More Problems In The Wildrose Nomination Process?

  I had a good chuckle on Twitter over the past few days while watching some Wildrose supporters go bonkers over yet another riding nomination fiasco.  Over the past year, the media has reported that  some angry WRP supporters have taken issue with a few local riding association nominations, including Calgary McCall, Stettler, Little Bow and Cochrane-Banff.  The latest controversy appears to be coming from Calgary Hays Candidate, Dennis Young.

  On Tuesday, the Tweets were fast and furious from Dennis's supporters, crying foul that he was abruptly removed as a qualified candidate, prompting some Wildrose supporters to question the party's nomination process.  Mr. Young ( and campaign worker Craig Chandler) where visibly upset about this development as they felt they had no clear understanding about why this was happening.

 Here is a copy of the letter that Dennis sent to the Wildrose Executive committee, which he posted on Facebook.

HAND DELIVERED & BY FAX

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Mr. Shane Saskiw,
Executive Director, Wildrose Party
408, 919 Centre Street NW
Calgary, Alberta T2E 2P6

Dear Mr. Saskiw,

I was somewhat startled to receive your letter of October 3rd advising me that I was disqualified from the nomination race in Calgary-Hays.

Firstly, there was no reason for the disqualification mentioned in the letter.

Also, I was not advised that my candidacy for the nomination was in question, nor was I given an opportunity to defend myself against whatever accusations may have been brought against me.

Further, I had had my interview with the Local Candidate Nominating Committee roughly six months ago, submitted my paperwork and my nomination fee. If I was going to be disqualified, I would have expected to be informed of it at that time. Since that time I have spent over $30,000, dropped two separate pieces of literature to every home and have door knocked 25% of the constituency resulting in many members for the party that I have yet to hand in. Out of the current members in Calgary-Hays 75% of them were signed up by my campaign. In addition to the memberships sold my team has also received full information including names, address, postal codes, phone numbers and even email addresses from hundreds more who wish to keep in contact.

Since I was not informed in your letter for the reason of my disqualification we contacted former leadership candidate Mark Dyrholm for advice. Mr. Dyrholm contacted Danielle Smith in regards to the situation. After some phone calls, she told us that the problem related to my military career: Specifically when I was a private soldier. I was once put into the stockade for fighting. This, however, stretches credulity: I was not charged under the Criminal Code and do not have a criminal record. In my nomination form I went above and beyond to tell you my entire life story, I guess I should not have been so detailed.

Such incidents amongst soldiers (who truly are fighting men) are foreseen in the National Defence Act, and are specifically not criminal matters. I went on to an exemplary career as a military policeman, which is not permitted in cases of serious mis-behaviour. If this is truly the reason for disqualification as Danielle Smith informed Mr. Dyrholm, I cannot help but wonder if I am not suffering discrimination because of my military background.

I therefore wish to appeal the disqualification, on the grounds I have listed above. I look forward to being able to defend myself to the Committee.

Looking forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Dennis Young

Committee To Elect Dennis Young – 87012, #160 – 11520, 24th Street SE, Calgary, Alberta

Earlier this week, Dennis had a tweet confirming that he had sold over 500 Wildrose memberships, which is an amazing figure if true.  I live in Calgary Hays and I am shocked that his team has been able to sell this many memberships in the riding.  In the above letter, he also states that he has dropped two pieces of lit to every house ( I have not received one....) which is amazingly expensive.  I also found it funny to see that the literature is the standard carbon copy wording that the Chandler team uses...in fact, they even missed removing Mark Dryholm's name from the copy/paste campaign materials! ( h/t @waptopstory)

While I believe that there are two sides to every story, I have a hard time imagining that any party would remove a candidate without a justifiable cause.  It just seems to point out the growing pains that the Wildrose is having in attracting quality candidates in their fledgling party.  I will keep watching to see how this one plays out with interest.

Calgary MLA Art Johnson Loses PC Nomination Battle In Calgary Southeast

   I am sure many people will be surprised to hear the news today that longtime Calgary Hays MLA Art Johnston has lost the nomination vote to run as the Alberta PC candidate for the newly created riding of Calgary Southeast in the next provincial election, to Rick Fraser. 

  As a member of the Calgary Hays/Calgary Southeast Board of Directors, I had the opportunity to volunteer at last nights nomination vote to see who would become the PC candidate for the newly created riding of Calgary SE.   This riding was created during the last electoral boundary commission due to the explosive growth in population in the deep south corridor.  It essentially split the existing Calgary Hays riding into two, and includes the neighborhoods of Silverado, Chaparral, Walden, Cranston, Auburn Bay, Mahogany, Copperfield and New Brighton. 

  Current Hays MLA Art Johnston had decided to run in this part of the split riding and faced a last minute challenge to the nomination by Mr. Fraser.  For months, Rick had declared his intentions to run in the existing Calgary Hays riding in the next election and has been actively selling memberships and even pulled a major coup and took control of the Hays board at this springs AGM, ousting the long time riding association president.  Many where shocked to learn that Rick then decided to instead run against Art for the Calgary SE nomination. 

While it is rare for sitting MLA's to be challenged for a nomination, it is even rarer to see a sitting MLA lose his position as the party candidate in the next election.  Due to the short time frame, both parties had worked extremely hard in securing new memberships ( I hear that over 350 new memberships where sold this week between the two candidates)  and urging party members to come out and vote.  The race was extremely close, with Rick Fraser edging Art by a vote of 78 to 74. 

That's democracy.....

 Before the vote, Art had jokingly said to me that "I'm not ready to put out on any Ice Floes..." and I believe he still has a lot of work he wants to accomplish in the legislature.  I am not sure what the future holds for Art, but I think he should be commended for the work he has done in Calgary Hays, especially in securing new schools for our area.

 While I congratulate Rick on his nomination victory,  I was a little discouraged to learn of his association with the PGIB ( and its often polarizing founder, Craig Chandler.) following the meeting,  as Rick always spoke to me about his desire for change and transparency.   Many people will recall that Chandler was disqualified as a PC candidate in 2007 due to some comments made by the by a group also founded by him. I have gotten to know Rick over the past two years and I cannot imagine what these two would have in common at all.

Interesting times...

Rick's website can be found at http://www.frasernation.com/


UPDATE:

I have been getting a lot of emails and a few comments requesting proof of the PGIB affiliation. Please click the link below for a copy of the lit.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1Dlp8BcDOJKUNVn30DJ3AYry88v1HDmNSoxCEm4C_KAfMiGwgr0rMRLEAu66N&hl=en&authkey=CPLr3J0F

I certaintly hope that Rick posts a followup confirming his association with PGIB and their founders, as it may become a small distraction going forward.



 

New Website Takes Aim At Craig Chandler.

  I love Twitter. It has the ability to allow people to reach out and share information so quickly, that there really is nothing quite like it.  I was really intrigued when I saw that a new twitter account called " Chandler's List" ( aka "Chandler Watcher") started following me, so I had to check it out.  I was quite alarmed when I saw what the site was actually about!

  The site, ( http://site.chandlerslist.info/)  is basically a Chandler bashing brochure designed to highlight his affiliations and political involvements.  They even go as far as to publicly name ( with pictures) each of his supporters and past campaign candidates, which they call The Chandlerites!  There are even some people listed that are only there because Craig recently praised them in an interview with the Calgary Beacon.  While I am not sure who is behind the website ( it would probably be pretty easy to figure it out by the domain I assume?)  it would appear that a lot of the conversation has spilled over from recent Twitter/Facebook blowouts between Chandler and local citizens.  Check the site for details.

  While Craig and I have had a few "disagreements" over comments that I have made about his candidates, I could never imagine taking it this far.  In fact, I had the most wonderful comment sent to me that included Chandler's Image imprinted on a certain  piece of women's clothing, but I found it too offensive to publish.  Truth be told, that I am often worried about lawsuits that may be brought against me for content on this blog, especially from Anonymous posters.

 The people behind the  Chandler's List website are in fact using public information, so I cannot see any direct libel issues, but I would assume it may not sit well with those candidates whose names and image are being posted on the site.  I can almost hear a "Govern Yourself Accordingly" letter being typed as we speak.

 I would love to hear your thoughts...

Shane

IF I was a Wildrose Alliance supporter...who would I vote for?

No that Stampede is over and the early morning functions have ceased, I finally have a moment to post something before I head off to work!



I had the opportunity to meet both of the WRAP leadership candidates at two different Stampede events last week, and thought I would put a quick post together about my thoughts on each of them.





Mark Dyrholm:





I met Mr.Dyrholm briefly at the Calgary SW/Prime Minister Stephen Harper annual BBQ at Heritage Park. He was flanked by his campaign manager ( handler?) Craig Chandler and never seemed to waver more than 3 feet from him. It was kind of uncomfortable to watch this pair working the room and reminded me of the old movie "Twins" with Arnold and Danny Devito.





Now, I did not get a chance to have a lengthy discussion with Mark, because I had not yet eaten and did not think I could stomach it. My first impressions are usually right and I just could not picture this gentleman as the Premier of Alberta. While I am sure he is an honest, hardworking individual, in my opinion "he is just not for me....".








Danielle Smith:









While I saw Ms. Smith at the Heritage Park event, I did not get the chance to meet her that night. I did get to meet her shorty thereafter at a Private Stampede BBQ and had the opportunity to chat briefly. I found Ms. Smith charming and she did not have the stereotypical "fakeness" that some politicians carry. I was honest with her that I do not support her party ( I am a PC supporter) and gave her my thoughts on what this average Albertan was feeling about the current issues. She was respectful in her responses and I found her very intelligent and articulate.


Now, IF I were a WRAP supporter, It is clear who I would support here. Personally, (and from quick straw polls at some events over this past week) I think that Ms. Smith will win the leadership race handily with some more hard work. I know that Mr.Dyrholm's team is quite organized and It would not surprise me if Mr.Chandler already has already booked the charter buses to transport the voters to Edmonton in October, so he is definitely a contender.

The winner of this race determines the fate of the WRAP's future. Extreme/Fringe?... or Moderate/Contender?

Again, who cares what this PC supporter thinks right? These are just my thoughts.

Is the Wildrose Alliance Party the real deal?

Over the past few weeks, I have seen countless blog postings over the potential godsend that the Wildrose Alliance Party feels it is bringing to the Alberta political landscape. Most of the WAP supporters are posting constant spins about how their party is going to lead Alberta back to the “promised” land after they “wipe out” the PC Party in the next election. I have had some time to watch some of the theatrics and thought it was time I posted some of my thoughts on this…

Disclaimer: I am a supporter of the PC party of Alberta and sit on my local constituency board. That said, I strongly believe that in order to make Alberta a better province, we must first ensure that there is a strong political engagement from our citizens, regardless of what party you support. I really don’t care what party you belong to, as long as you are passionate about making this province stronger. To each their own, as long as your views are not harmful to others.

The WAP is a new party and seemingly lacks the support of the Alberta voter. I am not sure why they feel that they are the “party in waiting” (The last time I checked, they had NO elected members.) but their confidence is definitely not lacking. .They are currently running town hall meetings across the province, with minimal success in my opinion. There recent meeting in Calgary had a paltry 50 people show up. (Wow, 50 whole people? in a city of 1.1MM which is considered a conservative bedrock?) Not exactly the grassroots earthquake of support that they are claiming to be causing. (Probably more like enough “shake” on the Richter scale to cause a candle to flicker!)

The recent announcement that Paul ( I am sure he’s a nice guy and all) Hinman will be stepping aside as WAP leader has given the media ( and us bloggers) some fodder to try and guess who the next leader will be. This move is entirely spin related and designed to gain some attention for their upcoming AGM. There is lots of speculation on who the next leader will be. In my opinion, its easier to decide who the leader will NOT be…

1) Craig Chandler. ( See the last post on the following blog, and you can see that Chandler confirms that he is OUT!)

2) Preston Manning. ( Why Not? Why end your career being associated with a disorganized movement? Ie. “Also Ran”)

3) Danielle Smith? This is an interesting plant? She has stated recently that she is interested in the position. Or is this just posturing for a better cabinet post when she runs (and wins) under the PC banner? If the latter is true, the WAP movement will be dead in the water in my opinion.

4) Ted Morton. (See # 2 above.)

Note: I would not be surprised to see Hinman run again, and win, given the possibility that no credible leader comes forward for the nomination.

If the WAP wants to make inroads in Alberta, they must elect a centrist leader that appeals to ALL Albertans, not just the hard-line WAP supporters and rural voter.

The WAP Platform is all over the map in my opinion. The most curious line in the whole platform to me is:

SOCIAL POLICY
Wildrose Alliance social policy will always reflect the views of mainstream Albertans.

I spit my coffee out on this line! Even as a conservative myself, I find their stance on social issues a little too right for this “average Albertan”. Interestingly enough, the VP of Policy is Cory Morgan, who was once the LEADER of the Alberta Separatist Party. ( Note: His wife is fellow blogger Jane Morgan, who is also the executive director of the WAP.) Hmmm… I guess he must have seen that there was no future with an unelectable party promoting an unelectable platform? ( Seem familiar?) Perhaps he just saw the light?

Personally, this destroys all of the WAP’s credibility in my view.

Interestingly enough, The WAP has been successful in raising money from the oilpatch over the past year. I believe that this is simply a “protest” donation rather than a symbol of support. The true test will be 2 years from now, as the election nears. Will the money still be flowing to the WAP? Time will tell.

The next few months will determine the future of this party. There leadership campaign will be over in October, which will confirm what this party is all about. Will it continue to be a party for the same hard-line rightwing conservatives? Will they move to the centre in an attempt to capture the average Albertan’s vote? Or will they fade off into the sunset?

Until they prove otherwise, I believe that they are “All Hat, No Cattle”.

I am sure that I may not make many friends in the WAP after this, but seeing how they are champions of free speech and all, I just thought that this “Average Albertan” would share his thoughts.