Posts Tagged ‘Joe Connelly’

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

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

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

Ward races to watch for this election

30
September 27, 2010 - By

With 14 other pseudo mayoral races, there has to be an analysis somewhere of the potential ward races. Here is a breakdown of some of the more crucial races that people should be keeping their eyes on (especially if you live in them):

Ward 1: This is a battle between challenger Chris Harper and veteran Dale Hodges, as many political observers note. Harper has been door knocking very early on in the year, and has hit over 10,000 homes by the end of August. Jennifer Banks last time ran an extremely successful and close campaign against Hodges, taking 40% of the popular vote. This is an important race because Harper may end up losing because of the split vote in that ward. In 2007, only 3 candidates were in the ward 1 race. Now we have 6, and Jennifer Banks is not in the race. Ward 1 is also home to the University of Calgary. Ward 1 will be an indicator of whether or not those aged 18-24 will be coming out to vote. Should they not, it would mean that the city will continue to struggle with the youth for a least another decade.

Candidates who are running:

Harper, [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Alderman - Ward 1, Alderman - Ward 12, Alderman - Ward 4, Alderman - Ward 6, Alderman - Ward 7, Alderman - Ward 8, Alderman - Ward 9

No free lunch for any mayoral candidate

2
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?

6
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

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

Guest Blogger John Santos on the Global Poll

4
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

Don’t Fire Until You See The Whites Of Their Eyes…

3
July 29, 2010 - By

Nation, the silly season is upon us in full force, as we have (at last count) 12 candidates for mayor, 44 confirmed aldermanic candidates, and 11 candidates for trustee spread out over 2 school boards – all vying for public attention, donor dollars, media coverage, and the all-important momentum, going into the October 18th vote.

The crazy train arrived a little earlier than normal this election cycle, with word earlier this year that mayor Dave Bronconnier would not be seeking re-election. From the day that announcement was made, it was only a matter of time before all heck broke loose – and break loose, it did.

3 sitting aldermen are seeking the mayor’s chair: Ric McIver, Bob Hawkesworth and Joe Connelly. As well, Alderman Joe Ceci has announced he won’t be seeking re-election. So, right there, you have 4 wards that will seat new alderman at the first council meeting this fall. That’s assuming no incumbents taste defeat – an unlikely situation, as the acrimonious and controversial nature of this past council hasn’t been seen in these parts since Danielle Smith was a CBE Trustee. People are hungry for change – and it’s not overstating the matter to suggest [...]Read More

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

Ric Lockhart to announce run in Ward 1

1
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?

1
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

Why Hehr Shouldn’t Step Down

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May 7, 2010 - By

Nation, it hasn’t been 72 hours since Kent Hehr announced he was going to be running for Mayor of the City of Calgary, and already the naysayers are coming out to decry the move as an effort to “double-dip”, at the taxpayers’ expense.

“Hehr should resign his seat as an MLA to run!” goes the loudest cry. Slightly quieter, hoping to be taken more seriously as a “moderated” opinion, is the insistence that “he should at least take a leave of absence!”.

Here’s the thing…

Kent Hehr shouldn’t do EITHER of those things at this point – and very probably, neither at ANY point.

Let’s imagine Kenny Ware, cab driver. Kenny, like most of the cab drivers I know, thinks he’s got a lot of solutions for what ails our society. So he decides to run for Alderman in the upcoming municipal election. Kenny’s boss calls him into the office the next day and says… what? “I want you to quit working for us if you’re looking for another job”? Or, even better, “I want you to keep working for us, but we won’t pay you as long as you’re looking for other work”?

Are you KIDDING me?

Kenny would [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Wanted: A Few Good Women

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May 6, 2010 - By

Nation, I’ve never been a fan of “gender balance for its own sake” when it comes to the workplace. I don’t believe that an employer should be forced to give a position to a less qualified candidate simply because the office hasn’t met its “50/50″ state of complete gender balance. For that reason, I’ve also not been a big fan of the never-ending caterwauling that accompanies every cabinet announcement in the history of EVER when the same old suspects rise up to decry the “institutional sexism” that exists in our governments – Prime Minister, Presidents and Premiers should be appointing the most qualified people to fill the challenging roles of cabinet positions, not appointing empty suits in an effort to keep their constituents satisfied that there are enough women, men, people of colour, people with mobility challenges, or people of Ukrainian descent in a cabinet at any given time in relation to the percentage of population.

ALL that said, though, I think it’s a real problem that we have such a hard time attracting female leaders of our community into the political realm, to put their names on a ballot.

Now, there are literally HUNDREDS of ways in which women [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Political Theory

Waiter! Waiter! There’s a Hehr in my mayoral race!

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May 5, 2010 - By

Well, Nation, nobody suggested that this year’s Calgary mayoral race was going to be boring…

Kent Hehr, Liberal MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, announced today his intention to seek the office of Mayor for the City of Calgary.

This seems a little unexpected to many – I have to admit that I was made aware of the “98% certainty” of Hehr’s decision last week, however even then I was totally unaware of the immediacy of that decision being announced. This sounds like Kent was trying to get his announcement out before someone else who appeals to the same demographic – Dave Taylor, perhaps? – could get the drop on him and steal his thunder.

One of Hehr’s primary arguments in favour of his candidacy is his perception that choosing a mayor who has been on the current council would result in a great deal of baggage coming with the new mayor. Certainly, the sniping that we’ve seen among council members isn’t likely to change with one of the current bunch just switching chairs and getting to hold the gavel – but, we all know that the new mayor isn’t going to be the only change on council… not by a LONG [...]Read More

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

Ward 12 Alderman Ric McIver announces bid for mayor

April 22, 2010 - By

After almost a year of speculation, Ward 12 Alderman Ric McIver announced his bid for mayor, making him the fourth person to officially announce. Of course the price tag to be the first to know was not cheap. It was a $150 ticket to get into the block party. Or you could have found out a few minutes later on the Internet.

Ric McIver’s been Ward 12′s alderman since 2001, and before that he had operated a distribution company and a construction company. While the list is small, he’s capitalized on using the mainstream media to his advantage to become the perceived front runner in this race. Most people know him through the media, and he’s taken the fiscal conservative approach in the budgeting of our city system. He’s earned the notorious nickname of “Dr. No” by the mainstream media for his overwhelming number of objections to many readings and bylaws.

Perhaps the biggest thing to shock Calgarians because “we’re really into local politics” is that if Ric McIver wins, he’ll be one of the few conservative mayors that Calgary has had. I mean conservative as in association at one [...]Read More

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

Diane Colley-Urquhart making her mayoral move?

4
April 19, 2010 - By

One of the more fun aspects of having a blog is the number of “tips” I get sent by readers and marketers. Usually there is very little newsworthy about them, other times they might be newsworthy but the tipster provides little in the way to back up their claim. In both cases I usually ignore the tip for those reasons. However this tip is different.

This past weekend I recieved a tip from two different sources that Diane Colley-Urquart, current alderman for ward 13, has been buying advertising space for a run at the mayor seat.

It strikes me this isn’t the kind of thing an overly enthusiastic volunteer would do without the candidate’s go ahead on a campaign, so I’m inclined to believe it to be a sign she’s in.

Neither tipster could provide evidence without outing themselves as a tipster and so I have none. But I know both of these folks and trust them, so I’ve decided to report it. Take if for what it is: completely unsubstantiated or verified by yours truly.

Personally I have my fingers crossed it’s true. We need more women running for council! It will be nice to see her make a [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

Ald. Connelly to make “an important announcement”

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April 13, 2010 - By

It’s been the City’s worst kept secret that Ald. Ric McIver will be announcing his intentions to run for Mayor at “Ric’s Block Party” on April 21 (5pm to 8pm, get your tickets here.) But what about Ald. Joe Connelly?

Ald. Connelly has been saying for a little bit that he would make an announcement between now and May. An email sent out today has set the date for this announcement however: tomorrow. Expect him to be trying to scoop Ald. McIver by getting out of the Mayoralty gate first (even if only by a week).

Here’s the full text of the invitation. Be there or be… running for alderman (? I suppose).

Media and Guest Invitation for Announcement by

Alderman Joe Connelly, Ward Six
City of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta Alderman Joe Connelly, Ward Six, City of Calgary will be making an important announcement on Wednesday, April 14 in his Ward at the Strathcona Community Association.

Media and guests are invited to attend as follows:
Date:  Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Time: Meet and Greet 3:00 pm
Announcement 3:30 pm

Location: Strathcona Community Association
277 Strathcona Drive SW,  Calgary, AB
Phone number of the Community Association:  403.249.1138
Free [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary