Edmonton Strathcona Update: Complaint filed with Elections Canada.

The Hastman campaign has filed an official complaint with Elections Canada alleging that 550 names on the Edmonton-Strathcona registered voters list are linked to addresses that don't exist or are invalid. It seems that many of these addresses are linked to businesses, including a gas station and industrial companies, an empty field, storage lockers and private mail boxes.   "My team went through the entire voters list with a fine tooth comb and uncovered hundreds of illegitimate addresses," Hastman said. "It’s important that only valid addresses are included in the voters list."

And he is correct.

For those not aware: Edmonton Strathcona is currently the only non CPC riding in Alberta. It has been a political hot spot for some time and with the election has become a real political battlefield that I can guarantee you will show up on whatever channel you will be watching for election results May 2nd.


Spotted recently while door knocking in Edmonton Strathcona. The rare and elusive Liberal sign with the added bonus of it being in the same yard as a CPC sign! 

 

On a more serious note: Here is what is happening on a daily basis to CPC signs in Edm Strathcona.

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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/ 



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In the last year...

Tonight marks the 1 year anniversary of Ryan Hastman's nomination as the Conservative candidate for Edmonton Strathcona; the only riding in Alberta that is currently not held by the conservatives.

For those that may not be aware, Edmonton Strathcona is currently being held by the NDP and represented in Ottawa by Linda Duncan. Duncan won a squeaker in the 2008 election by less than 500 votes over the now infamous Rahim Jaffer. Edmonton Strathcona is the one yellow spot on a sea of blue that quite frankly needs to be taken back, and thankfully we have the candidate to do just that.

From June 17, 2009, when Ryan Hastman won the Conservative nomination in another incredibly close vote, Hastman has been working tirelessly towards winning back the seat for the conservatives. Ryan has been to countless events both inside and outside the riding, he and his team have been aggressively fund-raising to build up the much needed election war chest, and most importantly he has been extremely active within Edmonton Strathcona having already knocked on over 9000 doors meeting with and talking to the people of the riding. From what I have been told, and from personal experience, I can tell you that the response at the doors has been very encouraging; so much so that the NDP has taken notice at a national level and is targeting the riding to help out the worried Linda Duncan



and she has good reason to be worried, because if honest hard work has anything to do with the results of the next election, there will be a much different outcome for Duncan and the NDP in "Battleground Alberta".



If you are interested in helping Ryan and the conservatives take back Edmonton Strathcona please visit his website (http://www.ryanhastman.com/) or drop him and his team an email at: campaign@ryanhastman.com Lets help Linda go back to her first love of attacking the financial engine of Alberta, the oil industry, but this time she can do it on her own dime and not on an MP's salary.



Update: The past year as written Ryan Hastman. ( I note the door count has increased to 9,500! My numbers were a couple of weeks old)

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?

Somebody is getting nervous in Edmonton Strathcona

Is Linda Duncan, the NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, getting nervous?

Here is a sign that she is: from the Edmonton Journal a few weeks back. More distressing, she said, is that Ryan Hastman, the Conservative nominee in Edmonton Strathcona, did appear at a number of funding announcements in the riding over the summer. "I find it really inappropriate," she said. "I am the elected official for this riding, whether they like it or not. I have been duly elected. In protocol, it would be the appropriate thing to simply invite me."

Taking shots in the press at your main political opponent, in this case Conservative Party candidate Ryan Hastman, is a good sign that Ms. Duncan has at a minimum been paying attention to the competition.

Since his nomination win back in June of this year, Ryan has been going door to door almost non stop meeting the constituents of Edm_Strathcona. He has already knocked on 1000's of doors and he plans do knock on many more before any possible upcoming election. I went door knocking with Ryan back when the weather was much more pleasant than it is today and I can tell you first hand the he is getting noticed and making a very favorable impression on the ground. The impression I got that night was that the MP previous to Duncan, and Duncan herself were 'not very active' in the riding and they appreciated being able to talk with Hastman.


Her complaint that Ryan Hastman attending some funding announcements is somehow inappropriate is laughable when you consider that she also said the following"To tell you the truth, I've noticed that I am attracting a lot of money to my riding," she said. "We had a very nice, sizable grant to the Fringe, grants to Kings University, Newman College, LRT expansion and so forth." Duncan, though, was critical of the way the grants have been handed out, calling the various infrastructure plans "political slush funds. Nice try. Duncan wants to be able to claim credit in attracting money into the riding but also is maintaining that infrastructure plans are just"Political slush funds". You can't have it both ways , pick one Linda. Oh, and having Ryan Hastman, or any other resident of Edmonton Strathcona for that matter, attend a public announcement is neither distressing or inappropriate.




So what do you think. Is Linda Duncan getting nervous?

I believe she is, but if I am wrong and she isn't, she should be. With Hastman's work ethic, a dedicated team backing him up, and the ability to run a fully funded campaign, Linda Duncan is going to be in for quite the battle when ever the writ is dropped. That she can count on.

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.

>=)