had some great quotes, here are some I remember:

"Urbanism cannout exist with out the layers of history."

"Density is not a problem, overcrowding is."

"Urbanism does not exist with out denisity, density breeds diversity, diversity defines a city."

"Lively diverse cities contain the seeds of their own rejuvination."

As much of Don's campaign has centered around vibrant communities and efficiency, this lecture was particularly fitting.

While filing out after the talk, we bumped into former City Councillor Gene Dub who wished Don good luck in the final days of his campaign (Dub has also endorsed Don).

9:00 p.m. After Dr. Brandes-Gratz's lecture, we joined fellow audience members and delegates of a national urban planning conference at a reception hosted by the Edmonton Arts Council

While at the reception (and enjoying the complementary wine and brilliant goat cheese), we were joined by retiring Ward 3 City Councillor Janice Melnychuk. Though the conversation began as a review of the talk, it soon turned to discussion about the final days of campaign.

9:45 p.m. Leaving the Citadel Theatre reception, I continue to tag along with Don and team as we head back to headquarters (not headquaters) in the Malmo Plains neighbourhood, but not before we pick up some pizza, and drive through Belgravia to put up some of those lawn signs that were requested earlier that day.

10:30 p.m. We arrive back at the campaign headquarters after a long and hard day of campaigning. We open up and the pizza and start the daily debrief and small talk.

It was a good day, but with only a hand full of days left in the 2007 Edmonton Municipal campaign, the final push over the weekend is what will make the difference on Monday, October 15, 2007.

edmonton election 2007: choice in ward 5.

In what should have been an easy re-election of two incumbents, the 2007 election in Ward 5 has ended up as a three-way race.

The main challenger to the two incumbents is Don Iveson (who I am proud to call a friend).

Running on the message of Smart Sustainable Growth for Ward 5, Don Iveson is easily the strongest and most energetic candidate running in in this Ward. As the underdog of the race, Don Iveson's team has relied on volunteer power rather than the expensive American-style demon dialing of one of the incumbents.

With a solid platform centered around the principles of efficiency, environmental responsibility, and vibrant communities, the residents of Ward 5 and the City of Edmonton would be well-served by the fresh voice and ideas that Don Iveson would bring to the next City Council.

Since the beginning of the campaign, Don Iveson has gained the support of some of Edmonton's strongest advocates including retiring City Councillors Michael Phair and Janice Melnychuk, former MLA Don Massey, Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Raj Pannu, and former City Councillors Larry Langley and Gene Dub.

Incumbent Councillor Bryan Anderson, whom I consider an "inoffensive" candidate has served on City Council since 1995 and though he has been a lower profile Councillor, has been a strong constituency worker. Much like Dave Theile in Ward 6, Anderson should beware of voters starting to think that he's been around for too long.

Incumbent Mike Nickel (aka Mr. Demon Dialer), who was first elected in 2004 after failing to be elected Mayor in 1998 and 2001, is widely believed to be running re-election in order to set himself up for a 2010 Mayoral campaign. Part of Nickel '10 includes the Nickel campaign's fronting of pro-Nickel candidates in other Wards (Tony Caterina in Ward 3, Debbie Yeung in Ward 4, and Chuck McKenna in Ward 6).

Nickel, who, along with Mayoral candidate Bill Whatcott, is a fan of Ted Morton, proudly supported Morton in the 2006 Tory leadership selection over local-boy and moderate conservative, Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Dave Hancock.

Though Nickel has a reputation as an opponent towards any City involvement that does not include bare bones core services (such as his strident opposition to the Universal Bus Pass for University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan College students) he should be respected for standing firm and actually believing in his Ronald Reaganesq-vaules. That said, it's 2007 and the Reagan-era ended in 1988.

With serious transportation and urban sprawl issues facing Ward 5 now and in the immediate future, it's important that Edmontonians in Ward 5 look carefully at these candidates and support the candidates who will fight for smart growth in Ward 5.

2007 Candidates
Bryan Anderson
Don Iveson
Mike Nickel
Brent Michalyk

2004 Election Results
Bryan Anderson - 19,650
Mike Nickel - 16,803
Donna Finucane - 15,123
Al Slemko - 6,576
Ian Crawford - 5,307
Jung-Suk Ryu - 3,817
Katie Oppen - 2,029
Adil Pirbhai - 533

Facebook Race
Don Iveson for Ward 5 City Councillor - 366 members

edmonton election 2007: the wrath of ward 6.

Edmonton's Ward 6 covers the entire southeast section (Mill Woods) of Edmonton and includes some of the most ethnically diverse areas of the City. Not shying away from its reputation for delivering raucous election campaigns, Ward 6 presents an interesting race for 2007.

With the overdue retirement of long-time Councillor Terry Cavanagh (who was appointed and defeated as Mayor two-times since first being elected to Council in 1971), there are no shortage of candidates lining up for the challenge of representing Ward 6.

Incumbent Dave Theile, who was first elected in 1998, is seeking re-election. Though I like Theile's easy-going style, he may be reaching the point of getting too comfortable in his City Council chair. Hopefully he won't fall victim to the 'big chair syndrome' if he is re-elected on Monday.

Two of the main challengers lined up are Chinwe Okelu and Amarjeet Sohi, and both are in a dog fight with each other after mounting very strong campaigns (and both aren't shying away from their partisan connections to help them over the top - Okelu as a Liberal and Sohi as a New Democrat).

Okelu, who has run in Ward 6 in 1998, 2001, and 2004, placed a very strong third in 2004 against Cavanagh. This is Sohi's second run at Ward 6, having placed a strong fourth in 2004.

I've met both candidates a number of times and though both would be effective advocates for Ward 6, I've been particularly impressed with Amarjeet Sohi's work with Public Interest Alberta.

With both of the main challengers holding decent name recognition, boasting strong teams and platforms, and campaigning hard I wouldn't be surprised if either of them won (or if both of them won).

The 'other interesting candidates' category includes Lori Jeffery Heaney who is a former Councillor from the Summer Village of Val Quentin and right-wing 'Mike Nickel' candidate Chuck McKenna.

2007 Candidates
Lori Jeffery-Heaney
Chuck McKenna
Chinwe Okelu
Amarjeet Sohi
Dave Thiele*
Tomas Dennis Vasquez

2004 Election Results
Dave Thiele - 16,128
Terry Cavanagh - 14,725
Chinwe Okelu - 12,877
Amarjeet Sohi - 8,077
Barbara Ann Thompson - 6,339
Terry McKinnon - 2,908
Sean Diakiw - 1,013

Facebook Count
Friends of Chinwe Okelu - 19 members
Elect Amarjeet Sohi for Ward 6 Councillor - 80 members

more edmonton municipal election posts!

Coming soon: Race profiles of Ward 5, Ward 6, the Edmonton Catholic School District and Edmonton Public School Boards, as well as my predictions for Monday October 15, 2007.

give me a p-a-t-r-o-n-a-g-e!

For those who doubted the existence of the culture of entitlement and partisan patronage present under Alberta's 36-year Tory regime, I present Case #9731.

Edmonton... Edmonton lawyer and community volunteer Douglas Goss has been designated chair of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT)’s Board of Governors.

It just so happens that Doug Goss is also the co-chair of the Stelmach Tories' election campaign.

For more information on Tory political patronage in Alberta, click here, here, and here.

out-of-the-box development.

I have a new post up on CBC's Edmonton Votes 2007 in which I discuss Transit-Oriented Development - one alternative to the current reckless urban sprawl-type development we are witnessing.

it's about a plan.

I have a new post up on CBC's Edmonton Votes 2007 on some ideas about how Edmonton can be savvier in the way we let our city grow while avoiding the mistakes that other cities have made in not managing their growth and development properly.

Enjoy.

edmonton election 2007: something about ward 4.

It must be something in the water that attracts the flood of candidates that Ward 4 perennially does.

There are 15 candidates running in this Ward with one vacant seat left by retiring Councillor Michael Phair. I don’t blame Phair for retiring after 13 years on City Council, but his retirement has cost Edmonton its easily most effective and progressive member of City Council.

That said, there are some pretty good candidates running to replace Phair.

Ben Henderson (who I am supporting and voted for when I lived in Ward 4 in 2004) is the front-runner to take Phair’s seat. Henderson placed a unusually strong third place in 2004 – nearly defeating Councillor Jane Batty (who is seeking re-election).

Ben Henderson has a strong team (including his wife – Edmonton-Centre MLA Laurie Blakeman) and has been campaigning hard since April. Henderson is a strong candidate with strong ties to Edmonton’s Community Leagues and Arts Community.

Another candidate who I’ve been fairly impressed with is Lewis Cardinal. Cardinal, a consultant and aboriginal social activist, has laid out a good platform and would be a strong and effective voice on City Council.

A Ben Henderson and Lewis Cardinal Ward tag-team could be the most effective Edmonton has seen in years.

The only other two candidates who I would classify as ‘serious’ are Jane Batty and Debbie Yeung. Batty, who was first elected in 2001, is what I like to consider an ‘inoffensive candidate,’ I don’t have much against Batty but she hasn’t been the strong advocate that one would expect would come out of an eclectic district like Ward 4.

Third-time candidate Debbie Yeung has stunned Edmontonians with her campaign team's superior website designing skills, but her platform hasn’t really diverged from the typical right-wing pablum that usually comes out of candidates aligned with the likes of Mike Nickel (which she is).

Other entertaining candidates include former Ward 6 City Councillor Sheila McKay (who claims she invented the LRT), Reverend Brian Patterson (who thinks prayer would solve fire response problems), Adil Pirbhai (a perennial candidate), Margaret Saunter (of Christian Heritage Party of Canada fame), and Brian Wissink (who clearly has no idea what he’s getting himself into).

2007 Candidates
Jane Batty*
Nyambura Mia Belcourt
Lewis Cardinal
Judith (Jodi) Flatt
Ben Henderson
Sheila McKay
Brian Patterson
Deborah Peaker
Adil Pirbhai
Hana Razga
Thomas Roberts
Margaret Saunter
Brent Thompson
Brian Wissink
Debbie Yeung

2004 Election Results
Michael Phair - 23,219
Jane Batty - 14,352
Ben Henderson - 12,475
Debbie Yeung - 10,500
Thomas Roberts - 1,945
Dale Ferris - 1,702
Paul Welke - 1,417

Facebook Count
Elect Ben Henderson - Ward 4 - 40 members
Lewis Cardinal for Ward Four - 382 members
Rev. Brian Patterson for Edmonton City Councillor, Ward 4 - 17 members
Vote Brent Thompson for Alderman (Ward 4) - 138 members
Change for Ward 4 (Brian Wissink) - 8 members

mayoral forum.

The Vote Project will be hosting a Mayoral Forum tomorrow night (October 10) at Red Star (10534 Jasper Avenue NW) starting at 7:30 p.m.

It's your chance to hear what the Mayoral candidates have to say!

building a big tent in ward 5.

Don Iveson has received another round of endorsements in his campaign to represent Ward 5 on Edmonton City Council.

Recent endorsements include:
- Larry Langley (Ward 5 Councillor, 1995-2004)
- Janice Melnychuk (Ward 3 Councillor 2001-2007)
- Dr. Gary McPherson (Former PC leadership candidate)
- Gene Dub (Architect, Ward 2 Councillor 1977-1980)

Earlier endorsements included:
- Michael Phair (Ward 4 Councillor, 1992-2007)
- Dr. Don Massey (Alberta Liberal MLA Edmonton-Mill Woods, 1993-2004)
- Dr. Raj Pannu (New Democrat MLA Edmonton-Strathcona, 1997-present)
- Ellen Shoeck (Author of I was there, an alumni history of the University of Alberta)
- Alex Khan (President, Malmo Plains Community League)
- Dr. Don Carmichael (University of Alberta Political Science Professor)

edmonton election 2007: a race in ward 3.

With the retirement of two-term Councillor Janice Melnychuk, the open seat in Ward 3 has captured the imagination of a couple interesting candidates (though not the floodgate of 15 candidates vying for the vacant seat in Ward 4).

Contenders for Ward 3 include social activist and Friends of Medicare head Harvey Voogd and businessperson Tony Caterina. You might remember both of them from previous races such as Voodg’s 2001 adventure with the New Democrats in Edmonton-Norwood and as a candidates for the short-lived elected Capital Health Board. Tony Caterina's previous adventures include time as Ward 3's third place candidate in 2004 and the Alberta Alliance in provincial constituency of Edmonton-Centre in the same year. I'm sure both Voogd and Caterina are hoping that the 'third time's a charm.'

It should be a close fight between Voogd and Caterina for the vacant seat, but with Voogd as the natural candidate for the northeast’s Liberal and New Democrat voters, I’m predicting Voogd has the edge over Caterina.

Incumbent Councillor Ed Gibbons will most likely be safely re-elected. Even though Ed Gibbons hasn’t been the most effective voice on City Council, his long-time involvement in Ward 3 has bolstered his name recognition in Edmonton’s northeast. Gibbons is the former President of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues and served one-term as the Liberal MLA for Edmonton-Manning from 1997 to 2001.

Ward 3 has elected a number of luminaries in the past, including former Mayoral candidate Robert Noce, current leader of the New Democrats Brian Mason, and former Edmonton-East Federal Liberal MP Judy Bethel.

2007 Candidates
Kyle Balombin
Tony Caterina
Ed Gibbons*
Shiu Wing Mak
Chris Martin
Chris Roehrs
Thomas James Tomilson
Harvey Voogd

2004 Election Results
Janice Melnychuk - 21,020
Ed Gibbons - 17,524
Tony Caterina - 9,416
Joan Duiker - 5,978
Kyle Balombin - 3,334

Facebook Count
Tony Caterina for Ward 3 - 48 members
Chris Martin for Edmonton City Council - Ward 3 - 118 members

reveal yourselves, getitrightalberta.ca.

The getitrightalberta.ca scandal has received no shortage of attention in the blogosphere - you can find some good posts on this astroturf here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The astroturfing has also spread to the emerging facebook world.

Luckily, online civil society is alive and well as another group is set up calling on the Government to 'Do what's right for Alberta.'

But, the question still remains: who is behind Hill & Knowlton's getitrightalberta.ca?

The debate over Alberta's natural resource royalties is too important to include anonymous stakeholders. Reveal yourselves!

edmonton election 2007: the race for ward 2.

There is a pretty straightforward race in northwest Edmonton’s Ward 2.

Ron “ten-terms isn’t enough” Hayter is seeking his eleventh-term on Council. This is unfortunate, because Edmontonians would do well to rid themselves of the dead weight of having Hayter in the Council Chambers (I’m sure he was an effective City Councillor when he was first elected in 1971).

Hayter’s ward-mate, Kim Krushell, shouldn’t have much of a problem getting a second-term representing Ward 2. First elected in 2004, Krushell was EA to former Ward 5 Councillor Larry Langley before running in Ward 2. Though I have some reservations about Krushell’s cutthroat networking style, she has been a fairly effective advocate on City Council (her spearheading of the Universal Bus Pass for University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan College students on City Council was a particularly bright spot).

Both Hayter and Krushell are facing some interesting challengers though. Dave Loken and Jabin Caouette, who both ran in 2004, have come off as more tight and together with their ideas and presentation than they did three years ago. Unfortunately for first-time challenger Shelley Tupper, crying during her speech at the first Ward 2 forum has set an unfortunate tone for her chances on October 15.

Dave Loken will have a good chance in 2010 if and when either a) Hayter FINALLY retires for good in 2010 (don’t bet on it), or b) Krushell take a run for the Mayor’s chair in 2010.

2007 Candidates
Jabin Caouette
Ron Hayter*
Kerry Hutton
Kim Krushell*
Dave Loken
Shelley Tupper

2004 election results
Ron Hayter - 18,386
Kim Krushell - 12,966
Dave Loken - 7,512
Don Koziak - 7,289
Tim Hajar - 4,542
Mimi Williams - 3,978
Kerry Hutton - 1,820
Larry Thomson - 1,629
Jabin Caouette - 1,526

Facebook Count
Re-Elect Kim Krushell: 56 members

edmonton mayoral election poll.

Here are the results from the recent daveberta election poll. Not surprisingly, Stephen Mandel crushed.

Dustin Becker - 1 (1%)
Dave Dowling - 4 (5%)
Khaled Kheireddine - 0 (0%)
Don Koziak - 18 (22%)
George Lam - 1 (1%)
Peter T. Lefaivre - 1 (1%)
Robert Ligertwood - 1 (1%)
Stephen Mandel - 46 (57%)
Bill Whatcott - 8 (10%)

Votes so far: 80
Poll closed

A new poll is now up asking readers their thoughts on the 'Our Fair Share' royalty review report and Alberta's natural resource royalty rates...

ron stevens' hawaiian vacation.

What a week in Alberta politics. First, the damning Alberta Royalty Review Report and Auditor General's Report slammed Ed Stelmach's Tory Government for failing to collect BILLIONS of dollars in resource revenues owed to Albertans over the past 15 years. Then only days later, Ed Stelmach was refusing to fire his Cabinet Ministers responsible for the Department of Energy royalty scandal.

Now, it appears that the Stelmach Tories are being hit with new emerging scandals to deal with.

CBC has discovered that Stelmach's Calgary Lieutenant, Deputy Premier and Calgary-Glenmore Tory MLA Ron Stevens, used his government credit card to make a three-day 'pit stop' in Hawaii on a 2003 winter trip to Australia for government business.

Credit card statements obtained under Alberta's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act show meals and drinks for Stevens, his wife and four others during their Honolulu stay were paid for with government cards.

Stevens defended the spending as saving Albertans money by taking a three-day tax-payer funded Hawaiian vacation.

Earlier this week Auditor General Fred Dunn revealed that former Tory Minister and leadership candidate Mark Norris and his assistant Sasha Angus used government credit cards to rack up nearly $50,000 in personal expenses with little record keeping (including for a bachelor party in Las Vegas). So, I think Albertans can be forgiven if it's a little hard to take Stevens' 'word for it.'

ed stelmach does bobby mcferrin.

What happens to politicians who become running jokes?

what does it take to get fired around here?

Ed Stelmach is refusing to take action against current-Energy Minister Mel Knight and former-Energy Minister Greg Melchin after the Department of Energy was singled out by Auditor General Fred Dunn for failing to collect BILLIONS of dollars in resource revenues owed to Albertans over the past 15 years.

After noting that he recieved the 'run-around' from officials within the Ministry of Energy, Dunn slammed the Stelmach Tories management of Alberta's resource royalties:

The principals of transparency and accountability, I believe, were not followed. I'm not impressed."

"The department should demonstrate its stewardship of Alberta's royalty regime and provide analysis to support that stewardship and this was not done."

"The department's monitoring and technical review findings were communicated to decision-makers. The question is: Did they hear or were they listening? At the end of the day, I don't know, but they chose not to act."

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft is calling for Stelmach to fire Mel Knight and Greg Melchin.

"The public record clearly shows Albertans have been lied to," Taft said. "The auditor general tells the truth about the government's record of handling Albertans' resources; government ministers, on the other hand, have been misleading the legislature and the public."

Stelmach responded by saying that he's "not interested in a witch hunt."

It's clear that Stelmach is protecting his long-time Tory friends. Mel Knight supported Ed Stelmach's campaign during the 2006 Alberta PC Leadership Selection and Stelmach, Knight, and Greg Melchin were all full-members of Ralph Klein's cabinet at the same time that the Tories failed to collect the BILLIONS of dollars in resource royalties owed to Albertans.

With the damning results of the Auditor General's report coupled with Knight's defence of the AEUB's using public funds to hire private investagators to spy on ordinary Albertans, one really has to wonder, what does it take to get fired in Ed Stelmach's Tory Government?

who's behind 'getitrightalberta.ca?'

Over the past week, a new website has popped up - getitrightalberta.ca - calling for Alberta's Tory Government to keep the resource royalty structure the way it is - even after the damning Alberta Royalty Review Report and Auditor General's Report slammed Ed Stelmach's Tory Government for failing to collect BILLIONS of dollars in resource revenues owed to Albertans over the past 15 years.

The big question is, who is behind this website?

A bit of investigating will reveal that the website has been set up by the consulting firm Hill & Knowlton and a quick check at CIRA will reveal that the website registration is listed as:

Registrant Name Hill & Knowlton
Registrar Webnames.ca (UBC Research Enterprises Inc.)
Renewal Date 2008/09/25
Date approved 2007/09/25
Last changed 2007/09/28
Description
Registrar Number 70
Registrant Number 2010422
Domain Number 2010422
DNS1 ns1.maximumasp.com 216.128.31.5
DNS2 ns2.maximumasp.com 216.128.31.6

Administrative Contact
Name Lisa Litz
Job Title
Postal Address Suite 540, 202 - 6th Avenue SW Calgary AB T2P2R9 Canada
Phone 1-403-5146236
Fax
Email lisa.litz@hillandknowlton.ca

Technical Contact
Name Lisa Litz
Job Title
Postal Address Suite 540, 202 - 6th Avenue SW Calgary AB T2P2R9 Canada
Phone 1-403-5146236
Fax
Email lisa.litz@hillandknowlton.ca

Now, far be it from me to assume that a slick large national consulting firm like Hill & Knowlton wouldn't set up a website like this out of the kindness of their hearts, but I'm going to do just that - assume that Hill & Knowlton isn't doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.

So, the question remains: who is behind 'getitrightalberta.ca?'

Interestingly, Hill & Knowlton's Calgary office is led by none-other than Mr. Ken Boessenkool, a member of the infamous firewall six and former adviser to Stockwell Day and Stephen Harper.

So, the still question remains, who is really behind 'getitrightalberta.ca?'

The debate about Alberta's resource royalties is too important to Alberta's future to include 'hidden stakeholders.'

Who is paying Hill & Knowlton to run this site?

Albertans should email Mr. Ken Boessenkool and ask him straight out.

Albertans are owed an explanation.

alberta's sheila fraser moment.

Alberta's Auditor General Fred Dunn released his annual report today, and it is scathing...

- Royalty Tracking System gets a failing grade
- High living expenses, staff bonuses criticized
- Provincial Government Credit Cards Misused
- Tory gifts questioned by auditor
- Alta giving up billions in oil cash to inaction, incompetence: auditor general
- Alberta government hid royalty-hike advice
- Minister's aide used gov't credit card for $30,000 personal expenses: audit
- Poor Planning has caused $6.1 Billion provincial maintenance backlog
- 'Leadership' was needed

While noting that he recieved the 'run around' from officials within Ed Stelmach's Tory Government while conducting the audit, here are some quotes from Fred Dunn:

On the Department of Energy: "

The principals of transparency and accountability, I believe, were not followed. I'm not impressed."

"The department should demonstrate its stewardship of Alberta's royalty regime and provide analysis to support that stewardship and this was not done."

"The department's monitoring and technical review findings were communicated to decision-makers. The question is: Did they hear or were they listening? At the end of the day, I don't know, but they chose not to act.

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft responded to the Auditor General's report:

“The Auditor General’s report shows a government that is deliberately misleading Albertans and that has been deceitful about its royalty collection. The people of Alberta should be furious with what the Auditor General uncovered today and should run this government out of office. I think it is time Ed Stelmach should do the courageous thing: bring this scandal ridden government to an end and call an election."

edmonton election 2007: ward 1.

With four candidates, including two incumbents, running in the October 15 election, the 2007 Ward 1 race is a little quieter than the 2004 race.

In 2004, a vacant seat left by Mayoral candidate Stephen Mandel was hotly contested between former Liberal MLA Linda Sloan (MLA for Edmonton-Riverview from 1997 to 2001) and Karen Lynch (who is now rumoured to be running for the Tory nomination in Edmonton-Calder). Sloan ended up besting Lynch by just over 1,000 votes.

Sloan joined fellow former Liberal MLA Karen Leibovici in representing Ward 1. Leibovici was first elected in a landslide in 2001 after being defeated in the 2001 provincial election. Leibovici served as the MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark from 1993 to 2001.

In my opinion, both Sloan and Leibovici have done a decent job in representing Ward 1 and have solid records on Council.

My one issue with Councillor Leibovici was her bizarre attempt in Fall 2006 to derail the Universal Bus Pass (U-Pass) project. Leibovici joined right-wing Ward 5 Councillor Mike Nickel in attempting to remove the U-Pass project funds from the City of Edmonton Budget.

She justified her support of the Nickel motion because she was already paying for her son's tuition, his car, and his parking. I'm sure if all of the +60,000 students who are benefiting from the U-Pass lived in Ward 1, Mr. Leibovici would have some explaining to do.

The Nickel/Leibovici motion was defeated in a solid 11-2 vote.

Challengers Andrew Knack and Betty Kennedy have uphill battles against them if they are to unseat these two well-known and politically savvy incumbents. Knack has some interesting ideas and I encourage you to check them out.

2007 Candidates
Betty Kennedy
Andrew Knack
Karen Leibovici*
Linda Sloan*

Facebook Count
Elect Betty Kennedy for Ward 1 City Council - 84 members
Andrew Knack for Edmonton City Council Ward 1 - 202 members
Re-Elect Karen Leibovici for Ward 1 - 84 members

2004 Election Results
Karen Leibovici - 23,793
Linda Sloan - 12,353
Karen Lynch - 10,909
Charlene Davis - 6,888
Terry Demers - 3,306
Joe Hudson - 3,046
Samir Ghossein - 1,534
Rory Koopmans - 1,332
Trent Soholt - 1,149

You can listen to Ward 1 candidate comments from public forums here.

time to talk amalgamation?

I have another post up on the CBC Edmonton Votes 2007 blog this morning.

Also on the CBC site, you can listen to audio clips of your council candidates from local forums.

alberta's royalty review consultations.

As Albertans are now being urged to respond online and by phone to Alberta's Royalty Review Report, Tory Minister Ron Stevens will be meeting in closed-door consultation meetings with Energy and Oil Companies for their very own private consultation.

Wouldn't it be great if all Albertans had the chance to have a closed-door consultation on the Royalty Review Report?

Wouldn't it be great if all Albertans called their MLA to set up a closed-door consultation meeting?

Sounds like a good idea to me.

If you have a Tory MLA, you can ask them where Albertans $8.6 Billion in uncollected royalties went.

don iveson on ward 5.

In the spirit of my last post, here are four youtube videos that Ward 5 City Council candidate Don Iveson has released. In them, Don Iveson talks about some of the key issues facing Ward 5.

Put Urban Planning First


Revitalize Transit


Real Community Consultation


Confront the Housing Crunch

websites are like abba.

"Online campaigning is a bit of a fad, particularly so at the city council level," says Lightbody, "in the same sense that if we were running a campaign about 30 years ago, candidates would've had disco balls in their campaign headquarters -- they would've run around looking like bloody ABBA."

I was only half-shocked when I read this comment from U of A Political Science Professor Jim Lightbody in today's Edmonton Journal.

Lightbody is correct that traditional methods of campaigning are still core, but his armchair quarterback commentary in this story clearly shows that he fails to understand the power of web 2.0 and new online communication mediums.

On this note, ED has now posted their ratings for candidate websites...

gary mar is the new murray smith.

Tory MLA Gary Mar was appointed this afternoon to replace former Tory Minister Murray Smith as Alberta's Ambassador to Washington DC.

One wonders if Mr. Mar, who was dumped from cabinet in January 2007, will be inheriting the taxpayer funded high-life that Murray Smith lived while attending the garden parties and socials inside the beltline.

Smith's appointment in 2004 was criticized as partisan patronage and his lavish expenses have been criticized since.

Ed Stelmach's Tories have come under heat in the past weeks as years of Tory partisan patronage have begun to bubble to the surface.

Mar will begin his new position in October, which would mean that there is potential for another Calgary by-election in the near future.

edmonton election 2007: the non-race for mayor.

In what is the first profile of various races across the city in the 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election, here are my thoughts on the race for Mayor:

Thoughts...

The 2007 race for the Mayor's Chair is clearly much different race than the race we saw in 2004.

Three years ago, three-term Mayor Bill Smith was shooting for a fourth-term against second-time challenger and former Councillor Robert Noce, and little known first-term Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Mandel. In what is one of the biggest 'come-from-behind' wins in recent municipal election memory, Mandel moved from a distant third in the polls to achieve a sweeping +20,000 victory against Smith and Noce.

Since 2004, it appears to me that Mandel has done a fairly decent job as Mayor, though it's sometimes difficult to tell whether he is actually being a good Mayor or if the breath of fresh air after nine years of the institutional mediocrity under Bill Smith is helping Mandel out. Whatever the case, Mandel has succeeded in scaring away any serious contenders from challenging his Worship.

Even though there is a thick list of nine candidates in the running for Mayor, none of them pose a large threat to Mandel, which is disappointing if you're concerned with democratic debate and accountability.

The only semi-serious candidate running against Mandel seems to be hotel operator, self-professed genius, and Ed Stelmach-apologist Don Koziak. Koziak could have been a decent candidate, but his previous three losing Council campaigns coupled with his hasty last minute entrance into the election seriously undermine his credibility against Mandel. Also, Koziak's complete lack of a platform coupled with his bizarre statement about global warming have to make you wonder what it takes to get into Mensa these days...

Of course, if you are looking for some purely bizarre entertainment, the Mayoral race is where to look - where wingnuts such as Dave Dowling and Bill Whatcott will most likely try to steer the debate away from any real issues.

Mandel has hinted that he would only serve two terms as Mayor, so if this is truth, expect a dogfight in 2010 when challengers could potentially include Councillors Kim Krushell, Mike Nickel, and Karen Leibovici.

The lack of credible candidates in this race has succeeded in halting the serious Mayoral-level debate that is supposed to happen every three years - and serious debates are needed on issues such as infrastructure and urban planning, affordable housing and poverty, and the regional tensions in the Capital City Region. It also leaves Mandel not having to defend or answer for any of his initiatives as Mayor - whether they were successful or not.

With the Mayor's race being an unfortunate forgone conclusion, let's hope that voters turn their attention to who they are sending to City Council and their Public and Catholic School Boards.

2007 Mayoral Candidates
Dustin Becker
Dave Dowling
Khaled Kheireddine
Don Koziak
Peter Lefaivre
Robert Ligertwood
George Lam
Stephen Mandel*
Bill Whatcott

2004 Mayoral Election Results
Stephen Mandel - 85,887
Bill Smith - 68,767
Robert Noce - 52,640
Tilo Paravalos - 921
Dieter Peske - 905
Dave Dowling - 858
Thomas "Buffalo Terminator" Tomilson - 768
Jean-Paul Noujaim - 390

blakeman sets an example.

In the wake of yesterday's revelation that Tory MLA's Cindy Ady and Barry McFarland received $19,000 for work on the Idaho-Alberta task force - a task force which only met once and has no recorded accomplishments or activity beyond the one meeting - Edmonton-Centre Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman has announced that she had returned the $3,000 she received for work on another MLA committee that did little work:

Liberal MLA gives back committee pay
Archie McLean, The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman gave more than $3,000 back to the government this month after she was paid for membership on a committee that stopped doing work.

Three Conservative MLAs received a combined $17,630 for their seven-month membership on the Legislative Grounds Renewal Committee despite meeting only three times in two months. One NDP member got $3,526, but has pledged to return a portion of the cash as well.

The revelation comes just one day after The Journal reported another two Tory MLAs received more than $19,000 for their membership in the Idaho-

Alberta Transboundary Task Force, which did little or no work during their paid stint.

Blakeman and the others were part of the legislative grounds committee from April 3 to Nov. 8, 2006 and were each paid $508.50 per month. The chair, Tory MLA George Rogers, got about $1,500 per month.

Blakeman even paid back the money she received in May, saying she didn't ask for it and didn't believe she did enough work to justify the payment.

voters shouldn't be afraid to 'go shopping.'

My first post on the CBC Edmonton Votes 2007 Blog is up. Check it out...

jealous of grande prairie.

Roadtrip?

$19,000 payday for tory mla's.

The Edmonton Journal is reporting that Tory MLA's Cindy Ady and Barry McFarland received $19,000 for work on the Idaho-Alberta task force - a task force which only met once and has no recorded accomplishments.

No meeting minutes. No phone records. Not to mention no border between Alberta and Idaho.

A spokesperson from Premier Ed Stelmach's office:

admitted the task force didn't do much in the end, but they had good intentions and tried to set up meetings with their American counterparts. "Can I show you a report, an agreement, a memorandum, anything? No, I can't. It just isn't there," David Sands said.

John Nordstrom, with the Idaho Department of Commerce, referred to the group as the Idaho-Alberta Sister State Task Force.

He said the state politician who sat on the informal committee didn't receive any extra compensation.

"It was just part of their normal job. There wasn't any extra pay or any-thing."

new edmonton municipal election poll.

Here are the results from the latest daveberta municipal election poll. It should be no surprise that affordable housing, infrastructure and roads, and urban sprawl are some of the big issues on the minds of Edmontonians leading up to October 15.

What will be the biggest issue of the 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election?

Selection		Votes
Affordable Housing	34%	28
Arts and Culture	1%	1
Crime and Safety	2%	2
Infrastructure and Roads	24%	20
Public Transit	6%	5
Recreation and Parks	1%	1
Regional Cooperation	9%	7
Taxes	5%	4
Urban Sprawl and Growth	15%	12
Other	2%	2
82 votes total

There is also new poll up, so vote early and vote often!

monday municipal election roundup.

Some thoughts for Monday morning...

- CBC Edmonton has launched an Edmonton Votes 2007 website. I will have the pleasure of blogging for the CBC site starting tomorrow, so make sure to check it out.

- Connect2Edmonton is getting a bit of media attention which is good for the forum. Post your questions to municipal candidates in the forums - some candidates are responding.

- The Edmonton Journal's Scott McKeen has a fun column today about the 'Door knocking-Diet.'

- The St. Albert Gazette has some interesting stories on the Mayoral and Aldermanic races going on in the city just north of Edmonton.

- I spent a good chunk of my weekend campaigning for Don Iveson in Ward 5. I feel good about the positive response we received while we were out on Saturday doorknocking with Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Rick Miller.

tory nominated in edmonton-manning.

In a surprise win, Peter Sandhu bested former MLA Tony Vandermeer, Emerson Mayers, and Independent MLA Dan Backs in this weekend's Edmonton-Manning PC nomination.

This is disappointing on two fronts. First, Sandhu's nomination means that the Tories won't have the pleasure of running Dan Backs under their banner. And second, it means that I now have no reason to post the series of embarrassing emails that Mayers sent me a couple of weeks ago.

It also looks like it's backs to the drawing board for Dan Backs...

Sandhu will face strong competition from Alberta Liberal candidate Sandeep Dhir in Edmonton-Manning in the next election.

Edmonton-Manning has been held by the Alberta Liberals from 1993 to 2001 and 2004 to 2006 and by the Tories from 2001 to 2004.

alberta's royalty review.

Now that I've had a chance to take a look at the much talked about Alberta Royalty Review Panel Final Report, I have some thoughts to offer.

1. The report is much more damning than I think anyone thought it would be.

The report begins with the opening statement: "Albertans do not receive their fair share from energy development." The report proves this to be an understatement.

2. The report revealed that a lack of government accountability has led to billions of dollars in reduced royalty income over the last 15 years - the royalty holidays and adjustments have reduced Alberta's income by nearly $8.6 billion over the past 15 years.

Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft and Shadow Energy Minister Hugh MacDonald pointed out that:

the government failed to report a four year royalty holiday period, which began in 1997, under former Minister of Energy Steve West. In 2001, the Auditor General questioned why the royalty holiday and incentive programs were not reported. The Auditor General started to report these amounts in his annual report. Since then, the Department of Energy has buried the amount of the royalty adjustments in their financial footnotes.

Here are Kevin Taft and Hugh MacDonald in their media conference following the release of the report:


3. Though some are rallying against the report, the same people don't seem to understand the difference between a royalty and a tax.

4. There is no doubt that the release of this report is a defining moment in Alberta's politics and the reaction or lack thereof by Ed Stelmach's Tories may define the main issue of the next provincial election.

5. In 2004, Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser's report into the Sponsorship scandal revealed that up to $100 million of the $250 million sponsorship program was awarded to advertising firms and Crown corporations for little or no work.

In 2007, Alberta's Royalty Review Panel revealed that approximately $8.6 billion in natural resource royalties owed to Albertans were not collected. This failure occured while Ed Stelmach and Lyle Oberg were sitting at the table in Ralph Klein's Tory Cabinet.

Albertans have been cheated in a big way and should be furious.

a series of tubes.

Taking a page from Al Gore's book, Ward 4 council candidate Sheila Mckay has claimed that she invented Edmonton's LRT...

"Sheila McKay, who was on council from 1989 to 1995, took credit for the LRT, telling the audience it was "my idea" to bring light-rail transit to the city 30 years ago."

mia.

Apologies for the interruption in regular blogging over the past couple of days. Work, studies, and campaign volunteering has kept me quite busy this week.

Get ready for upcoming posts on the 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election, Alberta's Royalty Review (and secret royalty reviews under the previous Tory Premier), the continuing AEUB scandal and maybe some links to some of the great YouTube vids coming out of the Ontario Provincial Election. Here's a fun one:

it costs more.

The Alberta Teachers' Association has launched a new series of TV ads as part of their Budget More campaign calling on the Stelmach Tories to address the conditions in Alberta's Education system.

(Thanks to Larry Johnsrude for the ad link)

familiar faces.

The October 15, 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election will include some familiar faces. Because of the difficulty of defeating incumbents in Edmonton City politics, many Council candidates run a number of times before being elected (this includes current City Councillors Dave Thiele, Jane Batty, and Mike Nickel).

Here is a list of candidates who are hoping that the second, third, fourth, or fifth time is a charm...

Mayoral
Dave Dowling (Mayoral: 2004; Provincial, Edmonton-Gold Bar: 2004; Federal Marajuana Party, Edmonton-Strathcona: 2004, 2006)
Don Koziak (Ward 5: 1995; Ward 2: 1998, 2004)
Robert Ligertwood (Mayoral: 1992, 1995, 2001)

Ward 2
Jabin Caouette (Ward 2: 2004)
Kerry Hutton (Ward 2: 2004)
Dave Loken (Ward 2: 2004)

Ward 3
Kyle Balombin (Ward 3: 2004)
Tony Caterina (Ward 3: 2004; Alberta Alliance, Edmonton-Centre: 2004)
Shui Wing Mak (Ward 4: 1995)
Thomas "Buffalo Terminator" Tomilson (Ward 2: 1989; Ward 3: 1992, 1998; Ward 4: 1995; Mayoral: 2001, 2004)
Harvey Voogd (Provincial ND, Edmonton-Norwood: 1997)

Ward 4
Ben Henderson (Ward 4: 2001, 2004)
Sheila Mckay (Ward 6: 1974, 1977, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998; Councillor: 1989-1995)
Adil Pirbhai (Ward 5: 1995, 1998, 2004; Ward 4: 2001)
Hana Razga (Federal ND, Edmonton-East: 1997; Provincial ND, Edmonton-Manning: 1997, 2001)
Debbie Yeung (Ward 4: 2001, 2004)

Ward 6
Chinwe Okelu (Ward 6: 1998, 2001, 2004)
Amarjeet Sohi (Ward 6: 2004)

ed stelmach and mel knight continue to fumble the aeub scandal.

Long title. Big deal.

Tory Premier Ed Stelmach and his Energy Minister Mel Knight continue to fumble in the face of the growing AEUB scandal. It looks as if Stelmach and Knight are pulling out every tool in the Tory tool chest in order to not deal with the scandal of the public AEUB hiring private investigators to spy on ordinary Albertans.

For the highlights, I'll defer to the brutal eloquence of Edmonton Journal columnist Graham Thomson...

Energy Minister Mel Knight did two things exceptionally well in his news conference at the legislature on Monday afternoon: he arrived on time and he didn't fall off the stage.

He did everything else remarkably badly.

At times Knight looked like he didn't know how to answer questions or was doing his best to avoid them. Sometimes he grew so testy with reporters it looked like he wanted to kick them. I suspect the reason he didn't was because at any given time he had a least one foot stuck firmly in his mouth.

Monday was supposed to be the day the Alberta government would demonstrate leadership on the EUB spying controversy that has plagued the government since news broke in June the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board hired a private investigator who had spied on landowners.

For weeks, the government has been hinting it was about to take decisive action to recover the EUB's reputation that has sunk so low you'd need a drilling rig to find it.

Instead, we had a minister of energy doing his best to downplay the biggest scandal to hit the government since Ed Stelmach became premier.

updated trustee candidates and new poll.

Similar to the updated list of Edmonton City Council candidates, I have updated the list of candidates acclaiming and contesting seats in the Edmonton Public School Board and Edmonton Catholic School District elections on October 15, 2007.

Also, there is a new 2007 Edmonton Municipal election poll on the sidebar.

The new poll asks:

What will be the biggest issue of the 2007 Edmonton Municipal Election?
Affordable Housing
Arts and Culture
Crime and Safety
Infrastructure and Roads
Public Transit
Recreation and Parks
Regional Cooperation
Taxes
Urban Sprawl and Growth
Other

Vote early and often!