Posts Tagged ‘Ric McIver’

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

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

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

Text: Interview with Ward 14 Candidate Richard Dur

1
October 14, 2010 - By

Nation, I had the pleasure over the past several weeks of exchanging emails with Ward 14 Aldermanic candidate Richard Dur.  I took advantage – as you’d expect – to send some questions his way.  His responses are below.  And, based on his final answer, I’d think he’s a natural to show up to the CalgaryPolitics.com Election Night Party at Beckham’s. 

Richard’s interview begins…  now.

*****

E.S.: Snow removal in the city, particular in Ward 14, is – as you put it on your website – “a farce”. How do we get Calgarians moving in the winter, and keep our roads – including residential roads – in safe, drivable condition, without the huge tax increases that the current council has insisted would be required?

R.D.: By eliminating wasteful spending at city hall such as what we’ve seen with the $25 million designer bridge so that there is more room in the budget for things Calgarians really care about such as snow removal. I also favour use of private contractors to bolster city ice clearing crews and allowing Calgarians who own snow-removal equipment to get approval to use this equipment to help clear streets and pathways that may [...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Alderman - Ward 14

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

My Thoughts On The VoteCalgary.ca Mayoralty Forum

6
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

Kassam withdraws from Mayoral Race

September 17, 2010 - By

Alnoor Kassam announced today that he is withdrawing from the race to be Calgary’s next Mayor, and indicated he will be putting his support (as it were) behind candidate Barb Higgins.

One has to wonder exactly how much support Kassam has, and whether that will translate into a boon for Higgins or not.  In the absence of any recent and reputable polling, this is all guess-work.  The prevailing wisdom has been that Higgins has been losing momentum and support as the “freshness” of having a local celebrity in the race has given way to the parry-and-thrust of partisan hackery and the nuts-and-bolts policy discussions that, in all fairness, are probably also not as important as this author wishes that they were.

Is this a game changer?  Far too soon to say.  I admit to being somewhat surprised that Alnoor pledged his support to a political neophyte over someone like Ric McIver, who is running on a platform that looks similar to Kassam’s from 2007.  That said, though, Alnoor is a relatively successful businessman, and if in his estimation the smart investment is in Higgins, it makes you wonder what he knows that the rest of us don’t…

… yet.

[...]Read More

Tags: ι ι Categories: Mayor of Calgary

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

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

Does a new mayor matter if we ignored the other 14 races?

2
August 16, 2010 - By

Knowing about city council and understanding how it works are two very different things. If we considered the amount of coverage we receive in terms of mayoral candidates compared to the amount of coverage on all aldermanic races, we might want to consider increasing coverage on those 14 key races. Why would we want to know more about aldermanic races than an exciting open seat race for the mayor’s chair? Here are some few points to consider:

1. One vote out of 15: Since there are no political parties at the local level, a spokesperson like the mayor is only effective as the other 14 aldermen allow him/her to be one. Since we are dealing with just one vote, we may see the “tone” and “direction” of city council go the way of council rather than the mayor. Yes, the mayor is elected by all Calgarians and holds a very interesting position, but when it comes down to voting, he/she will only have one vote, and we should keep that in mind.

2. A council dependent on city administration: Since there are 4 open races in the aldermanic elections, we will see at least 4 new aldermen. There are also [...]Read More

Tags: ι Categories: Political Theory

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

Barb Higgins Announces Run For Mayor

1
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

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

Polling mayoral candidates in July

3
July 14, 2010 - By

Let’s get right down to it (and you probably know the reason why this post is up if you’ve been following the 2010 municipal election). A recent poll released by Alberta Courage Network says that Wayne Stewart is in the lead of the mayoral race with 34% of those who responded. It also made the following conclusions:

- 73.4% indicated that denser neighborhoods was a good idea
- 78.8% wanted more walkable neighborhoods
- 77.4% suggested new highways and ring roads was a low priority
- 82.8% said rapid transit is a high priority
- 68.0% supported an LRT to the airport

This poll was conducted over a period of 6 days with 206 Calgarians.

So what’s wrong with this poll? If you aren’t a Calgarian, then chances are you’ll think this seems OK. However, if you knew a few things about this city, you’ll know that something feels not so right about the results of this poll. And you’re not only. It’s being heavily criticized by many people. Mike Blanchard from AM 770 CHQR said the following:

With all due respect to Mr. Stewart, I don’t buy the result. I don’t hear Stewart’s name [...]Read More

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

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