Author Archive

The Unscientific Results

5
August 19, 2010 - By

My unscientifically determined statement: Voter engagement looks to be higher this election, or at least among those who are on social networks.

How did I get to this conclusion, besides hearsay?  Well, I performed a survey, of course.

Now, why do I call it an unscientific statement?  Well, because, for a number of specific reasons, I cannot tell you that the survey was random, un-biased, or that I had enough sample to really make much of a difference.  THAT said, I am publishing the questions, the methodology, and the results, and you can make your own decisions.

Last week, I was talking to a friend who is working for one of the Aldermanic candidates (in a race that I’m not covering, I might add), and he asked me, “Have any polls come out yet showing what voter turnout is going to look like this fall?”  I knew there were results for a few that showed that some people did not know who the candidates were, but I cannot remember anything specifically that talks to turnout and nothing else.

The Survey

The questions were as follows, with the ones with an asterisk required:

*1. Please indicate if you voted in the [...]Read More

Categories: Political Theory

Interview with Craig Burrows

4
August 16, 2010 - By

Craig Burrows, candidate for Calgary’s top job, took the time to meet with me on Sunday at McMahon Stadium, just before the battle of Alberta. In the interview, we discussed the five major issues that he saw facing Calgary, his hiatus from council, and some policy.

Burrows used to be Alderman for Ward 6, until he was defeated in 2007 by, now mayoralty candidate Joe Connelly. Since then, he worked in corporate finance, and has decided to run to return to the council chambers, reinvigorated after his time away.

“If I were an alderman still today, I wouldn’t have had that idea.”


Prior to my interview, Craig was busy talking to a few voters. He spent considerable time discussing the issue of secondary suites with a gentleman who happens to be a landlord. It was interesting listening to the banter, only because as an interviewer you often don’t see this direct interaction. They talked about the issues of every secondary suite having to go to council, and how NIMBYism seemed present in decision-making. They discussed issues of building codes, parking, and how important it would be to have a phased approach and perhaps even a plebiscite after [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Twibate Dates and Details

3
August 13, 2010 - By

After cross-checking schedules, some predictive analysis modeling, and channeling of spirits, we now have dates and details for the CalgaryPolitics.com Twibate Series.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Twibate series is an opportunity to have the candidates online, answering questions in a debate, combined with opportunity for any follower to engage, ask follow-up questions, and learn more about the candidates in one place.  11 mayoralty candidates have Twitter so far, as do almost 30 aldermanic candidates.

The dates will be as follows:

Mayoralty: Tuesday, September 14, 7:00pm
Aldermanic Wards 1,3,7,9,11,13: Tuesday, September 21, 7:00pm
Aldermanic Wards 2,4,6,8,10,12,14 and 5: Thursday, September 23, 7:00pm
Note: Ward 5 moved to Sept 23 to avoid conflict with CiviCamp’s Ward 5 forum

The Twibate will take place over 2 hours – a total of 11 questions per Twibate, with opportunity for closing statements after.  Of course, this is only the official times of the Twibates – followup questions may take additional time to answer.

We have provided all candidates whose email addresses we have/were able to find with a link to Candidate Guidelines.  If you are a candidate and did not receive this, please let us know, and [...]Read More

Categories: Public Service Announcements

CalgaryPolitics.com Debate

9
August 4, 2010 - By

If you’ve ever watched a Canadian political forum, it goes pretty much like this:  The moderator asks a question, and the candidates, in rotation, answer.  One by one, they either tack onto an opponent’s answer, or refer to another one to explain how theirs is different, but there is no real rebuttal process or the point-counterpoint dynamic that exists in a real debate.  Hell, even those friendly arguments at the bar about Mac vs. PC look more like a formal debate than these.

However, it is difficult to hold a real debate because, well, could you imagine the point-counterpoint complexities of a dozen candidates?  I guess you could hold debates of 2 individuals and ensure every candidate faces every other candidate… but then you would have 66 individual debates.

So how do you really get a chance to put all the candidates in one spot, let them argue with each other but also have a moderator who asks specific questions to each of them as well?  And how do you allow the audience to chime in with follow ups to individual candidates?

Enter the debate style of the social media world: The CalgaryPolitics.com Twibate series.

Alberta has one of the [...]Read More

Categories: Public Service Announcements