Posts Tagged ‘Kent Hehr’

The Race for Calgary-Buffalo

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April 8, 2012 - By

Created in 1971, Calgary-Buffalo is a classic “downtown urban” constituency – high-density housing, demanding campaigns that think outside-the-box in terms of contact with voters, and a committed self-interest that makes for unpredictable election results. The redistribution has resulted in the loss of the area west of 14th Street, which had been among some of the strongest areas of support for incumbent Liberal Kent Hehr. Before Hehr’s election in 2008, the riding had been held for 2 terms by the PCs, and by several Liberals for a combined 15 years before that.

Buffalo includes everything from ritzy glass-walled condo towers to 85 year-old houses in Victoria Park. The most pressing issues tend to vary from election to election, but in the last 10 years or so crime and law-and-order are often near the top of the list.

The Candidates:

Mike Blanchard (WRP)

Rebecca Eras (NDP)

Kent Hehr (LIB)

Jamie Lall (PC)

Cory Mack (AP)

Mike Blanchard is a popular former host with CHQR AM770 in Calgary. Contrary to the perception of some of the other hosts on QR, Blanchard tends more to the “active listener” description – you get the feeling you’re the only person in the [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι Categories: Provincial Election - News

Hehr Today, Gone Tomorrow

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September 20, 2010 - By

Trevor Scott Howell of FFWD Weekly is reporting that Mayoralty Candidate Kent Hehr is dropping out of the race.

Mr. Hehr, currently an MLA for the Alberta Liberal Party, decided to take a run for the Mayor’s chair.  He recently released an aggressive and controversial ad campaign saying, “A bullet can’t stop him. Nothing can.”  Mr. Hehr was the victim of a drive-by shooting in 1991 leaving him as a quadriplegic.  He has since been an advocate against gun violence.

I think @jeremybarretto said it best with this post on Twitter, “We can all agree that @Hehr4Mayor is a class act in everything that he does: hockey, law and politics. #yycvote”

Being nomination day, we expect to hear about any additional drop-outs today.

Tags: 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

Return to Sender

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September 3, 2010 - By

Each day, I come home to an earless black cat (yes, earless) and a mailbox full of bills and junk mail. But yesterday, amongst the clutter, I noticed a direct mail piece from candidate Naheed Nenshi. First reaction: “that must have been expensive.” Since I don’t get cell phone reception in the elevator (thanks Telus), I gave the Nenshi marketing piece a read. Fast Forward to this morning and I can’t tell you what was actually on the full-colour, double-sided postcard. What I do remember is skimming an article the other day about campaign disclosures.

Fast Forward Weekly reported Nenshi promised on May 27 to “immediately unveil his donors on a weekly basis” (see full article). Here we are three months later and Nenshi is now saying September 20, 2010 is the big day based on advice from his “volunteer lawyers.” Yup… those are the exact qualities I’m looking for in a mayor. Promise one thing, deliver on another.

Anyway, you can bet come September 20, I will be looking for the generous donor or donors who contributed to a direct mail strategy that cost at least a healthy five figures. After chatting to some friends, at [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary, Political Theory

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

Audio: Interview with Mayoral Candidate Kent Hehr

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August 29, 2010 - By

Nation, I had the opportunity to sit down briefly with mayoral hopeful and MLA for Calgary-Buffalo Kent Hehr in advance of his fundraiser last night at Lord Nelson’s Pub.

The fundraiser itself was well-attended, and spirits were high. Hehr gave a brief speech, followed by an Elvis who looked suspiciously like a former head of the Public Teachers’ Union, and then a local band starting rocking the joint – which was my cue to leave (the band was good, but I had other commitments).

We had a chance to talk about Hehr’s vision for the city, transparency, public safety, sandwiches, and a bunch of other stuff as well.  Take a listen!

Note 1: There was music playing in the background, which I’ve tried to filter out somewhat in the “audio cleaning” process.  You will, however, still hear the background noise. It IS a pub, after all.

Note 2: The interview was being conducted in full view of everyone who walked in, so at several points you’ll hear people come over and try to talk to Kent, a server come by with some nice cold Diet Cokes, etc.  I’ve kept these in the audio as part of my commitment to provide [...]Read More

Tags: Categories: Mayor of Calgary

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

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

Newcomers in Wards 4, 11, and 12

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April 7, 2010 - By

Apparently there’s too much Starcraft and not enough hardcore civic election news, so here’s an update on just some of the newcomers into this free-for-all election.

Ward 4

Rumour has it that Sean Chu, who lost against Kent Hehr in Calgary-Buffalo, will take a stab at ward 4 this election. We’ll have to wait and see when the election approaches.

Will Sean Chu Run for Calgary Ward 4 Alderman? – Calgary Rants

Rumour also has it that George Chahal, who lost against Alderman Jim Stevenson in Ward 3, will also take a stab at ward 4. We definitely have two very strong contenders in this ward.

Who’s running for Calgary City Council in 2010? – DJ Kelly

Ward 11

Ernest McCutcheon – I had an Ernest McCutcheon follow me in Twitter today, and he’s indicated on his account that he’ll challenge Brian Pincott in ward 11. He’s been a project manager, sales manager, trained as an EMR, and an ordinary member of the Royal Canadian Legion. That’s all I got from his website, so hopefully we’ll get more information. In keeping with the Pokemon thing [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι ι ι ι ι ι ι Categories: Alderman - Ward 11, Alderman - Ward 12, Alderman - Ward 4

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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