[GT] Calgary Municipal Election 2021

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Slava

And I still stand by my thought that no one can seriously think standard time all summer makes any practical sense.

I can’t understand these people either.

I KNOW this would have a absolutely huge detriment to my mental health, and a lot of other peoples as well.

Going to permanent standard time reduces “usable evening daylight hours” over the course of a year by al least 25%. Actually, I’m looking at sunrise sunset times, and it’s higher than that, probably at least 35%.

That’s a ridiculously HUGE number.

The effects of changing clocks twice a year cannot possibly be worse than that.

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I liked seeing that we have an all-new council and all-new mayor. It seems like a fresh start.

However, I have just read that the Super PAC Calgary's Future actually got in 9 of their preferred candidates voted in through $2 million of campaigning and this is ringing some alarm bells.

Does anybody know anything more about this PAC? I heard they are heavily union backed?

They did indeed. There are other PACs though, and Calgary's Future were the only ones that have disclosed their money.
Save Calgary for instance didn't even register as a TPA but we all know they're Farkas boosters. Same with Alberta Proud which "created a tool to match you to their your preferred candidate" and campaigned hard against Gondek but I don't think they're even registered as a TPA.

They spent 1.7M total, but if you look at that split amongst 9 candidates, is 190,000 even that much in terms of political advertising nowadays? (I honestly don't know)

And it probably helps that those 9 candidates seem to just generally be strong candidates. Did they get in because of Calgary's Future or did Calgary's Future endorse candidates that are in line with most of Calgarians' views?

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

Because people didn't care about the accusations that much? Or maybe they weren't made aware of the accusations at the late hour? Because they felt that his position on issues was more aligned with their views?

Nah, must be "He Asian. They Asian."

at least one couple I know did exactly this as their decision making process (not for Ward 4). any of the above options you listed are realistic reasons, and the margin of victory was small enough that any one of them could have been the tipping point.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

Because people didn't care about the accusations that much? Or maybe they weren't made aware of the accusations at the late hour? Because they felt that his position on issues was more aligned with their views?

Nah, must be "He Asian. They Asian."

Don't be an idiot, we have enough people willing to argue with others in bad faith as it is, we don't need you adding to it. Let's not pretend racial bias doesn't exist in politics when it clearly exists virtually everywhere in society to some degree.

As Inglewood Jack said, literally any of those reasons including race could be reasons why someone might ultimately vote for one candidate over another.

Originally Posted by ajr4013

What does that say though that despite him being an awful councilor who actively hurt the ward (and then the accusations to boot) people still vote for him? "He conservative, I vote for him even if he's an incompetent boob"?

Entirely possible that people voted without knowing the recent allegations. However if people knew and didn't care about him being a alleged predator and still voted for him then there's something very wrong in this ward.

It isn't fair to say racial demographics had nothing to do with it in the same way it wouldn't be fair to say it was entirely responsible for the outcome. Neither of which you said, by the way, just so that's clear. Could it have made up a 52 vote difference? Why not, I'm sure people have all sorts of things they might use as a tie-breaker.

[Incogneto]

https://westernstandardonline.com/20...n-allegations/

[nik-]

Maybe the universe will provide karmic justice and he'll be run over by a cyclist.

[agulati]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I had heard he is quite active in churches. So maybe he just gets pastors to convince their flock to vote for him? I dunno, it's baffling.

The news breaking out when it did sucks. The only way I heard about it was through calgarypuck TBH. I’m sure a lot of the voters have a tendency for voting for an incumbent unless something scathing comes out. This is why this news coming out a week or so earlier, could have made so much of a difference.


I hope there is a way he can be removed from council though. This is really sad if Chu can actually serve after all this.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Incogneto

https://westernstandardonline.com/20...n-allegations/

Not a surprise, what a POS. Great job ward 4, you've elected a pariah as your councilor who won't be able to push any agendas for your ward or adequately represent you in any way. What a bunch of lemmings

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Incogneto

https://westernstandardonline.com/20...n-allegations/

The first two quotes from Chu in this article are exactly what you would expect from him.

Originally Posted by Sean Chu

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any harm”

Originally Posted by Sean Chu

“This was nothing but a political assassination”

Just the absolute worst.

[CroFlames]

I can't believe The Creep won by 52 votes.

Shame on you Ward 4.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by nik-

Maybe the universe will provide karmic justice and he'll be run over by a cyclist.

While ironic, cyclists are useless.

If a cyclist were to hit you, they'd be the one to take most of the damage.

And thats not even factoring in throwing their bike into the river whilst they're on the ground in agonizing pain.

[DionTheDman]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Don't be an idiot, we have enough people willing to argue with others in bad faith as it is, we don't need you adding to it. Let's not pretend racial bias doesn't exist in politics when it clearly exists virtually everywhere in society to some degree.

As Inglewood Jack said, literally any of those reasons including race could be reasons why someone might ultimately vote for one candidate over another.

It isn't fair to say racial demographics had nothing to do with it in the same way it wouldn't be fair to say it was entirely responsible for the outcome. Neither of which you said, by the way, just so that's clear. Could it have made up a 52 vote difference? Why not, I'm sure people have all sorts of things they might use as a tie-breaker.

Oh, please. The OP I responded to mentioned absolutely nothing about any other reasons. The post, and I quote, was:

I hate to say it but at least for Beddington it’s an older, Asian community.

Please, tell me how that should be interpreted other than saying that the specific ethnic (or perhaps age??) demographic matches, and therefore that's the reason for the vote in Chu's favour.

And yes, racial biases do exist. Of course. There's a big difference between acknowledging the bias and claiming, absent any evidence, that the bias was a deciding factor in any electoral process.

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Great job ward 4

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Shame on you Ward 4.

Not a huge fan of all the finger waging directed at us good Ward 4 residence. I did my part!

[Ozy_Flame]

Chu going down the right-wing, discombobulated, "woe is me" excuse train. I hope the recount finds that he lost, and he's booted to oblivion.

How this clown doesn't step down voluntarily is beyond me, although he is pictured with some of Jason Kenney's favorite people in various photos so he obviously has an undergrad degree from Bumbles University for Political Decorum.

[DionTheDman]

"Grab her by the P" didn't seem to hurt Trump at all. Maybe he's banking on the same indifference.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

How this clown doesn't step down voluntarily is beyond me

How is this even a surprise to you in any way given his history?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by DionTheDman

Please, tell me how that should be interpreted other than saying that the specific ethnic (or perhaps age??) demographic matches, and therefore that's the reason for the vote in Chu's favour.

And yes, racial biases do exist. Of course. There's a big difference between acknowledging the bias and claiming, absent any evidence, that the bias was a deciding factor in any electoral process.

When the deciding factor was a whopping 52 votes in a massive sea of voters, a more charitable good-faith interpretation is in order. We are not talking about a 90% vote margin being attributed to racial bias.

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

at least one couple I know did exactly this as their decision making process (not for Ward 4). any of the above options you listed are realistic reasons, and the margin of victory was small enough that any one of them could have been the tipping point.

Being Chinese I know several people that vote this way and live their lives in a similar manner. So it does happen.


That being said, this result is pretty much the reason I only vote in advanced polls when I know I will be out of town on election day.


There is a reason election campaigns have to be at least 5 weeks. This gives the electorate plenty of time to learn what each candidate is offering.


It's also why I have trouble respecting anyone that states: "I always vote for ______" or "I didn't have enough information on who was running".

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

How is this even a surprise to you in any way given his history?

Maybe he needs a Rorschach test.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

When the deciding factor was a whopping 52 votes in a massive sea of voters, a more charitable good-faith interpretation is in order. We are not talking about a 90% vote margin being attributed to racial bias.

Basically this... If you ask the question, "is this a reason someone might have voted for Sean Chu", and the answer is "yeah maybe a few people", then it's a legitimate cause for his victory. When the margin is that small, almost anything would have made the difference. Rempel publicly denouncing him on Friday instead of after everyone had voted? Sure, probably. DJ Kelly being called DJ and that seeming to some people like a weird name for a city councillor? Also sure. Hell, ten people in this thread driving up to Ward 4 and knocking on a few doors could reasonably have made the difference - we're all to blame for this! But I don't know what it serves to list out the myriad things that would have tipped the scales.