Browsing posts in the ‘Mayor of Calgary’ category

The conversation deficit that we must avoid

4
October 28, 2010 - By

The election buzz is still in the air, but this Nenshi euphoria may have clouded a bit of how we will proceed as citizens over the next three years. The media has also been drawn into this Nenshi hype, and the only column against Nenshi was poorly received. While the turnout at the swearing-in ceremony was unprecedented, one must look at it with cautious optimism.

It is hard to get rid of a system with those in power who were brought in under the same system. While Nenshi has committed himself to a variety of campaign finance reform measures, he spoke little on the way aldermen and the mayor are elected. The first past the post system has given a false sense of victory. Nenshi was only elected with a plurality of votes. It would be hard to make the argument that change is in the air and that Calgary is moving progressively when 60% of the popular vote was not for Nenshi. If we look at the math more closely, the city can only claim that 21% of Calgarians actively said they supported Nenshi.

47% of eligible voters did not cast a ballot for Nenshi. They were [...]Read More

Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Calgary, meet your new council

1
October 19, 2010 - By

The unofficial results are in and we have seen a mix of change and returning of the old guard happening. It’s a whole new ball game now; an entirly new dynamic. Here’s the list of who the fifteeen around the table will be:

Mayor - Naheed Nenshi
Ward 1 – Dale Hodges
Ward 2 – Gord Lowe
Ward 3 – Jim Stevenson
Ward 4 - Gael Macleod
Ward 5 – Ray Jones
Ward 6 - Richard Pootmans
Ward 7 – Druh Farrell
Ward 8 – John Mar
Ward 9 - Gian-Carlo Carra
Ward 10 – Andre Chabot
Ward 11 – Brian Pincott
Ward 12 - Shane Keating
Ward 13 – Diane Colley-Urquhart
Ward 14 - Peter Demong

The biggest question facing how this new council will work together is what kind of a chair will Naheed Nenshi be. Will he be a bullying mayor (not likely) or more laissez faire in his control of meetings? Or might he be more like Bronconnier and give alderman some leeway, but keep them on a short leash if they stray too far outside what is prescribed in the procedural bylaw. An alderman like Druh Farrell will live and die [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Alderman - Ward 1, Alderman - Ward 10, Alderman - Ward 11, Alderman - Ward 12, Alderman - Ward 13, Alderman - Ward 14, Alderman - Ward 2, Alderman - Ward 3, Alderman - Ward 4, Alderman - Ward 5, Alderman - Ward 6, Alderman - Ward 7, Alderman - Ward 8, Alderman - Ward 9, Mayor of Calgary, Political Theory

It’s Not Always Pretty

4
October 18, 2010 - By

When you only just get home at 6 in the morning, and intend to wake up at 10 am to prepare for another beautiful day of church – the church of Football that is – waking up with a massive headache is the last thing one would want. I figured I would drink some water, relax, and read the latest on the #yycvote hash tag as I so often do. Safe to say, that didn’t make my head any better.

I honestly have loved what twitter has done for us this election. I have never been a huge advocate of twitter and I have made this very clear to those who know me. I don’t care to tell anonymous people what I had for breakfast. I’m not an attention-seeker.

I have loved how it has opened up discussions about the candidates, and remains a consistent feed for the articles being posted around the horn. If someone was going to be on QR77 or CBC Radio One at a certain time, you knew when to tune in, and you’d have a nice link getting you right there. If you wanted information and footage from the forums and debates, you had [...]Read More

Categories: Mayor of Calgary

All eyes on Naheed Nenshi

7
October 18, 2010 - By

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 will be Calgary’s 36th mayor’s day, and his/her time to shine and to celebrate his/her victory. However, October 18th, which is election day, will truly be Naheed Nenshi’s day, win or lose. Nenshi has come a long way from being a low polling candidate overshadowed by Ric McIver and Barb Higgins, to a surging 3rd candidate who can now claim one and a half newspaper endorsements (one from the Calgary Sun and an honorable mention from the Calgary Herald) and polling in the 20s at least. Nenshi’s background and history is one of great interest, and far more detailed and known than his challengers Higgins and McIver.

Biography

Nenshi was born in Toronto and grew up in Marlborough in Calgary, and the beginnings of his political interest began right at Queen Elizabeth Jr/Sr High school, where he was the Prime Minister of school’s 10th mock parliament. Interesting enough, then MLA Bob Hawkesworth was invited as Speaker of the House. Nenshi went on to become president of the University of Calgary’s Students’ Union, and his current campaign manager Chima Nkemdirim, served as Vice President External.

Nenshi would finish his university education with a Bachelors of Commerce [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

What Do These Schmucks Do? – Mayoral Edition

3
October 17, 2010 - By

(re-posted, with edits and additions, from October 2007)

Back to the Queen’s Printer, as (once again), nobody at the City of Calgary is inclined to tell us what the Mayor’s job is…

General duties of chief elected official

(1) A chief elected official, in addition to performing the duties of a councillor, must

(a) preside when in attendance at a council meeting unless a bylaw provides that another councillor or other person is to preside, and

(b) perform any other duty imposed on a chief elected official by this or any other enactment or bylaw.

(2) The chief elected official is a member of all council committees and all bodies to which council has the right to appoint members under this Act, unless the council provides otherwise.

(3) Despite subsection (2), the chief elected official may be a member of a board, commission, subdivision authority or development authority established under Part 17 only if the chief elected official is appointed in the chief elected official’s personal name.

(Municipal Government Act, Part Five, Division Three)

So, essentially… the mayor is an “Alderman-at-large” required to swing the gavel at meetings.

Again, as with Aldermen, the Mayor can do [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary, Political Theory

To Calgarians with love…

3
October 17, 2010 - By

Before the polls close tomorrow, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who allowed me to have a voice during this election. My interest in the race started after I read “Yes We Did.” I was inspired and fascinated by the communication and marketing strategies of Obama campaign. They seemed to effortlessly blend innovation with simplicity when it came to crafting and delivering their messages.

From the beginning and especially when Calgarypolitics.com asked me to join the crew, I made it clear that I was writing from a public relations lens that was infused with a very dry sense of humour. Slightly embarrassed, I quietly admitted that I actually didn’t know a lot about politics. And that was point. I knew I wasn’t alone, and I thought if I shared my journey and restless thoughts that it might encourage other young voters to hit the polls.

So regardless of tomorrow’s results: thanks to each you who encouraged and debated me along the way. It’s because of your no-holds-bar conversations that I was able to learn, understand different viewpoints, and make a choice that I can stand behind. Oddly, it’s a choice that I wouldn’t even have considered a [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary, Shameless Self Promotion

yyc Twibates Part I: Intro and Mayoral

October 17, 2010 - By

In a world of 140 characters or less, “twitter debate” is simply 7 characters too wasteful. With tweeps and twitpics and twurls, it seemed only appropriate that our experiment be called a “twibate.” When we set out to do this, we had no idea if it was going to work well or not. We had no idea whether 10 minutes between questions would be far too long. We weren’t even sure what audience would be like. Yet, as we progressed with the experiment, we learned that there are actually some good ways to do this.

Is Twitter the be all and end all of debates? No. It has severe limitations. However, it actually did help some individuals make decisions, and it helped some candidates get messages out. It is a complimentary system, to the already established media for campaign messaging and political discourse.

The most difficult piece for myself, personally, has been getting the time to dissect the data. Twitter’s back-end functionality actually links tweets together *if* someone clicks the “reply” button as opposed to starting their tweet with “@[username]” without hitting the button. So side conversations can be completely unreliable without going through line-by-line and determining what conversation a [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Events, Mayor of Calgary

The ‘Real’ Disappointments

1
October 16, 2010 - By

Nation, one of the things I’m most excited about to come out of this election on the Social Media side of things is the birth of a new blog, by (until now) guest blogger Christina Rontynen and her “plus one”.  Being the megalithic blogging presence that I am, I take full credit for the creation of this blog, as well as Calgary Rants and (by extension) Calgary Daddy, not to mention CalgaryPolitics.com.  Add to this the fact that I single-handedly wiped Alberta Tory off the map, and scared Calgary Grit so badly he had to move to Toronto, and it becomes clear that the greatest force shaping the landscape of the Albertan blogosphere isn’t rain or wind – it’s The Enlightened Savage.

This is the final entry of a series that began with an open invitation by Christina for candidates to show her “the real them”.

Christina’s post begins…  now.

*****

I started this blogging adventure with an invitation to all mayoral candidates to hang out and let me get know the person behind the politician. I received an overwhelming response – McKenzie, Nenshi, Burrows, and Higgins. So thanks – to those of [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Video Interview With 2010 Calgary Mayoral Candidate Ric McIver

October 15, 2010 - By

I had the opportunity to sit down with Ric McIver this morning for a quick blog interview.  I was surprised that we were actually able to connect, given the fact that the election is less than 3 days away!  Ric had some interesting responses on the importance of the first 60 days in office, what separates him from the other candidates and his views on some major city issues, including the SW Ring Road, airport tunnel and recreation facilities in Calgary.

 Here is the video….

I apologize for the shaky hand, but I do not pretend to be a professional at all! 

I am impressed that Ric made some time for my blog and for CalgaryPolitics.com given how hectic his schedule must be right now. I know that all of the candidates are looking forward to the vote on Monday!

Also, if you do not have any plans on election night feel free to join CalgaryPolitics.com for our election party!

http://calgarypolitics.com/2010/10/13/the-only-election-night-party-you-should-even-think-of-attending/

Shane

This was cross posted from Shane at www.calgaryrants.com

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Do we have to prove that we can break Barb Higgins?

5
October 15, 2010 - By

As a former mayoral candidate in some election in some city, Thursday was a very interesting day for me to watch, and a very long day for mayoral candidate Barb Higgins. What was supposed to be a simple one one one with Mike McCourt turned into Higgins’ worst nightmare. I have a couple of comments to make because while we are all so excited about this election, it has turned ugly and nasty, and quite frankly at times, a gong show.

When I ran, I ran to address issues and get people talking about the civic election. I was glad to see that the turnout go from a terrible 19% to 33%. I may have pointed things out and debated about issues that were important for a city that was still booming in 2007, but I did not throw mud around at people or attacked the candidates personally. I ran a campaign about spending hours talking to student journalists, steering away from personal attacks, and did my best to represent my age group of 18-25. I wanted to have a civil conversation, and the public responded well to that kind of dialogue. What we have seen from Bob Hawkesworth’s [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Take that and rewind it back – Higgins vs. McCourt – The PR factor

14
October 14, 2010 - By

It’s the talk of the town today – Barb Higgins vs. Mike McCourt. Rather than get into the political semantics of this discussion, I’m going to do what I always do and examine this encounter from a PR perspective. A couple of months ago, I was in a discussion with a lady who’s a client of Shawne Duperon (North American’s Network, Media, and Gossip expert – who’s in Calgary next month btw). She said something that will probably stay with me for the rest of my career because before that moment, I too would have geared my client up for any media opportunity that came our way. She shared Duperon’s position on doing an interview with a program similar to 60-minutes. Paraphrasing it went something like this, “I would never – in a million years – let my client appear on that show. Yes, they reach a lot of people but you know their angle is to be out for blood.”

In the words of Barb Higgins, “with all due respect” Mike McCourt could easily fall into this journalistic category as well. His segments are often a reach up the criticism tree. If he’s calling my office, I [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary, Uncategorized

‘Real’ Encouragement from a ‘Real’ Passionate Calgarian: Drinks with Barb Higgins

12
October 13, 2010 - By

Nation: The following is a submission from FOES (Friend Of the Enlightened Savage) Christina Rontynen.  It is also posted at her shiny, new blog: PC in YYC

Christina’s text appears…  now.

*****

I had been attempting to sit down with Barb since the week after my original blog had been published. A member of her team contacted me and let me know that this “interview” was important to them. Throughout the course of the last month I received emails and the occasional phone call asking my availability for the week ahead. On Friday night I was asked if I could be flexible over the long weekend. As a citizen blogger my answer was, of course, YES – except for the thanksgiving dinner factor on Sunday night. That was unlucky for me because I was invited to experience the Flames home opener with Barb that night. I really chalked it up to bad luck and bad timing. The next morning, to my surprise, one of Barb’s volunteers called and asked if I could meet for drinks at 8pm.

My day continued like any other – and when 7pm rolled around @ppilarski and I got ready and headed out to meet [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Mayor of Calgary

The Final Poll

18
October 11, 2010 - By

Barring any sort of last minute desire from the media, the poll delivered today by Ipsos-Reid is most likely the last poll of this campaign season. It’s been a long stretch – and now we’re only one week from the finish line.

The most important change in the poll released today was the switch between Higgins and McIver. In the ROI poll released last week, McIver had 37% and Higgins had 33%. Now, Higgins has the 37% and McIver has 34%. And who knows how the Eau Claire land deal will affect the voting numbers – the Ipsos survey finished thursday, the day before the story broke.

Below is a graph illustrating the support of the candidates who are still polling (including Connelly due to his early Sept. support) between September 8th and October 11th.

As shown above, McIver’s support has continued to wane from a high of 43% on Sept 19th down to 34% on Oct 11th for a net loss of -9%. Higgins has regained her July numbers after losing support in August, going from 27% on Sep 8th to 37% on Oct 11th, a net gain of 10%. Nenshi’s become a formidable third place opponent, but [...]Read More

Categories: Mayor of Calgary

The ‘Real’ Calgarian Candidate on Skates: Thursday Evening with Craig Burrows

2
October 11, 2010 - By

Nation, again we have another great piece by Christina Rontynen, contributing to CalgaryPolitics.com.  This marks the third in a series of pieces that resulted from a post she wrote, asking Calgary’s mayoral candidates to show her the “real them”.  The ones who have gotten back to her, are getting stories written about the experience. The ones who haven’t, aren’t. Any questions?

Christina’s text begins… now.

*****

I first met Craig Burrows through a mutual friend. It was shortly after my original blog about discovering the real people behind the mayoral candidates that I “bumped” in to him at the Barley Mill in Eau Claire Market. He was immediately interested in the idea of showing people the real him. “I’m an avid golfer. When I’m trying to relax before getting to sleep I dream about being on the green,” he explained while beaming. I told him to take me out for a round – after all I’m a firm believer that everyone’s true colours come out on the course.

Time passed … and our terrible month of weather continued. Craig contacted me, personally, still eager to show Calgary the man behind the mayoral candidate. He was playing hockey at the [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Mayor of Calgary

The most common argument I’ve heard against Barb Higgins

12
October 10, 2010 - By

Lately I’ve heard one main criticism about Barb Higgins and it’s just the wrong way to go about criticizing her: “She doesn’t do anything, she just reads a teleprompter.”


As a student journalist this irritates me. So much work goes into creating a simple half hour news show – especially one on prime time television. You can’t just throw it together. Trust me, I know what happens when you just throw together a half-hour news show – and it’s definitely not CTV News.

Higgins was more than just a news anchor, she wrote and co-produced the 6:00 News as well. So that stuff she was “just reading” on the teleprompter? She  wrote a lot of that too. I also imagine  she helped choose the stories to report and air as well.  She didn’t just show up at 6:00, read some stuff on TV, then leave at 6:30, but it sounds like a lot of people think she did just that.

Being in the media means it is your job to know what is going on. Not only are you reporting and reading the news every day, you’re friends with other people who are doing the same thing. [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Mayor of Calgary

‘Real’ Conversation with a ‘Real’ Calgarian: Saturday Night with Naheed Nenshi

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October 8, 2010 - By

Nation, the following is another guest post from Christina Rontynen.  She sent it to me 3 days ago, and I’m getting around to posting it now – she knows I owe her a beer.

This is another in a series of posts she’s written as candidates responded to her initial post, wondering who, exactly, they were.

Her text begins…  now.

*****

It’s Saturday evening, I’m sitting on the couch with iPhone in hand. I was awaiting an important email – an email from Naheed Nenshi.

His “people” had originally planned a get together a week ago – was suppose to be a casual morning meeting at his favourite Calgary cafe. A few days beforehand I received an email rescheduling for the following Saturday night; Mr. Nenshi needed a tag along to the Calgary International Film Festival Closing Gala. My casual coffee had turned in to a night out on the town … I was assured that I would get a chance to see the real Naheed in his element.

“Ding” – it was the email I had been waiting for.

“9:30. And bring a plus-one. We’ll talk our way in. I’m wearing a suit but dress hip and cool [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Ask and you shall receive

4
October 6, 2010 - By

During my last blog post, I was still scratching my head about what Ward I live in. Then I saw on the news that they ask you at the polling station. Gosh! Now the pressure is really on. I don’t want to look like an idiot. After all, just when I thought I knew what Ward I lived in, I got promotional pieces from candidates in Wards 6, 8, and 11. One was a message in my community newsletter (which ended up being from a candidate not running in the Ward I actually live in), so that really threw me for a loop. No wonder voters are confused! So, I checked a Ward map and I am right on a boundary. Sigh…

But fear not, the City of Calgary distributed a very comprehensive voter’s guide this week. And if that’s not enough or you’re part of the technical movement, you have the option of downloading a free app from http://ow.ly/2Ppcw

And, if you are still undecided about who to vote for or where to cast your ballot, the Calgary Herald really stepped up to the plate with a one-pager on the election. Find Ward contenders, mayoral candidate platforms, and [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

cjsw’s 2010 civic election coverage!

October 6, 2010 - By

HOLY. So basically CJSW 90.9FM is super rad. We’ve launched our civic election coverage featuring over 80 interviews and forum recordings and honestly, it blows my mind. Back in August when we started sending out e-mails I honesty had no idea how it would turn out and how many interviews we’d really be able to do – there were so many candidates! Click the image to check it out!

Each interview had to be booked (and then re-booked, as the case was at times), conducted, edited and uploaded. We also needed a rad website to showcase all our interviews and Aendrew and Reid nailed it. In short, we had about 25 volunteers who put this all together for your benefit. Twenty five volunteers, two months, and over eighty interviews. I’m insanely proud of it. Kudos to Joe Burima, CJSW’s News Director, who works like a madman 24/7 and makes the world a better place.

Anyways, listen to the interviews, subscribe to the podcast and take our interviews on the go. Be informed. AND VOTE. Don’t let all our hard work go to waste. Kudos to all the candidates who were [...]Read More

Categories: Alderman - Ward 1, Alderman - Ward 10, Alderman - Ward 11, Alderman - Ward 12, Alderman - Ward 13, Alderman - Ward 14, Alderman - Ward 2, Alderman - Ward 3, Alderman - Ward 4, Alderman - Ward 5, Alderman - Ward 6, Alderman - Ward 7, Alderman - Ward 8, Alderman - Ward 9, Calgary Issues, Mayor of Calgary

A Call for a Final Debate

32
October 6, 2010 - By

As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like the race to be Calgary’s next mayor has slowly narrowed itself down to three candidates who have a shot at the big chair.

Barb Higgins and Ric McIver are polling almost neck and neck, while Naheed Nenshi is the only other candidate in double digits of support.

I’m not ready to call the race yet or anything like that, but I do think it is time for citizens to be given a chance to see these three head-to-head-to-head in a debate allowing them the opportunity to clearly layout their plan and priorities for all Calgarians to directly compare free of any hindrance.

All three candidates have espoused their belief that what Calgary City Council needs is more transparency and accountability. There is no time like the present to show their belief in these principles and how important they are to them.

CalgaryPolitics.com has created a Facebook event page where all Calgarians can lend their support to this call for a Final Debate of the leading candidates in the week before the election. Please follow this link and mark yourself as “attending” if you too believe this debate [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Calgary Issues, Events, Mayor of Calgary, Public Service Announcements

Gut Check Time

7
October 6, 2010 - By

Nation, by now many of you have seen the new polling numbers for the Calgary Mayoral Election.

To sum it up:
McIver 31%
Higgins 28%
Nenshi 16%
All others, combined 9%
Undecided 17%

Let’s take a look at what this poll means for our candidates, shall we?

Ric McIver – 31%

This is a worrisome poll for Ric.  He’s had a more or less prohibitive lead since the day he announced his intention to run for Mayor.  This is the first time someone’s been perceived as being within legitimate striking distance of him – and what’s worse, he finds himself in a statistical tie with Barb Higgins, a photogenic communicator with no voting record hanging around her neck like an albatross.  Most of the barbs (lower-case b) in this campaign have been tossed at McIver, as the front-runner.  Higgins has, to this point, remained relatively unscathed.  Further, Ric has seen his share of popular support drop from 43% (September 19th) all the way down to 31% (October 5th).

Is he still winning? Yes.  If an election were held today, would he be our Mayor tomorrow? Yes. But suddenly, a campaign that has [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

The Crown of Complacency

October 4, 2010 - By

We’re officially two weeks from casting our ballots for one of the most important civic elections in Calgary’s history and I’ve dropped the ball. Blog posts have been sparse, emails avoided, and looking into what Ward I live in or where I go to vote has been ruled by procrastination. To be fair: I’ve been super busy and really sick. Plus, I don’t think the candidates are doing enough outside of traditional campaign tactics to get my attention. I have a very busy 9-9 gig and a reality tv schedule to keep up with. Typical.

I just, like so many voters, wrote off weeks of not getting proactively informed with excuses. The reality is: that’s life. Many of us are in the same boat. If you don’t count the cliché saying of “if you don’t vote, you can’t complain” water cooler talk, there’s no real public consequence to not paying attention or even getting out to vote. That’s if… we aren’t dealing with (I’ll say it again) one of the most important elections in Calgary’s history.
So what makes this election so special? Your vote so important? Oh… I don’t know. How about the fact that we are at [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

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