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I would be hard pressed to place Higgins on any spectrum. She used to anchor the local CTV newscast - I have always worked on the assumption that she was a pretty mainline PC. Nothing in her campaign (as opposed to McIvor who was on the right even by Alberta standards) would suggest she was anything else, her candidacy was pretty much a surprise and she can't really be characterized as having any deep political roots.
Nenshi is also hard to peg on the conventional spectrum, he is basically a technocrat - if you will, a bit of a policy wonk who would do well in just about any urban studies program - he lives and breathes municipal government policy. His primary virtue is that he has a very real commitment to taking democracy seriously. When he consults, it is not just a PR move. Oh, that and he speaks his mind without rancour... watching him take the chief of police to task for interfering in the election was a thing of beauty. It is my opinion that, unless something very strange occurs (some totally unforeseeable scandal or the like), he will be easily re-elected. There is a certain level of crank animosity towards him (think Globe and Mail comments pages level criticism), but otherwise when the topic comes up, I haven't really heard anyone speak disapprovingly of him (quite unlike his predecessors, esp. Bronconnier, who were quite widely despised).
That would be awesome, eh?
Well they turned over the rock and the first Con candidate has wriggled out into the light of day.... "politcal pundit" (Con apologist) Joan Crockett will be seeking the nomination. I believe her high water mark was being one of the apologists who morphed into a cheerleader over the scrapping of the compulsory long form census... as I remember, most of the rest were suspiciously silent.
Note to Tories, pick a hardliner in Calgary-Centre and you'll lose - Calgary Herald
Alberta is not a monolith. Duncan might not be the only proof of that next year.
The NDP winning in Calgary Centre would be a political earthquake. It would put the party in a media market where it has been almost entirely missing.
Can anyone tell me if Bob Hawkesworth's provincial riding or the municipal Ward he represented are parts of Calgary Centre?
Would he be seen as a qualified candidate for the federal nomination?
Bob represented Calgary Mountainview when he was an MLA, and Ward 4 as Alderman (later Councillor). While Calgary municipal wards are nearly twice the size of provincial constituencies (the city has 25 MLAs, but only 14 members of City Council [plus the mayor]), in both cases the areas (inner city directly north of downtown) represented by Bob were entirely north of the Bow River and hence completely outside of the boundaries of Calgary Centre as it is currently constituted. The areas he has represented fall into the boundaries of Calgary Centre-North - a separate riding. However, Calgary Centre-North has only been in existence since 2004, prior to that, Mountainview was almost totally within the boundaries of the historic Calgary Centre riding which spanned the Bow River (and the northern boundary was [roughly] along 16th Ave [the TransCanada highway]).
As to whether he would be a qualified candidate... sure, if they riding association selected him... there is no requirement that the candidate reside within the boundaries of the riding.
Eminently qualified:
Born in 1951, about 61 now. Too old? As Bob Rae would say, "bull-shit."
Well said, Wilf!
The more I hear about Hawkesworth, the more I hope he will consider seeking the NDP nomination when the by-election is called.
Just got this: it would be amazing if the NDP win this.
My Fellow New Democrat,
Stephen Harper thinks he's been getting away with ignoring Canadians and forcing through his reckless agenda. And he expects to be handed an easy win when he calls a by-election in Calgary-Centre.
But I was in Calgary last week and let me tell you - he's wrong.
The people of Calgary are standing with Canadians from coast to coast and speaking out against Stephen Harper's reckless agenda. Now, more Albertans than ever are uniting behind our New Democrat team.
Stephen Harper's riding is right next door to Calgary-Centre. And the last thing he wants is a New Democrat in his backyard.
Let's take the fight to Stephen Harper's home turf. Help New Democrats run a strong campaign in Calgary-Centre by making a donation today.
It won't be easy, but I know this is a riding we can win. So we need to be ready to hit the ground running as soon as this important by-election is called.
That's why I'm asking for your help today. Your donation of $25, $50, $100 - or whatever you can afford - will help send Stephen Harper a message he can't ignore.
A victory in Calgary-Centre will put us one step closer to defeating Stephen Harper.
Be a part of it,
Tom Mulcair
Leader
Canada's New Democrats
FWIW Tom certainly won the Stampede fashion reviews
Very effective fundraising effort on the NDP's part to turn Mulcair's recent successful "into the lion's den" trip to Harper-land into a pitch letter - but as we have not (to my knowledge) pulled a candidate out from behind the curtain the goal here is to finish in a clear #2 position and reinforce the Tory-NDP two-party race dynamic.
I like this bit from the letter:
Stephen Harper's riding is right next door to Calgary-Centre. And the last thing he wants is a New Democrat in his backyard.
I've heard about several potential Con candidates, but has there been any buzz about Liberal/Green/NDP prospective candidates.
And while I keep mentioning Bob Hawkesworth as NDP candidate being wishful thinking, I still think he'd be a formidable opponent to anyone that gets the Con nom.
Bob Hawkesworth (and his supporters) alientated a lot of people while he was running for the mayor, though, especially through his harsh critiques of Nenshi's proposed airport tunnel project. (Full disclosure: I'm a Nenshi supporter but not a big tunnel fan.) He might have just too much baggage at this point to be a viable candidate.
It's expected that William Hamilton will run for the Greens again.
Beena Asher has announced that she wants to run for the Liberals, and there's a rumour going around that people are trying to recruit W. Brett Wilson for the Liberals.
Update for the Cons:
John Mar has dropped out of the race.
Joe Soares (former PMO Quebec advisor) has joined the race. Why, you may ask?
And what is the reaction of Calgarians to this news?
No word if 2011 NDP candidate Donna Montgomery wants to try for the nomination again?
The Conservative Party's "Wildrose" wing has nominated its favoured candidate Joan Crockett.
This means the other parties can make a play for the "middle" or "moderate" voters in the riding. Under past circumstances the Liberals might have a shot, but in their weakened state this should be a rubber stamp victory for the Conservative party.
When all is said and done Joan Crockatt may have backed Wildrose but she is far far from being some Canadian equivalent of Michele Bachmann or Sharron Angle - I don't know of her having ever expressed any "Todd Akin-like" outrageous views that are outside of the mainstream for a Conservative in Alberta
I loved the responses to this story on the CBC online -- a poster handled "rankinlad" summed things up beautifully:
Is there anything else that really needs to be said?
So when will learn of the NDP nomination? Were we waiting for the Con candidate to be chosen to pick a more complimentary candidate?
I am just guessing that there may be one or two people who might have been considering running for the NDP (or Liberal) nomination but wanted to see first if the Tories would pick someone who would turn off a lot of moderates and create an opening. Now that the Tories have obliged, let the games begin!