Posts Tagged ‘Ralph Klein’

The Race for Calgary-Elbow

April 15, 2012 - By

First formed in 1971, Calgary-Elbow has had 4 MLAs in the past 40 years – and 2 of them became Premier. One other became Deputy Premier. Pretty good odds, by any measure. Formerly held by PC’s David Russell and Ralph Klein, the constituency elected Liberal Craig Cheffins in a by-election to replace Klein before electing Alison Redford narrowly in 2008. The redistribution has seen significant changes to the boundaries, with many communities leaving the constituency, and some new ones added from Calgary-Currie. The large-scale changes to the make-up of the riding and the close result in 2008 are making some wonder if Redford, now PC Leader and Premier, can hold onto her own seat.

The Candidates:

Beena Ashar (LIB)

Greg Clark (AP)

James Cole (WRP)

Craig Coolahan (NDP)

William Hamilton (EVG)

Alison Redford (PC)

Beena Ashar ran unsuccessfully for Alderman in Ward 5 in 2010, finishing 3rd. The community fundraiser and prolific volunteer has been active on political campaigns for quite some time. Her issues include public safety and fiscal responsibility. Ashar was the final candidate named by the Alberta Liberals for this election. At this time, she does not have a campaign website.

Greg Clark is an [...]Read More

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

What Do These Schmucks Do? – Mayoral Edition

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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

Barb Higgins Announces Run For Mayor

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July 29, 2010 - By

Barb Higgins will be the number one person to watch as the 2010 municipal election creeps up on us. No other candidate, not even Ric McIver, has created such buzz and excitement about their mayoral candidacy. 2010 will be a very big mayoral race in the recent history of open-seat mayoral races. 1980 saw Ralph Klein unexpectedly elected after defeating incumbent Mayor Algers. From the recollection of this blogger, there were not that many high profile candidates in that one. 1989 would be a more lacklustre mayoral race when Al Duerr. 2001 was one where it was both a nasty and a surprising win for Dave Bronconnier after Bev Longstaff was deemed the front runner.

2010 was supposed to be a year of Bronconnier versus McIver in a showdown reminiscent of Sue Higgins versus Ralph Klein back in 1983. Many people forget that, and Sue Higgins recaptured her own Ward 12 seat 3 years after her failed bid in that respect. But, it turned out that Bronconnier decided to rule out a 4th term. All eyes were on Ric McIver, and now many say that Barb Higgins will be the [...]Read More

Tags: ι 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

April: The month where Calgarians know if Nenshi or McIver is running

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March 30, 2010 - By

They have been hinting at it, but it looks like some of the bigger players will finally confirm their candidacy (or surprise us) for the mayoral race. Actually, they better or else this blog post will be pointless. So just how do we know that April will be the month? Let’s take a look:

Ric McIver

The Metro reported that by the time Ric McIver is finished with his block party on April 21, everyone will know his intentions. Actually, it’s been about a year or more, and you can track it all the way to the end of 2008 when Calgarians went crazy over the 22% property tax increase over 3 years. Many observers used the pedestrian bridge debate as a sign of things to come between Bronconnier and McIver. Since the incumbent decided to not seek re-election, it is safe to say that McIver is the front runner. He definitely has the plurality of votes, but definitely not all the votes. Here’s the official poster for his upcoming block party:

It’s a $150 if you want in on being the first to know live whether or not Ric McIver is [...]Read More

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

Another Slow News Day in Calgary…

February 23, 2010 - By

… although, I’m happy to say that I’ve found a new place in town to get an absolutely fantastic straight razor shave – for those who have never had one, it’s absolutely GOT to go on your Bucket List.

Well, that’s all to report today. Talk to you lat -

Sorry, wait a second – text message coming in.

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Oh.

REALLY?

Wow. Didn’t see that one coming.

Days into his preamble for the next “Dave versus the Province” battle – which he seemingly always WINS – David Thomas Bronconnier, 35th Mayor of the City of Calgary, has announced he will not be seeking re-election this October.

Which means we are in for an absolute GONG SHOW of speculation in the next few weeks and months as to whom, exactly, will be running for the empty chair, with the popular incumbent and his million-dollar war chest out of the way.

The first and most common question is going to be “WHY isn’t Dave running again?” – to which the only answer I can provide is: Heaven only knows. As I mentioned, Dave is going into a very public shouting match with the province over broken promises, and despite the [...]Read More

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