Posts Tagged ‘Wayne Stewart’

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

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

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

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

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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

Polling mayoral candidates in July

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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

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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