Posts Tagged ‘Craig Burrows’

The ‘Real’ Disappointments

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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

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

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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

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

My Thoughts On The VoteCalgary.ca Mayoralty Forum

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September 28, 2010 - By

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the VoteCalgary.ca Mayoralty Forum held today at Stampede Park, along with fellow CalgaryPolitics.com blogger DJ Kelly.  The forum was attended by a packed house made up of representatives from Calgary’s building and development industry and it was a well run affair.

 The eight mayoralty candidates in attendance were:  Ric McIver, Joe Connelly, Jon Lord, Barb Higgins, Craig Burrows, Naheed Nenshi, Wayne Stewart and Bob Hawkesworth.  Perennial candidate ( and party crasher) Oscar Fech was also in attendance and while he tried to squeeze in on the forum, he was not part of the proceedings. ( Moderator Ken King explained that these eight candidates were invited as they completed a pre-forum questionnaire.)

 While the forum was well run and went by rather quickly, there really was no “earth shattering” quotes.  Most of the candidates stuck to their positions and the central theme centered around such buzzwords as “getting it right”, “creating a level playing field”, “streamlining the approval process” and “supporting consumers choice in having the options to purchase a single family, detached dwelling”.  There seemed to be a lot of generic answers given and all candidates tended to stay [...]Read More

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

Bringing in the big guns

September 15, 2010 - By

With just over a month to go until election day and only a few days until nomination papers are filed, some candidates are pulling out all the stops – including a little star power.

Stockyards Salon was the venue for a political faceoff between mayoral candidate Craig Burrows and Hockey Night in Canada’s Kelly Hrudey. The conversation was prefaced with a disclaimer that these lifelong friends hadn’t discussed the questions beforehand. Automatically, my PR mind contested the statement. “Of course they discussed it,” I thought, “who in their right mind wouldn’t. This is an easy PR move.”

Well it wasn’t all glitz and glamour. After some traditional roasting and banter, Hrudey got down to business. He asked Burrows everything from why he was the best candidate for mayor to how his position has shifted over the years from hanging onto Enmax to now wanting to sell. As I raised my eyebrows, I thought, “Well played Mr. Hrudey.”

Although a little long winded at times, Burrows gave clear answers. He even held his promises accountable to a timeline by stating Calgary would have new ice rinks and funding towards fitness and leisure centres within the next 12 – 36 months. He [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

No free lunch for any mayoral candidate

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September 9, 2010 - By

Update: Forgot to add a comment on Derek McKenzie. It has now been included.

This post was originally going to be called “Blurtations about the 2 horse race” but it was decided that this was a better title. While this blogger didn’t get the opportunity to eat lunch or have coffee with Higgins, he did have a “pseudo lunch” with her when she made her platform speech down at the Olympic Plaza. There are many points to be made from this event and from the election in general that a post to talk about it all was fitting.

1. A platform from Higgins, or at least something to hold onto: Expectations are pretty low so far when it comes to platform ideas. In the perceived two way race between Ric McIver and Barb Higgins, you’re probably not expecting a lot in terms of platforms and policies. However, while many have criticized Higgins for a lack of a platform, she came out with at least a few (and very practical). She laid out 7 main goals, and gave the public at least a hint of a platform.

a) Financial Responsibility: One that was interesting to hear was the make [...]Read More

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

Guest Blog: It’s Saturday Night… Do you know where your Mayoral Candidates Are?

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September 1, 2010 - By

Nation, this blogger is blessed to have many articulate readers and friends who visit this blog, some of whom occasionally agree with him, and, as is more often the case, many of whom DISagree with him (because they’re intelligent, and he’s just eye candy).

Occasionally, one of those readers or friends (in this case, both) submits something in writing that deserves a great deal more attention than the typical “comment” at the bottom of another blog post. Christina Rontynen submitted the following commentary to me last Saturday evening, and I’m putting it up on the blog (with her permission) for public consumption. All references to time (e.g. “tonight” or “this evening”) are – as Einstein might say – relative.

Christina’s writing begins… now.

*********

I sit up on a Saturday evening … and like the nerdy, politically astute female I am I wonder what my mayoral candidates are up to. Saturday night is the stereotypical date night; the night away, the night off, the night checked out from the world of politics.

Looking through my TweetDeck I find that the hashtag #nomnomnom brings me to find individuals enjoying funnel cake, chocolate chip cookie dough, and @eliz_rocks enjoying “deep fried cheese [...]Read More

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

The CalgaryPolitics.com Charity Bowling Event Was A Blast!

September 1, 2010 - By

Thanks again to everyone that supported the CalgaryPolitics.com Charity Bowling Event that we hosted on Monday August 30! The event was completely sold out and we had over 150 people in attendance, including over 20 candidates in the upcoming Calgary Municipal Election!

Everyone seemed to have a great time and we raised $2800 for Brown Bagging For Calgary’s Kids Society, which is pretty amazing! This amount will supply nearly 2800 lunches for needy school kids in the Calgary area!

Some of the candidates in attendance were:

Richard Dur Ernest McCrutcheon ( 2 Lanes) Shane Keating ( 2 Lanes) Jane Morgan

Al Browne Sean Chu Ric Lockhart Malik Amery Kevin Taylor

Chris Harper Roger Crowe Gian-Carlo Carra Shawn Kao ( the Get Kao Girls!)

Zak Pashak Andrew Rodych Judi Vandenbrink Josh Traptow Rory Rotzoll

Robert Guizzo

From the Mayoralty race, we had Craig Burrows and Paul Hughes in attendance. Ric McIver had donated a lane sponsorship for the event, but was unable to attend.

We also had some support from the business community, with Carma Developers, BiFrost Development, Canada Brokerlink Inc. and Principia Communications sponsoring the charity event!

And finally a big thanks to the media personalities that [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Uncategorized

Interview with Craig Burrows

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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

Guest Blogger John Santos on the Global Poll

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July 31, 2010 - By

Nation, it’s funny how small a world this is when you think about it…

I received a Facebook “friend request” a few months ago, from a young man named John Santos. It turns out that his brother had attended a music school at which I had been a teacher. The message that John sent along with his “friend request” indicated that he had long been a reader of The Enlightened Savage, and now that he realized there was a personal connection, he’d be sure to read even more often.

Well, it turns out that John is quite the political animal, and when the Global/NRG poll came out this Thursday night, John made sure to point out on Twitter that, “Not that the overall picture would change, but there are methodological issues with the Global poll.”

Now, many would disagree with me on this point, but I firmly believe that methodology MATTERS in these things… a badly-constructed poll, whether by circumstance or by purposeful design, leads one to believe that certain things are true, when in fact they’re not – and donors, volunteers, and supporters pay attention to the numbers that these polls trumpet as STONE. COLD. FACT. A poll that’s [...]Read More

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

Ric Lockhart to announce run in Ward 1

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July 27, 2010 - By

Some of you might have had a scare if you thought it said McIver after the Ric, but rest assured it is a different Ric! He’s going to announce the launch of his campaign on August 5th, so this blog is at least a week ahead of reporting the official news. From his checklist, his campaign will be geared towards a north west recreation centre, and clear and accountable tax spending.

So now the bigger question for Ward 1 is whether or not all these challengers to Alderman Dale Hodges will actually help the incumbent win his seat back for the millionth time. Although many have said that Chris Harper is a potential challenger, his odds of winning, especially against an incumbent, are now lower with the entrance of a new candidate. As well, we can expect more candidates to enter the Ward 1 race. Unless we see someone drop out like we did in Ward 6 last election, where incumbent Craig Burrows was defeated by Joe Connelly, Ward 1 may end up in Hodges’ favour once again. Had this kind of intense campaigning occurred last election, even more than [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Alderman - Ward 1, Alderman - Ward 8

And Bob Makes… Eight? Nine?

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June 2, 2010 - By

Nation, the announcement of Bob Hawkesworth’s intention to run for Mayor of Calgary this week has bumped up the list of confirmed mayoral candidates to eight – or nine, depending on what counts as “declaring” – with over 4 months to go to polling day.

For those keeping track at home, here are the confirmed candidates, according to CalgaryDemocracy.ca :

Alnoor Kassam – Alnoor claims he hasn’t declared his intentions formally yet, but that’s like the Oilers saying they haven’t decided whether to take Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin or someone else entirely on Draft Day. He’s been “unofficially declaring” himself to anyone within earshot for months. He’s running.

Bob Hawkesworth – the longtime Alderman joined the fray officially this week, though he’s been hinting for several weeks since announcing he wouldn’t be seeking his Aldermanic seat again. Thus far, he seems to be the only incumbent member of council in the running for Mayor who is actually defending council’s record – an interesting approach, but certainly unique among his peers.

Craig Burrows – the former Alderman announced last week, to little fanfare. Burrows has had some time away from “the game” to organize his bid, and doesn’t have to wear [...]Read More

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

Craig Burrows Announces Run for Mayor

May 28, 2010 - By

Yes I know Craig Burrows announced his run for mayor awhile ago, but this blogger was far behind in posting stuff, here’s a whole blog post devoted to Mr. Burrows.

Craig Burrows was the former alderman for Ward 6 before he was ousted by current alderman Joe Connelly. He served two terms and succeeded current mayor Dave Bronconnier. Burrows also challenged Dave Bronconnier back in 1998, and it was not until the seat opened up 2001 that Burrows took it with over 5000 votes.

There’s a certain thing I’m guessing about Ward 6 and people wanting to get in on the mayoral race. Connelly’s from Ward 6. Burrows was from Ward 6. There must be something going on that most of us aren’t aware of. It’s pretty much the same deal with Burrows. If he does win, he’ll be the second (ish) Ward 6 alderman (former now) to become the mayor.

There are several things that Burrows might need to watch out for:

1) 2007 election: He did end up being one of the 3 incumbents to lose their seats, and it might hurt him when it comes to facing [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Nenshi + Hawkesworth = stronger McIver

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May 27, 2010 - By

Today Naheed Nenshi has announced he will be running for mayor. On Monday we can expect a similar announcement from Bob Hawkesworth. The big winner from these announcements? Ric McIver.

As recently as yesterday, things were not looking great for Mr. McIver’s chances of becoming Calgary’s next mayor. As each mayoral candidate announced (Joe Connelly, Jon Lord, Craig Burrows) observers could see small parts of McIver’s assumed lead chipping away. Once Kent Hehr announced, enough had been chipped away that we were looking at a very real two way fight between McIver and Hehr.

With Nenshi and Hawkesworth entering the race, it’s fair to assume Mr. Hehr is now the one experiencing the chipping away of potential voters from his target group. It’s my guess that when it all plays out, enough will have been chipped away to return Mr. McIver to a healthy leading position once again.

What are your thoughts?

Cross posted from djkelly.ca

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

Mayoral site mimicking another one

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May 21, 2010 - By

This blogger knows a thing or two about mimicking websites, but apparently candidates are doing it as well! While reading through hilarious comments on the Calgary Herald, one reader pointed out that Craig Burrows’ mayoral volunteer website is really the same thing as Ric McIver’s mayoral volunteer website. I don’t know if this is to trick people, someone was lazy, great minds think a like, or even a parody, but it’s an early stumble for Craig Burrows. Personally, I don’t really care who did what, I’m more concerned about who did what for the city.

This is Craig Burrows’ volunteer website
This is Ric McIver’s volunteer website

Does this small gaff translate into bigger things? Maybe. I know I’m going to be sitting back this long weekend, while some are going to have a very long weekend.

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Who’s running for Calgary City Council in 2010?

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April 4, 2010 - By

There sure are a lot of names coming out of the proverbial woodwork right about now saying they are going to run for Calgary City Council. Now it’s a long way off from nomination day on September 20, and everyone can change their minds still, but it’s already getting hard to figure out who is who, and who’s saying their running and who is not.

So with this in mind I decided to put together a list of everything I’ve seen reported, heard personally and have heard rumour of. I’ll try to update this list regularly as we hear or see other things. If you know of anyone missing, please just let me know and I’ll add it!

PS – Try not to read too much into the difference between “rumoured” and “declared”. At this point it doesn’t really mean much. It’s more a degree of veracity in their statements up till now that made me choose one over the other. Some however, are just rumours.

Mayor
Dave Bronconnier – Incumbent (not running)
Craig Burrows (rumoured)
Joe Connelly (rumoured)
Bob Hawkesworth (rumoured)
Kent Hehr (rumoured)
Paul Hughes (declared)
Alnoor Kassam (declared)
Jon Lord (declared)
[...]Read More

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