Calgary polling stations open; traffic steady as Conservatives vote on new leader

By Richard Cuthbertson
September 17, 2011 1:02 PM
Source - Calgary Herald

The six PC leadership candidates sign each other's name plates at the end of the forum. From left, Gary Mar, Rick Orman, Doug Griffiths, Doug Horner, Alison Redford and Ted Morton. The last of eight Progressive Conservative Party All Candidate Forums for the leadership of the party was held Sept. 15, 2011 in Edmonton at the Radisson Edmonton South.
Photograph by: Shaughn Butts, edmontonjournal.com

After months of heavy campaigning, polls opened Saturday morning in the first ballot to determine Alberta’s next Progressive Conservative leader, with steady traffic to several polling stations in the city.

One of the busier ridings was Calgary-McCall, in the politically competitive northeast.

Blue and orange Ted Morton signs dotted the neighbourhood surrounding the North East Sportsplex, where the polling station is located.

Voters wandered in alongside parents and kids carrying sports equipment.

In the parking lot, a pickup truck and SUV carried Gary Mar flags and an RV with Rick Orman posters was stationed. A lone Alison Redford supporter had sign stuck by the wheel of her vehicle.

Supporters of various candidates milled around the parking lot, and said they were ready to help voters or organize rides to the polling station.

“It’s nice weather, what else can you say,” said Amandeep Deol, an Orman supporter.

Doug Griffiths, Doug Horner, Mar, Morton, Orman, and Redford are running for the leadership.

Voting ends at 7 p.m. and results will begin trickling in after that.

Observers say it is unlikely that one candidate will win more than 50 per cent of the vote and a second ballot in two weeks will be needed.

At Calgary-Buffalo in central Calgary, it appeared many people were not normally PC party members, but bought a membership and cast a ballot the leadership race that will determine the next premier.

“I feel it’s an important vote because it is who will be our next premier,” said Cameron Dajey, who voted at Scarboro United Church in the southwest.

Given this province has seen 40 years of uninterrupted Tory rule, some view this vote as more important than a provincial election.

“Frankly, kind frustrated with the party system that we have,” said Alan Richter. “This is the only vote that seems to count.”

rcuthbertson@calgaryherald.com

Alberta’s PC leadership vote is on

JOSH WINGROVE AND DAWN WALTON
CALGARY—
Published Saturday, Sep. 17, 2011 6:26PM EDT
Last updated Saturday, Sep. 17, 2011 9:22PM EDT
Source - Globe and Mail

Candidates Rick Orman, right, and Gary Mar greet members of the audience before the start of an Alberta PC Party leadership debate in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011.
Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

The polls are closed in the first ballot of the Alberta Tory leadership race, a contest to take over from the departing Ed Stelmach at the helm of one of Canada’s foremost political dynasties.

Results are expected to begin trickling in around 8 p.m. local time, and party president Bill Smith said late Saturday that turnout has been roughly equal to the party's last leadership race, in 2006, when 97,000 first-ballot votes were cast.

Saturday’s vote could produce a majority winner and, as such, a new premier. More likely, however, is that none of the six candidates will win a majority, and the top three will move on to a final ballot on Oct. 1.

Polling stations, staffed by 2,200 Progressive Conservative party volunteers, opened in each of the province’s ridings at 9 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. local time.

The candidates in the running to take the reins of the party, which has governed since 1971, include former cabinet minister Gary Mar, the presumed front-runner; former finance minister Ted Morton, who has previously run for the leadership and lost; former justice minister Alison Redford; former deputy premier Doug Horner; former energy minister Rick Orman, who has been out of politics for nearly two decades; and backbencher Doug Griffiths.

In Calgary–Mountain View, which is currently held by Liberal MLA David Swann, turnout was on par with the 2006 leadership race, according to volunteer Leah Lawrence, who worked both votes.

"Over half are buying new memberships," she said.

About 550 people there voted with only a couple of hours left before the polls close.

George Ross, the general manager of Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary, said he's not a Progressive Conservative, but bought a membership to cast a ballot for Ms. Redford fully expecting a new premier won't be named tonight – and it likely won't be his preferred candidate.

"It's probably going to be Mar," Mr. Ross said. "I hate to say it."

"I don't think the old party is going to go with Alison," he added.

At one polling station at a hotel in the small central Albertan city of Red Deer, a steady trickle of people cast a ballot Saturday morning.

Phil Hyde, 59, arrived wearing a T-shirt with the logo of the centrist Alberta Party, but wanted to cast a PC ballot. He was torn between Mr. Griffiths and Ms. Redford, both of whom have cast themselves as outsiders. He voted for Mr. Griffiths, whom he met at the local farmers market two weeks earlier.

“Between me it was a tossup between Doug and Alison, because they are new. They’d both fit right here,” he said, patting his Alberta Party logo. “Forty years – they’ve got stale, they’ve got old. Not a lot of talent in that caucus. It (voting) is an opportunity to have a look at the ones that really want to make change in that party.”

Ashley Hunter, 29, cast a vote for Mr. Horner – her first time doing so in a party leadership race.

“This was the first time I was approached to buy a membership and vote too,” Ms. Hunter said.

Polls have suggested that no one will win on the first ballot and that the top three will include Mr. Mar, Mr. Morton and either Ms. Redford or Mr. Horner. However, polls in the 2006 race were notoriously inaccurate at predicting the votes of party members.

The results will be announced at Calgary’s Metropolitan Convention Centre and streamed online through the party’s website.

Party members suggested turnout could be lower this year, because the race has dragged on for eight months and membership sales were low during summer.

If there’s no clear winner Saturday, as is expected, the three candidates who don’t make the cut will then be wooed by the top trio.

However, if failed candidates decide to support a rival, it’s not automatic – their voters will still need to vote on the second ballot.

As such, it’s the two weeks leading up to the second ballot that makes for the real race, as candidates scramble to woo supporters of failed camps and sell new memberships.

The new premier could, once elected by the party, call a snap election this fall – or, as the departing Mr. Stelmach has signalled, during the spring. However, he or she is not required to call it until the spring of 2013.

Mar at forefront of Alberta Tory race

Postmedia News September 17, 2011 9:07 PM
Source - Vancouver Sun

Alberta PC leadership candidates, clockwise from top left: Alison Redford, Rick Orman, Doug Griffiths, Ted Morton, Doug Horner, and Gary Mar.
Photograph by: Archive, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — With longtime Tory cabinet minister Gary Mar emerging as the dominant figure in Saturday’s Progressive Conservative leadership race, party insiders offered some advice to the two candidates who could join him on the second ballot.

With about one-quarter of the polls reporting, results showed Mar hovering just shy of 40 per cent of the vote, short of the majority he needs to record a first-ballot victory but comfortably ahead his five opponents, including second-place Doug Horner and two contenders battling it out for third: Alison Redford and Ted Morton.

Political activist Ken Boessenkool, who has been involved with several party leadership campaigns, said no matter which two candidates squeeze onto the second ballot with Mar, one should consider dropping out of the race to encourage party unity.

He said parties emerge from leadership contests better when voters have a choice between two distinct visions that can come together when a winner is declared. Such a scenario worked successfully following the 1992 PC race, when Ralph Klein gave the finance minister post to Jim Dinning, a chief supporter of Klein’s rival Nancy Betkowski, he said.

Boessenkool said the party needs to emulate that model and avoid repeating what happened in 2006, when Ed Stelmach finished third in first-ballot voting then took advantage of a division between Dinning and Morton to win on the second ballot.

“The debate within the party was never really resolved,” he said. “Stelmach stayed on the ballot, squeezed in, never got 50 per cent of the vote and couldn’t bring together the opposing sides.

“My recommendation to the party is someone should step aside for the good of the party to allow the leadership campaign to go down to a one-on-one battle.”

Boessenkool wouldn’t say who should make the sacrifice but noted that it made no sense to have two people in the race with similar platforms representing the same side of the party.

Party president Bill Smith said he thinks the party will emerge united no matter which scenario plays out.

“I think Ted Morton has said it best, that we have to go forward as a team, and think all of the candidates have been promoting that message.”

He said it would not be up to him to suggest a course of action for the third-place contender. He noted that while Orman dropped out in the 1992 race, Stelmach went against that advice 14 years later and was rewarded.

“There’s lots of decisions that will have to be made by a lot of people,” said Smith, who was part of Stelmach’s 2006 campaign.

“There’s lots of theories out there.”

He said ousted candidates will now have to decide whether to back any of the remaining three. Such endorsements do not mean that candidate’s supporters will have to go along, he noted.

Of greater concern to the Conservatives might low voter turnout. All of the leadership camps suggested the number of ballots cast was way down from the 2006 campaign, when about 97,000 people participated in the first round.

One camp said they believed the turnout could be as low as 50,000, though official totals were not available as of press time.

Mar’s lead not enough for PC leadership victory

By Karen Kleiss, edmontonjournal.com
September 17, 2011 10:50 PM
Source - Edmonton Journal

Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Gary Mar along with his wife Nancy and their son arrive at the Metropolitan Centre in Calgary, AB on Saturday, September 17, 2011.
Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — The contest to become Alberta’s 14th premier looks likely to continue for two more weeks after Tories on Saturday failed to select a majority winner.

The first round of voting at the Metropolitan Conference Centre in Calgary put Klein-era cabinet minister Gary Mar in the lead, followed by former deputy premier Doug Horner.

At press time, former justice minister Alison Redford and former finance minister Ted Morton were battling for third place.

With 30 of 87 polls reporting, Mar had captured 5,171 votes (35 per cent) and Horner had secured 3,793 (25 per cent). Redford had 2,219 and Morton had 1,938.

“It’s been an exciting campaign, we’ve had people come out from across the province,” party leader Bill Smith said.

“Warm day here and so we know that farmers are out on the fields and sometimes that can have an impact on the vote. But very exciting, lots of people coming out and we’re feeling very good about how things are looking now.”

Just over 15,000 ballots had been counted by press time.

Campaigning will now continue for two more weeks, up from one week in 2006, when Ed Stelmach won on the second ballot.

Candidates and their teams will be working to build support, selling crucial memberships and trying to make backroom deals that will help them secure a majority on the next ballot.

The second and final vote will take place in Edmonton on Oct. 1. In 2006, more than 144,000 Albertans voted on the second ballot.

Few believed a first-ballot victory was possible.

Mar has the lead and has endorsements from 27 Tory caucus members, including cabinet heavyweights Lloyd Snelgrove, Ron Liepert, Iris Evans and Dave Hancock. Polls suggest he has broad-based, provincewide support.

But the former health minister has been heavily criticized for supporting private-pay health care for wealthy Albertans, and has since downplayed his position. His campaign has been criticized for giving away free Tory memberships and busing seniors to the polls, though neither strategy is against party rules.

Mar, 49, also carries political baggage from his time in office, including the controversial awarding of $400,000 in un-tendered contracts to former aide Kelley Charlebois, who did not document his work. Charlebois is currently working on Mar’s leadership campaign.

Horner has the public support of 15 caucus members, many of them the same MLAs MLAs who helped Ed Stelmach win in 2006, including party stalwarts Jack Hayden, Luke Ouellette and Ray Danyluk.

Support for the three-term MLA for Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert runs deep in the rural parts of the province but is shallow in urban centres, particularly in Calgary.

Horner, 50, comes from a long line of federal and provincial Conservative politicians and ran on a platform of progressive, principle-driven leadership. His policies align closely to those of the Stelmach administration and he was viewed by some to represent the status quo.

Redford, with just one caucus endorsement, has strong support among women voters and in Calgary, where she is MLA for Calgary-Elbow. But polls also show the 46-year-old lawyer and former justice minister has less support in the capital city and in rural areas.

She made political gains during the campaign by casting herself as an agent of change, attacking Mar on health care – she rejects privatization – and by calling for a judicial inquiry into the Stelmach government’s health-care record. She has also called for the suspension of Alberta’s controversial Land Stewardship Act and promised increased government transparency.

A recent poll showed Redford in second place among decided Tory voters, a surprise to many political observers.

Morton has 10 caucus endorsements and scored political points among right-wing party faithful with a conservative platform that advocates smaller government, fiscal restraint and a stronger voice in Ottawa.

A social conservative who made an unsuccessful leadership bid in 2006, Morton has said that at least 80 per cent of his base support from that election was intact going into Saturday’s vote. But the 62-year old MLA from Foothills-Rocky View took political heat earlier this month when it was revealed he was using multiple email addresses to conduct official government business. Leaked documents also showed he destroyed records of his tenure as minister of sustainable resources development. The Information and Privacy Commissioner is now investigating.

Doug Griffiths, MLA for Battle-River Wainwright and Rick Orman, a Getty-era cabinet minister, were both ousted from the contest Saturday.

With 30 of 87 polls reporting, Griffiths had secured 711 votes and Orman had 1,112.

Griffiths, the youngest in the race at 38, ran a volunteer-driven campaign with just over $100,000 in contributions, dramatically less than what was raised by other campaigns.

He had one member of caucus supporting him, made a strong showing at leadership forums and put out a detailed policy platform. But he struggled against the perception that he was too young for the job and did not have enough cabinet experience.

Orman, a Getty-era cabinet minister, worked in the oilpatch for 18 years before returning to politics to make a leadership bid.

The race unofficially started Jan. 26, when outgoing Premier Ed Stelmach announced he would not run in the next election.

With files from Keith Gerein

kkleiss@edmontonjournal.com

twitter.com/ablegreporter

Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Gary Mar at the Metropolitan Centre in Calgary, AB on Saturday, September 17, 2011.
Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidates Doug Horner, left, and Ted Morton arrive at the Metropolitan Centre in Calgary, Alberta on Saturday, September 17, 2011.
Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Gary Mar along with his wife Nancy and their son arrive at the Metropolitan Centre in Calgary, AB on Saturday, September 17, 2011.
Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

Mar leads Tory pack in Alberta, but faces second ballot

JOSH WINGROVE AND DAWN WALTON
CALGARY—
Published Saturday, Sep. 17, 2011 6:26PM EDT
Last updated Sunday, Sep. 18, 2011 1:19AM EDT
Source - Globe and mail

Gary Mar (R) reacts to leading in the first ballots in the leadership race for the PC Party of Alberta in Calgary, September 17, 2011. Mr. Mar was running for the position after it opened up earlier this year when Alberta premier Ed Stelmach resigned.
Todd Korol/Reuters

Former Tory cabinet minister Gary Mar scored a strong victory in the first ballot to become Alberta’s next premier – but a second ballot will extend the race another two weeks.

The Ralph Klein-era Progressive Conservative cabinet stalwart was leading in many of the results that were released. With 83 of 88 polls reporting, Mr. Mar had 41 per cent of the 55,828 votes cast. Former justice minister Alison Redford was second at 18 per cent, with past deputy premier Doug Horner in third at 15 per cent.

Former finance minister Ted Morton surprised observers by drawing just 12 per cent, well below his first-ballot results from the previous leadership race. The other two candidates, Rick Orman and Doug Griffiths, were behind the pack.

“Very strong, very strong,” Mr. Mar said of his results as he arrived at the Calgary convention centre where the party gathered Saturday. To win on the first ballot, a candidate needs 50 per cent support – a second ballot is in the offing. “My job is very clear over the next two weeks. I’ve got to get out there and sell more memberships. And our team is going to do that,” Mr. Mar said.

Ms. Redford, who ran something of an insurgency campaign that won her little support from fellow MLAs, said the results signal the desire for change in Alberta and show support for her campaign across the province. She gave no sign she’d back down. “We have two more weeks to convince people that what we can do right now is set a changing direction for this province,” she said.

The story of the night, however, was low turnout – fewer than 60,000 votes were cast, well below the 97,000 cast on the first ballot in the last leadership race in 2006. Turnout was particularly low in rural ridings and in Edmonton – it was a sunny day during harvest season for a party with a rural base.

“A lot of our vote didn’t get out,” said Mr. Horner, who has broad rural support. “We’re going to have to fix that,” he said, hoping he makes it to the second round of voting. “God willing.”

Mr. Morton’s campaign manager, Sam Armstrong, said they were stunned with their poor result, and said the party needs to question why turnout was so low.

“It’s clear that the conservative wing of the party stayed home,” Mr. Armstrong said. “Whether that’s because of harvest, whether that’s because we lost them on various issues or for various reasons, I don’t know.”

The top three candidates will move on to a final ballot on Oct. 1. There was, however, a sense among campaigns that Mr. Mar will be unbeatable if his numbers were above 40 per cent. But neither Ms. Redford nor Mr. Horner signalled they’d stop their campaigns.

Rival chants of “Gary, Gary” and “Redford, Redford” broke out among the crowd as the last results rolled in – a sign that the race was far from over. But Mr. Mar has the inside track.

“If he gets over 40 per cent, arithmetically, it's very difficult to catch him,” said Keith Brownsey, a political scientist with Calgary’s Mount Royal University. Prof. Brownsey said the low turnout is to be expected – the campaign has dragged on for eight months; Tory support has bled off to the upstart, right wing Wildrose Party; and voters have become disillusioned with politics.

There’s been little interest,” he said of this leadership race.

Mr. Mar had consistently strong results in ridings across the province, where as all the other candidates had pockets of support – very strong in some ridings, very weak in others. He was the choice of MLAs, with nearly half his caucus backing him, and his campaign raised the most money – over $1.7-million. His campaign had, however, talked hopefully of a first-ballot win, something they fell far short of Saturday.

Triggering a second ballot means triggering an entirely different race. In the last leadership contest, Ed Stelmach finished third on the first ballot, but shot to first place on the second – after selling thousands of memberships during the two weeks in between votes. The three candidates who don’t make the cut may also give endorsements, but their supporters will still need to show up and vote on Oct. 1.

Mr. Morton hasn’t signalled who he’ll support, and Mr. Armstrong said he may not make an endorsement. Mr. Orman said during the campaign he won’t back a candidate if he misses the cut.

“I probably will be supporting somebody, but I’m going to take a couple days to think about it,” Mr. Griffiths said Saturday evening. He added that the PC Party needs to investigate why the turnout was so low.

“I think harvest was a huge factor,” he said. “We worked very hard on the phones to get our support out and there was no answer because everybody was on the tractor, they’re working – so that alone can contribute to a third of the people not coming out to vote.”

By the time of the Oct. 1 ballot, farmers might be better positioned to show up in significant numbers and influence the final ballot.

“It might change the result, it might change the way things are going,” Mr. Griffiths said.

Polling stations, staffed by 2,200 Progressive Conservative party volunteers, opened in each of the province’s ridings at 9 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. local time. The PCs have governed since 1971, so the party’s leadership race is as close a chance as Albertans have had to choose a premier.

The new premier could, once elected by the party, call a snap election this fall – or, as the departing Mr. Stelmach has signalled, during the spring. However, he or she is not required to call it until the spring of 2013. Mr. Mar has indicated he would call an election this fall.

Mr. Mar said on Saturday night that it's too soon to say whether he would call a fall election if he's selected as party leader.

quote:

“Very strong, very strong,” Mr. Mar said of his results as he arrived at the Calgary convention centre where the party gathered Saturday. To win on the first ballot, a candidate needs 50 per cent support – a second ballot is in the offing.

“My job is very clear over the next two weeks. I’ve got to get out there and sell more memberships. And our team is going to do that,” Mr. Mar said.

Interesting developments for the next two weeks.

Gary Mar, right

OR

Doug Horner, left



.. who will emerge as the winner and Leader?

Perhaps, a repeat of the last candidates' election when Jim Dinning emerged as the winner on the first ballot with less than 50% of the votes and Ed Stelmach in distant third position.

Ed Stelmach, eventually on the final round was the winner, with Jim Dinning gaining a few additional votes.

Ted Morton, Rick Orman throw their support behind Gary Mar

Updated: Mon Sep. 19 2011 18:05:42
ctvedmonton.ca
Source - CTV News

Alberta Progressive Conservative party leadership hopeful Gary Mar greets supporters gathered to watch voting results from the first ballot in the party's leadership race in Calgary, Alta., Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

After taking the most votes during Saturday's leadership vote, Gary Mar now has some strong support from former competitors, Ted Morton and Rick Orman.

"It's time to move on -- let Gary form government and get on with the business for Albertans," said Morton.

Morton and Orman finished outside the top three after Saturday's ballot, eliminating them from the second vote.

Mar finished in first place with 41 per cent.

But Alison Redford and Doug Horner are still in the race.

Horner admits he was caught off guard when Morton decided to back Mar.

"I'm surprised that Ted would go to Gary's camp... a bit of a difference in ideology there I'm sure he has his reasons," said Horner.

Mar says he has not promised cabinet positions, but he has made other commitments.

"That is my commitment to Rick and to Ted is that they would both be a very important part of my team as we go forward," said Mar.

Doug Griffiths is the lone candidate who has not announced where he is going.

Progressive Conservative party members will be able to cast their vote in the second round, at polling stations throughout the province on October 1st.

With files from Kevin Armstrong

Doug Horner could be the possible winner.

1. Doug Horner and Alison Redford conbined; with Doug Horner being the candidate against Gary Mar.

2. Ted Morton's group would vote for anyone but Gary Mar.

3. Gary Mar could win with a slight majority if Alison Redford remains in the race.