Prentice and the September Cabinet

[Frequitude]

Good first moves, IMO.

On the unelected cabinet ministers, there's no winning. If he draws entirely from the caucus its "same s***, different pile". If he goes outside, its "OMG but they're unelected".

This seems like a good balance.
a) Punt 10 to trim the fat (something the PC's have become flush with)
b) Keep 18/20 from the caucus he inherited
c) Bring in 2/20 from the outside to demonstrate change and light a fire under the collective asses of the entire party that times are a changin'

[calgarygeologist]

Dirks is apparently going to be running in the by-election for Calgary Elbow (Redford`s seat.) I expect this is going to be a tough battle for him. If the Wildrose or even Liberals can put forward a strong, well perceived candidate they could easily steal the seat away.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/po...410/story.html

The attack pieces are already coming out against Dirks:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Alberta...916/story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/09...n_5833510.html

[Slava]

I think Dirks could easily lose Elbow. That was a tough win for the Tories regardless, but Dirks being a social conservative in a liberal riding could be defeated easily.

[killer_carlson]

The WR and Dirks will split the right wing vote in Elbow.

My bet is that seat goes to the Alberta Party.

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Dirks is apparently going to be running in the by-election for Calgary Elbow (Redford`s seat.) I expect this is going to be a tough battle for him. If the Wildrose or even Liberals can put forward a strong, well perceived candidate they could easily steal the seat away.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/po...410/story.html

The attack pieces are already coming out against Dirks:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Alberta...916/story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/09...n_5833510.html

Excellent. I know where I'll be helping out. Anything to rid ourselves of the PC's.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Slava

I think Dirks could easily lose Elbow. That was a tough win for the Tories regardless, but Dirks being a social conservative in a liberal riding could be defeated easily.

I wish I was back in the riding for the by-election.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

The WR and Dirks will split the right wing vote in Elbow.

My bet is that seat goes to the Alberta Party.

They could be the dark horse in that race. I brought up the Alberta Party in a post a few days ago and there was a bit of discussion regarding them on here. Afterwards, I did a bit of searching online and reading various comments and social media and to my surprise a lot of people are talking about the Alberta Party now.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

They could be the dark horse in that race. I brought up the Alberta Party in a post a few days ago and there was a bit of discussion regarding them on here. Afterwards, I did a bit of searching online and reading various comments and social media and to my surprise a lot of people are talking about the Alberta Party now.

It doesn't surprise me because I know that every time they get brought up online the article or whatever gets retweeted a lot. As the saying goes though, "that and $1.64 gets you a medium coffee at Tim Hortons". You can't just tweet your way to victory.

Chris Turner in the federal by-election might have had more active tweeters than anyone in any Canadian election. It wasn't close. That was good for a distant third.

I know they have Carter working for them, but in all honesty its an uphill battle. I also know that Carter likes that position and likes being the underdog, but seriously talk to your friends and ask them about the parties in the province. If more than one or two people in a hundred mention anyone aside from the Wildrose, PCs, Liberals or NDP its a miracle. I've talked to people door-knocking that riding and that's certainly reflective of the situation at this point in time. It could be a really interesting race though.

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Originally Posted by Jacks

While that may be technically correct I would bet that most people vote for the party, leader and platform.

Most people shouldn't vote if they don't understand how the system works.

[Antithesis]

I don't know what to think of the transition from Johnson to Dirks as Education Minister. Johnson was so antagonistic towards teachers (at least, that is how he was perceived by many) that I think it's a good thing that he's out of that post, but I wonder about Dirks' ability to keep his personal beliefs from seeping into policy he sets. Interesting choice by Prentice.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Dirks is apparently going to be running in the by-election for Calgary Elbow (Redford`s seat.) I expect this is going to be a tough battle for him. If the Wildrose or even Liberals can put forward a strong, well perceived candidate they could easily steal the seat away.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/po...410/story.html

Greg Clark (Alberta Party) said Dirks should run in Calgary Elbow... looks like the PCs have accepted the challenge!

“If Jim Prentice won’t run here I hope Minister Dirks runs in Calgary Elbow,” said Clark.

http://www.greg-clark.ca/out_of_touch

From the same post, Clark's stance here in very aggressive:

"Premier Prentice, in his official act as Premier, appointed this Minister despite Dirks’ exhibited homophobia."

[c.t.ner]

nm

I didn't fully read the article before posting. Uggh... Not the safest call to have Dirks run in Elbow. That's going to be an interesting race.