Election 2011: Battleground Alberta Edmonton Strathcona

One of the most watched ridings in the country this year is going to be Edmonton Strathcona, the only riding in Alberta that currently is not being held by the Conservatives.

Edmonton Strathcona is currently represented by Linda Duncan of the NDP, who won the riding in the 2008 election over incumbent Rahim Jaffer by less than 500 votes, and the NDP is getting very nervous about losing. So much so they have targeted the riding and have pulled out all of the stops to try and keep it.

And why are the NDP worried?  Well it certainly is not because of the Liberal candidate, as there is NONE declared yet ( The LPC had better rectify this one fast or it will only add to the numerous coalition questions coming their way, and make a mockery of their 308 national party strategy) and it certainly can't be because of the Green Party candidate who seems to be asking people not to vote Green.

No, the answer to why Linda Duncan and the NDP are so worried is because of Ryan Hastman.

Ryan Hastman the tireless Conservative candidate (he now has knocked on over 17,000 doors in Edmonton-Strathcona) has been working hard reconnecting with conservatives in the riding who where turned off by the previous candidate, and anyone else who may have a difficult time with their MP rallying against the oil industry which is the life blood of not only the riding but the Province and the country.

Including this nose stretcher with Duncan lying about moose and bears. Oh my!    "But it's all too little, too late, argues Alberta NDP MP Linda Duncan. "We pay attention to the tailing ponds because there's physical evidence in the dead ducks. But birds, moose and bears are dying in these ponds every day"  ( 100% NDP/Duncan BS)


Do the good people of Edmonton Strathcona need someone in Ottawa who is voting against their best interests? No, Linda Duncan needs to go and Ryan Hastman is the man to make sure that happens.

Ryan and his team have laid the groundwork for retaking the riding but they are going to need the help of conservatives everywhere to make sure that goal is achieved.

It is time to get active and fight back. Give the Hastman campaign office a call and volunteer, even a couple of hours may make the difference, and help make sure that the single yellow spot on the electoral map of Alberta is removed for good.

The difference was less than 500 votes last time so don't be under the impression that your vote or your contribution, no matter how small in time or dollars, cannot make a real difference in Edmonton Strathcona.


Get out and get active!



Campaign Office located at 5611 Gateway Blvd (north)

Office phone: 780-433-0691

Website: http://www.ryanhastman.com/ 



.

Linda Duncan, call your office.

Linda Duncan, call your office because it looks like someone is using Parliamentary resources for partisan purposes which is, as you know, strictly against the rules.

Update: I have removed the 'it looks like" line from the original post. At first I thought that perhaps the use of the @parl.gc.ca email address might have been a simple error on behalf of the campus NDP, but that is not the case and I now have concrete proof that Linda Duncan's MP office is indeed using that account  for the partisan door knocking event(s) outlined below. (see end of post for additional info)

(Please note the contact email address, highlighted by me, in the following email)



Email from the UofA NDP Campus club:

Subject: U of A Campus NDP Meeting and Volunteer Requests.

Hello fellow campus New Democrats!

The U of A Campus NDP is planning to re-coordinate our efforts to get

New Democrats seen and heard on campus. If you're interested in being

involved in the club, including planning strategy and bringing in

speakers from the provincial and federal NDP, come to our upcoming

meeting:

(snip)

Also, it is quite likely we will have a federal election called in the

next month or two. Help your Edmonton NDP candidates get ready! Here

are some ways you can help get rid of Stephen Harper's Conservatives

and put progressive MPs in their places:

Re-elect Linda Duncan in Edmonton-Strathcona

Upcoming door-knocking sessions (open to everyone, regardless of

experience level):

Canvass in Windsor Park, Saturday February 12, 1pm:  Please meet at

home of Mary XXXXXX, one of the coordinators for the Windsor Park

team, XXXXX St

Canvass in Garneau/Strathcona, Sunday February 13, 1pm:  Please meet

at the home of Nancy XXXX, Garneau team coordinator, XXXXX,

XXXXXX.  The building has visitor parking and there

is also parking on Saskatchewan Drive.

Canvass in King Edward Park, Sunday, February 20, 1pm: Please meet at

the home of Melinda XXXXXX, 8XXX XX Avenue.

For more information or to sign up for any of the above sessions,

contact Erica Bullwinkle at DuncaL1@parl.gc.ca. 

(Snip)

Hope to see you soon on the campaign trail with us!

Joel French

U of A Campus NDP

(end)


While I don't know the exact reading of the House Board of Internal Economy's rules on the use of government resources for partisan purposes, I am pretty sure that the organizing of 3 separate and purely partisan door knocking events, using an email account from Duncan's Parliamentary office and on Government of Canada servers, fits into the category of things not allowed.


Time to call your office Linda, because someone there is breaking the rules.


The important info from an email ( on the subject of partisan door knocking) forwarded to me this AM. As with the campus NDP email I have removed all the non relevant personal identifiable information.


Updated: With permission, I have now enclosed the entire email body

Return-Path: (duncal1@parl.gc.ca)

Received: from mailer01.parl.gc.ca ([192.197.82.XXX])

Subject: RE: Sunday Feb 13 Canvass in Garneau/Strathcona

(body of email snipped to protect source, but related specifically to the campus email and partisan door knocking and the reply signed by Erica B, acting in the capacity of constituency assistant in Linda Duncan's Edmonton office)



Hi Ron – Terrific!  I will plan for three and if not everyone shows that’s OK.  I just like to make sure I have enough routes and kits.  See you then, Erica

Erica Bullwinkle

Constituency Assistant

Linda Duncan, M.P.

Edmonton-Strathcona

780-495-8404

Fax: 780-495-8403

www.lindaduncan.ndp.ca

Busted!

Jack Layton and the NDP still wooing the Bloc

Jack Layton and the NDP look to still be wooing the Bloc (as possible coalition buddies?) instead of supporting legislation that would increase democracy and add representation to underrepresented Alberta, BC and Ontario.

I take special note of Edmonton Strathcona MP Linda Duncan who again tosses the needs of the people of Alberta out the window in order to appease the Bloc and Quebec.

We will remember this Linda.

To those of you in BC and Ontario represented by the NDP you might want to ask them what the hell are they thinking.


Here is what the NDP caucus voted in favour of earlier today.

" That the House denounce the fact that the government seeks to marginalize the Quebec nation by introducing a bill to decrease Quebec’s political weight in the House, and that it affirm that Quebec Members of Parliament, who represent a nation, must hold at least 25 percent of the seats in the House; The House proceeded to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment of Mr. Laframboise (Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel), seconded by Ms. Demers (Laval), — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the words “in the House” and substituting the following: “and call on the government not to enact any legislation that would reduce Quebec’s current representation in the House of Commons of 24.35% of the seats.”.
Results can be found here.

Linda Duncan, cry me a river.

"Duncan says she's not sure the people of Edmonton-Strathcona will be happy with Calgary dollars flowing north to try to influence their votes, she said.

"I'm not sure they'll look kindly on that," she said. (In the 2008 campaign, Duncan received about $3,700 from NDP supporters outside her riding, raised about $83,000 in her riding and spent about $64,000 on her campaign.)"

But they will take kindly to this, right?

NDP National HQ raising money "to go and interfere" in Edmonton Strathcona.

Also from the Journal story: "Duncan said Hastman was on hand with Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose to hand out $14.8 million to the University of Alberta, also in Duncan's riding." While she was "was excluded from these events and not informed about when the cheques were going to be handed out."

Funny thing that. If you are so popular and are doing such great things for the riding, why didn't the U of A (or the other stakeholders) bother to invite you to these PUBLIC events?

Cry me a river Linda.

BTW I if knew about the U of A presentation as did hundreds of other people, why didn't Duncan? Nothing was secret about any of them.

Related: How Duncan supports her riding. Ms. Duncan voted for an amendment that would eliminate tax incentives for the oil and gas industry to provide funding for a bailout of the forestry industry in Quebec.

And in local news: NDP MP Linda Duncan is upset...

Linda Duncan the NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona is upset. She is upset that conservatives in Alberta want to win back her riding and are, gasp, holding fundraisers for the conservative candidate Ryan Hastman. Oh my, those evil conservatives will stop at nothing to target helpless little ol' Linda.

You can read the article here, but there is more to this story than what you read.

First off the article is factually wrong; sort of.

After reading it a few times I was unsure if Calgary-West gave/transferred the money to the Hastman campaign or if it came from a fundraiser. The first part clearly states there was a fundraiser in January, which is correct, but then we get Duncan's comment “I guess they have nothing better to do with their time and money than to go and interfere in other ridings.”, followed up by a comment from an Elections Canada official talking about .."constituency associations aren’t breaking any rules if they transfer cash or raise donations for another riding so long as they comply with federal contribution limits." which leaves me wondering; what really happened?


Here are the facts which have been confirmed by a senior conservative. A fundraiser was held in January specifically for raising money for Edm-Strathcona/Ryan Hastman campaign. The Calgary-West EDA did not, organize it, pay any monies towards it, receive any money from it, or transfer any money to Edm-Strathcona. This was just one of the many political fundraisers that take place almost daily somewhere in Canada; which brings me to the second issue I have.

What in that story is really news, and what prompted its writing?

Was it that the CPC wants to win back the seat? Like that is news to anyone.

Was it because of the issues in Calgary-West? I doubt it because nothing is mentioned in the article on that.

Was it possibly because of Rahim? Again I doubt it since he is not even mentioned and that happened on the 9th, 1 day after the Sun story appeared.

Did the author just decide to do a story on Edmonton-Strathcona out of the Blue? Could be ;)

Was the story fed to the author from either the conservatives, which makes no sense what so ever, or perhaps from the NDP?

I don't know the answers, and perhaps the author would like to drop me a comment or email to clarify, but what I do know is that Linda Duncan is confused about the facts and the NDP sure loves irony.

Remember Duncan's comment from above “I guess they have nothing better to do with their time and money than to go and interfere in other ridings.” because as it turns out that Sun article made its way into a fund-raising email from National NDP HQ. (the same day!)

Yes, NDP HQ is doing what Duncan accused Calgary-West of doing, 'interfering' in Edmonton-Strathcona, and all over a simple fundraiser.

Click on image to enlarge. (the top link goes to the Sun story, the other 2 to a secure donation page)


I like the top line: Have you seen today's story. Today? Damn, that was fast.

Why was this story written again?

Edmonton Strathcona Nomination Update!

We have a winner. Ryan Hastman has won the CPC nomination for Edmonton-Strathcona.

In what was a late night Wednesday in Edmonton-Strathcona for the 3 candidates vying for the CPC nomination. In the end in what was described as a "redonkulous close" vote, Ryan Hastman was declared the winner over Linda Blade and Cathay Wagantall. With such good candidates it was not an easy choice for the residents of ES; congratulations to all of you for running such excellent campaigns.

Now the real work begins.

Paging Linda Duncan, paging Linda Duncan.
Ryan Hastman calling.

>=)