The Race for Calgary

The race for Calgary is on as we enter another exciting fall election season.

And it feels right to take this opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas on a wider forum - taking private conversations to a public political blog.

Four years ago our civic election was followed up quite rapidly by a provincial election, and it seems that this could easily be the case here as well.

Provincial Scene
Looking into the provincial scene a lot of openings are developing for the Liberals to gain a solid foothold in Calgary and Edmonton. Recently the news has been filled with names of MLAs who have made the decision to retire and step aside for some fresh blood. Not surprisingly many of these were the same MLAs who backed the wrong horse on the leadership vote.

Some, like Dennis Herard are not very surprising - after all he is getting older and it's time for him to retire. However some others like Greg Melchin are a bit young to be setting aside their political aspirations.

The recent byelection in Calgary was most telling. I was fortunate enough to be involved with Craig Cheffin's campaign, and was pleasantly surprised by the responses that I received when I went door knocking. Ten years ago in Calgary you would have expected to be chased off of the property if you mentioned that you were a liberal... but today? You are welcomed with open arms and invited to put a sign on the lawn. Most refreshing.

Certainly there is a great deal to explore on the provincial scene, but right now the civic election is a bit more interesting.

Returning to civic thoughts, it seems that the seat of Mayor is up for contestation. Certainly Bronconnier has a lot of momentum as the incumbant (and admittedly a war chest to take pride in), but Alnoor is likely to bring about some competition.

The more that I read about Alnoor, the more I worry about the future of our City. When I first heard his name and did a quick explore, I found his website. A quick look-over had me questioning a few items, such as his claim to have started the first matchbook factory in Kenya (it seemed a little out of the norm for someone running as Calgary's mayor). So I did a wee bit of research. Apparently the bit about the matchbook factory was true... but the other hits that I encountered in regards to Alnoor in Kenya were much more troubling.

For example, coverage of his checkered history in regards to the Kenyan banking collapse. Isn't it strange that he neglected to mention the years of his life and major role that he played with a national bank on his original website... this has been remidied (no doubt as a reaction to the news coverage of Alnoor's Kenyan history), but still rather troubling. While it is difficult to find the full story in Canada so many years later, the fact remains - Alnoor is still a 'person of interst' for the Kenyan governmental authorities.

Shouldn't the man (or woman) whom we choose to run our city be above suspicion?

As others have already pointed out Alnoor preaches that "affordable housing" is key on his issue list, but his past actions seem to decry this point. He owns a great deal of property in Calgary, and has raised rents significantly adding to the problem.

He also makes a few claims that he thinks that the city should be run like a business. On the face of it, this sounds quite good... however a business is in existance to MAKE a profit. Is this the role of a government? Or is the role of a government to provide infrastructure and social services to serve the people? I will not argue that we do need to take certain business practices into government to streamline service delivery and how things are run, but there is also a very important social role that cannot be overlooked.

The aldermanic race should be quite intersting as well. In the next few days and weeks leading up to the election I will be covering a number of the wards and brining up some salient points about people making a run for office, as well as the role of the news in their coverage of the candidates. It is clear to see that the papers have an agenda - and the subtleties used in presentation of the candidates are quite telling.

It is intreguing to note that CUPE has taken an active role in campaigning - they are trying to get a bit more influence in City Hall and push forward their own agenda.

So, keep posted as I dig up some of the dirt on the candidates, and explore what our city really needs from their elected governance body. Share your thoughts with me too!