Friday, May 29, 2009

This Week in Alberta - Just Visiting Calgary Glenmore?

In the wake of Deputy Premier Ron Stevens' resignation, speculation around the upcoming Calgary Glenmore by election is in full gear. Former Ontario NDP MLA George Dadamo has already tossed his hat into the ring is considering a run for the Liberal nomination, while Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart has expressed interest in the Tory nomination. Should she get it, that would also strike her name off the list of possible Calgary mayoral candidates in what is expected to be a wide-open election next year.

Oh, and on that note, I heard from senior anonymous Liberal strategist insider that Calgary Liberal MLA Dave Taylor has been approached to toss his hat into the ring next year - after losing the ALP leadership to Swann, and given Calgary's bizarre habit of election Liberal mayors, there might be some truth behind this one.


In Other News...

-Daveberta looks at the Edmonton 2010 mayoral race.

-With Danielle Smith considering a run for the Wildrose Alliance leadership, you have to imagine she might also consider running in the Glenmore by election. For what it's worth, I think it would be great for the Alliance to get a credible leader like Smith, who could put some pressure on Stelmach from the right.

-Ray Martin will be running for the NDP yet again in Edmonton East.

-Check out this great quote from Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett:


"How can people say I'm anti-gay?" Blackett asks. "I can't deal with the arts community every day by being anti-gay. They'd pick that up in a minute."


UPDATE: From team Dadamo:

Over the course of the last few weeks, Mr. Dadamo has been engaging Calgarians in conversation about the issues that matter most to them – listening and learning about the challenges we face as a community and the oppurtunities that are before us.

He will continue that conversation for the next couple of weeks, before making a formal decision as to whether or not to seek the Alberta Liberal nomination in Calgary Glenmore. In the meantime he is thankful for the literally hundreds of emails, words of support and prayers he has received in the last four weeks.

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9 Comments:

  • According to Paula Simons, "young Liberal party insider" Corey Hogan is also planning to run in Calgary Glenmore.

    Either that or he really likes vanity sites with ominous countdowns: http://www.coreyhogan.ca

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:40 a.m.  

  • I presume Ric McIver is the front-runner to replace Bronconnier, right? I think it's about time Calgary shifted right municipally.

    By Anonymous Deb, at 9:25 a.m.  

  • Dave Taylor would be a great Mayor. I hope the rumors are true.

    By Anonymous Urban Spork, at 9:57 a.m.  

  • Taylor doesn't play well with others. He'd be a brutal mayor.

    By Anonymous Another Mayor Dave, at 10:00 a.m.  

  • Somebody should let Taylor know that being Mayor means you have to get out of bed before the crack of noon.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:07 a.m.  

  • Dadamo sure seems to be walking back his language on running... a week ago he was acting as though he was already the candidate. Now he's not so sure he'll go for it?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:17 a.m.  

  • I suspect Dadamo is backtracking because, if Corey Hogan runs (a guy who has volunteered more hours for more Liberals in Calgary and the rest of the province than anybody else his age), Dadamo is sunk for the nomination.

    A lot of people have been calling Corey a Liberal "insider". Corey's gotten "inside" by giving thousands of hours of his time, and donating a lot of his considerable talent. He's been a tireless foot soldier, and focussing that energy on getting even a little more opposition up in Edmonton would be great, I think.

    I wish him all the best.

    By Anonymous A friend in Calgary, at 12:00 p.m.  

  • Ric McIver would be my first choice for mayor. He's one of the few aldermen that's voting against all these ridiculous distractions the others come up with and tries to keep everyone focused on the fundamentals of running a city.

    By Blogger Robert Vollman, at 3:04 p.m.  

  • Whether Danielle Smith or any Wildrose Alliance leader should run in Glenmore is contentious issue for the party because whoever it is is still likely to lose. There are still too many votes to be made up relative to last election. And if she loses she gets tagged as a loser. Generally, a person only gets so many runs at public office.

    I think that is the wrong standard. The standard should be improvement over last election and votes relative to expectations. But I appreciate that the public might not see it that way.

    Bottom line is that Paul Hinman will probably be the WA candidate in Glenmore. He has something of a provincial profile, represented the party in last year's TV debate, and if he loses, well, he's admitted that he wasn't the embodiment of the party's future hopes anyway since he has stepped down as leader.

    By Blogger Brian Dell, at 3:41 p.m.  

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