MF YYC Politics - there, I mega did it

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

I'm also at a bit of a loss in Ward 12....Brent Curtis may be great, but the prison time in the US on a drug conspiracy charge shows a lack of real smart decision-making. I know people can change, but if that's what he resorts to when he's hard up for cash, it's concerning.

I'm loathe to vote for anyone in a party, but may have to go with the Calgary Party person just to avoid a conservative nutjob.

Well there goes that vote, if I want to read a story about a guy losing big bucks day trading stocks and resorting to muling cocaine I’d rather do it on wallstreetbets and not my councillor.

I wasn’t impressed with Fergusons background at all. She had spent 4 years working in civic politics (that’s good) but prior to that all it mentions is a day home and volunteer experience. She just gave me an impression of being disconnected from reality.

Looks like I’ll be voting for mayor only, these options suck.

[btimbit]

Yeah Ferguson is really the only choice for Ward 12. Not an exciting one but the rest are either ex cons or have UCP ties.

Here's her AMA
https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com..._12_candidate/

The other candidates:

Shane Bycuik: Communities First Party. Served on riding association boards for the provincial UCP

Brent Curtis: Independent, but spent 3 years in Prison for Drug Conspiracy. Who knew that buying cocaine from an FBI agent was a bad idea.

Mike Jamieson: A Better Calgary Party. Sat on UCP boards of Ric McIver and Tanya Fir. Yuck.

Raj-Khumar Khuttan: Independent. Serves on boards of the United Conservative Party and the Conservative Party of Canada


Definitely not an exciting bunch

Edit: Sorry, forgot the source
https://www.sprawlcalgary.com/calgar...andidates-2025

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Yeah Ferguson is really the only choice for Ward 12. Not an exciting one but the rest are either ex cons or have UCP ties.

Here's her AMA
https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/com..._12_candidate/

The other candidates:

Shane Bycuik: Communities First Party. Served on riding association boards for the provincial UCP

Brent Curtis: Independent, but spent 3 years in Prison for Drug Conspiracy. Who knew that buying cocaine from an FBI agent was a bad idea.

Mike Jamieson: A Better Calgary Party. Sat on UCP boards of Ric McIver and Tanya Fir. Yuck.

Raj-Khumar Khuttan: Independent. Serves on boards of the United Conservative Party

Definitely not an exciting bunch

What the what? How much money is the UCP throwing at the Calgary election? Running 1 person in each riding is intense enough but 3-4.... it is truly undemocratic.

[undercoverbrother]

Can we get a rundown of the municipal parties again.

If I recall there are 2 UCP boot licking parties and 1 well hopefully normal party

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Can we get a rundown of the municipal parties again.

If I recall there are 2 UCP boot licking parties and 1 well hopefully normal party

Communities First and Better Calgary are UCP or worse.

Calgary Party are "centrist" and more reasonable.

https://www.thecalgaryparty.ca/

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Ward 12’s councillors are a dogs breakfast.

Byciuk - municipal party affiliated, previous UCP worker
Curtis - no party affiliation, did time in the US for muling coke
Ferguson - municipal party affiliated, seems like a bit of a wing nut, local govt experience
Jamieson - municipal party affiliated, mentions religious background in description, previous conservative work in bio.
Khuttan - no party affiliation, previous work for conservative parties.

I had a 5 minute in person chat with Brent Curtis, he seems genuine and decent. No affiliations to vote along party lines is a big plus. He probably gets my vote even if he has less experience than most of the other candidates.

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Can we get a rundown of the municipal parties again.

If I recall there are 2 UCP boot licking parties and 1 well hopefully normal party

This was my info I pulled from each of the candidates web pages in our ward along with the cocaine muling that was just brought to my attention

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Can we get a rundown of the municipal parties again.

If I recall there are 2 UCP boot licking parties and 1 well hopefully normal party

A Better Calgary Party: The clearest UCP ties

A party of “common sense conservatives,”
... Longtime conservative organizer Craig Chandler is working on the campaign, and party president Gord Elliott has served in board roles for both the federal Conservative Party and provincial UCP.

Communities First: Not as direct UCP ties but lots of their members do. Plus look at the people they're running, it's a list of all the worst councillors.

launched in December 2024 by four city councillors: Andre Chabot, Dan McLean, Terry Wong and Sonya Sharp, who is running for mayor. Pollster and former Dave Bronconnier chief of staff Marc Henry is working on the Communities First campaign

The Calgary Party: The most palatable and centrist but Carter being involved is.... Ugh

launched in October 2024 with employment lawyer Brian Thiessen declaring his intention to run for mayor. Former Naheed Nenshi chief of staff Chima Nkemdirim is working on the Calgary Party campaign, as is political strategist Stephen Carter.

https://www.sprawlcalgary.com/calgar...andidates-2025

[puffnstuff]

How anyone in politics still thinks being in anyway associated with Chandler is beneficial is beyond me

[btimbit]

Also keep in mind the school board trustees. While there's no parties there, there's a clear UCP TBA campaign to take it over as well.

https://www.sprawlcalgary.com/cbe-el...western-impact

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

How anyone in politics still thinks being in anyway associated with Chandler is beyond me

Some would say the same of Carter.

[btimbit]

Yeah at the end of the day all the parties suck. Some more than others. But if you're like Ward 12 where the independent candidates are just as bad as the UCP backed ones, The Calgary Party may be your safest bet

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I'm specifically referring to re-zoning.

In Calgary's public consultation process regarding blanket rezoning, 62% of written submissions were opposed to the changes. Additionally, 88% of oral submissions during the public hearings also expressed opposition.

Despite that council said "we know better" and did it anyway. I just can't support something like that.

Tons of people emailed their councillor to support the bylaw change in the days leading up to the vote, which wouldn't appear in your numbers. Of course plenty would have emailed in opposition, too, though there would be a lot of overlap with the formal submissions.

[wireframe]

Originally Posted by wireframe

If this post gets 10 thanks, I will try to get Myke to do a CP AMA next week. Imma be the change I want to see in the world.

Myke said yes, he'll do it. The live reddit AMA was a lot of effort so I said that the CP version could be a bit more casual. I'm thinking the following:
1. He and I pick a day next week
2. We make a thread ~1 day in advance
3. CPers post any questions
4. Myke answers the questions and any live follow-ups over a ~2 hour period. I said that I'd help him navaigate our complex culture and advanced forum software.


Any thoughts before I commit?

[PaperBagger'14]

Get him to answer questions using cryptic gifs to really piss off some people

[MrButtons]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Get him to answer questions using cryptic gifs to really piss off some people

Or make him come up with possible landing spots for Kadri.

[TorqueDog]

I think Ward 12 should give Cocaine Curtis a chance. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and he’s shown that he isn’t afraid to think outside the box, even though he got thrown into one for a few years.

Hell, maybe he’ll be more sympathetic to the whole drug problem in the inner city.

That’s how bad Ward 12’s slate looks, that it might be worthwhile considering someone who has made bad choices in their lives and has somehow recovered from them to the point they’re actually running for a council position. It’s gotta be better than voting for someone who has an association with Craig Chandler; only thing that guy knows about addictions is when it’s an addiction to carbohydrates.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Get him to answer questions using cryptic gifs to really piss off some people

Bro what's the deal with your neighbour's Jamieson sign

[puffnstuff]

Make sure he uses Fata in an answer

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Bro what's the deal with your neighbour's Jamieson sign

Before I answer, just know him and his family are actually super nice people and great neighbours.

They are quite heavily into some form of Christianity and him and his wife are both from small towns (AB and Ontario) so very conservative politically.

Aside from politics we get along great (I avoid that topic at all costs around him)

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sure and 8/9 mayoralty candidates either want it scrapped entirely or to have significant changes made. It seems like it’s just not that popular, regardless of whether Gondek manages to squeak through with ~35% of the vote or not.

Whiners are the most active voting segment. By saying "significant changes" they are actually probably in favour of it and just trying not to lose the whiners. I don't think any of them are actually going to do a damn thing about it.

Plus everyone is selfish, so even if deep down they think that's the right path for the city, they wouldn't be terribly upset if their street stays exactly as it is today.

It's like running on a campaign to raise taxes in order to build more public housing and feed the hungry - no one will actually vote for that, you have to at least pretend it won't cost them anything.