Craig Chandler Supports the Liberals

This week's sign of the apocalypse - an e-mail sent out today by Craig Chandler to all PGIB members:

From: "PGIB Head Office"
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 11:33:02 -0600
To: Craig Chandler
ReplyTo: "PGIB Head Office"
Subject: A Serious Leadership Message For Albertans! - This Email Is URGENT In Nature - NOW

PLEASE VOTE IN THE ALBERTA LIBERAL LEADERSHIP RACE
Seriously! This Is NOT A Joke!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Dear Friends,

I know when you read the words above you almost had a heart attack and were scared, been there, done that. I actually threw up about the whole situation. Folks, you know me and I am as solidly small 'c' conservative as they come, thus, I am asking for your trust. After the initial shock of seeing a Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB) logo promoting that you take part in a Liberal leadership race and actually read this letter, you will understand.

[...]

However, the main reason for our letter to you is because we think we need to hedge our bets. With the Alberta Progressive Conservative and the Wildrose Alliance Parties splitting each others vote, this forces us to have a well thought out strategy for the upcoming election. If the wrong person becomes leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and the party manages to crawl up the middle and form government, we are in serious, serious trouble as a province!

That is why we are asking you to register to support Bill Harvey who is seeking to become leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. I know what you are thinking, but, keep reading as this is really, really important for the future of this province. You do not have to be a member of the Alberta Liberal Party to vote so this is a real opportunity for the movement.

Bill Harvey is a long time PGIB member and his views are Classical Liberal in flavour or as what we refer to in the modern day as small 'c' conservative. Bill Harvey's policies of less government, lower taxes and political accountability are of the fiscally responsible Laurence Decore era. His view on eliminating Section 3 of the Alberta Human Rights Commission show that he values freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Bill Harvey's policies on putting Alberta first with an Alberta Provincial Police force, controlling our own immigration to his promotion of a Triple E Senate and defense of our oil & gas industry show that he will be a defender of the west.

What is also refreshing about Bill Harvey is that he is NOT a federa l Liberal! How anyone could be supporter of a party that is the enemy of this province is beyond me?

For those not familiar with Alberta politics, Craig Chandler is a colourful fellow who does things like organize fundraisers where you can shoot your gun at Liberal logos. In 2007, he was stripped of his PC nomination in Calgary Egmont in response to comments where he basically said Albertans should either "adapt" and vote Conservative, or leave the province. You can read a good recap of that saga here. These days, Craig runs the PGIB - the Progressive Group of Independent Business who are basically against everything progressive.

Well, it appears Craig himself has adapted, and is now supporting the Liberals and urging PGIB members to do likewise, in a bid to elect Bill Harvey ALP leader.

We'll find out in September how effective they've been, but this will make for an excellent case study in the impact of the primary system. As you'll recall, the ALP opened their doors to all Albertans in May, switching to a system where you didn't need a party membership to vote for the leader, or nominate candidates.

Many federal Liberals have been musing about this idea, and it seems likely the question will come to a vote at the January convention. I'm a huge proponent of open primaries, but detractors almost all point to the potential for takeover from right wing groups as the downside. If Harvey wins in Alberta or comes close, that would pretty much kill the idea of a primary system federally. However, if an organizationally weak Alberta Liberal Party can withstand the PGIB assault in Conservative heartland, it would be a clear sign that the federal Liberals have nothing to fear from opening their doors to all Canadians.

Stampede to the Polls: Ric McIver Profile

If I'm going to earn the right to keep the "Calgary" prefix on this blog's name, I feel it's my responsibility to cover Calgary politics. As such, I begin the first of my 764 part series, profiling the gaggle of candidates vying to replace Dave Bronconnier as Mayor of Calgary.

Sadly, with Craig Chandler siting out the race, Calgary doesn't have a mayoral candidate as nutilly right wing as Rob Ford. This is something I will take great pleasure in pointing out the next time a Torontonian tries to portray Calgary as conservative backwater.

However, after 20 years of Liberal mayors, we do have a Conservative frontrunner in this race.

Ric McIver

About Ric: Don't let the mustache fool you, McIver is as conservative as they come. His first campaign manager was none other than the aforementioned Craig Chandler and you can find pictures on Ric's flickr account of him volunteering for Stephen Harper and speaking at a rally against the undemocratic socialist separatist coalition. The site also contains pictures of Ric wearing nothing but a Conservative Party t-shirt.

On council, McIver has spent the last 9 years as the unofficial "opposition leader" to Mayor Bronconnier, earning his "Doctor No" nickname. He has railed against wasteful spending. He led the yellow ribbon charge. He's opposed Bronco's attempts to build bridges.

So it comes as no surprise to anyone that McIver is running for mayor or that he leads all other candidates in terms of name recognition.


Website
(Appearance: 7/10, Functionality 7/10, Content 4/10, Uniqueness 3/10, Overall 6/10)

McIver has run a cautious campaign, and he has produced a cautious website. Candidate smiling in front of Calgary? Check. Donation, Volunteer, and Take Action buttons? Check. Some pictures here, some press releases there? Check. But really, there's little to get excited about on this site. Which is fine - McIver has name recognition, money and volunteers. He doesn't need an aggressive online presence.


Social Media

892 Twitter followers - Ric tweets every few days
1691 Facebook fans
1995 Youtube views - but all his channel has are 2 slide shows


My Take: I actually don't have a problem with Ric, and not just because I made a bet last year that he'd win this election. Even if I don't agree with him, he's always been consistent and true to his principles.

However...colour me unimpressed with his campaign to date. The man has gone from Doctor No to Mister Sure. Airport tunnel? Sure! Ring road? Sure! If you read Ric's "vision" of Calgary, it certainly doesn't sound any more conservative than NDPer Bob Hawkesworth's. Hell, Hawkesworth is against the airport tunnel because it's too expensive.

Beyond that, McIver's one page vision is nothing more than municipal buzzword mad gab.

"Building complete communities where Calgarians can live, work and play without long commutes."
"Thoughtful development of our transit system, continued work on our road network and
intelligent downtown parking policies will help re-vitalize the core."
"Budgeting will be responsible, taxes justified and transparent"

This isn't just me being a jerk and picking out select lines - in McIver's one page "complete vision", the most exciting piece of policy he tosses out is a promise of "smart snow removal strategy". I have no clue what this means, but I'm hoping it involves Mr Plow.

In fairness to Ric, there's no need for him to release his full platform this early in the race, and I expect the surprise entry of Barb Higgins will lead to a bolder campaign than he would have otherwise run. But, so far, McIver appears content running a typical frontrunner campaign.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Via Daveberta, Craig Chandler will be running as an independent candidate in Calgary Egmont and he has started to fill out a slate of men who share his views. While I have serious doubts about any of them, save Chandler, drawing a huge chunk of votes, they will have money and will be relatively well organized so they might be able to drain up to 10% of the vote in their ridings. This is notable since three of the Chandlerettes are running in seats the ALP could win.

Jim Blake – Running as a Wildrose Party candidate or as an Independent in the Constituency of Calgary Currie.

Sid Helishauer - As an Alberta Alliance Party candidate or an Independent in the Constituency of Airdrie Chestermere.

Harley Shouldice - As an Independent in the Constituency of Calgary North Hill.

David Crutcher – Either as an Alberta Alliance or as an Independent in the Constituency of Calgary Glenmore. David Crutcher will be delivering a message very clearly to the Deputy Premier, Ron Stevens.

What Else Could I Do?

In an absolutely bizarre story I somehow missed last week, three of my favourite people in Alberta got tied up in...well...words almost fail to describe it. The only thing missing from this story is a Rob Anders cameo.

On Tuesday, [Craig] Chandler showed CBC News an e-mail written to him by Calgary Sun columnist Paul Jackson.

[...] the columnist also wrote two separate articles leading up to the nomination vote supporting Chandler's rival Jonathan Denis.

[...]

The e-mail to Chandler dated Oct. 22 reads: "Sorry about how things have turned out. I got an urgent call from the Premier's Office asking me to back Jonathan. What else could I do?"

Chandler said the e-mail proves Stelmach's office was trying to meddle with the outcome in Calgary-Egmont.

In fairness, Stelmach's office has denied making the phone call and, unless he's taking tips from Vladimir Putin, they can probably be taken at their word. Regardless, Paul Jackson confirms he wrote the e-mail and, in doing so, admits that he'll write whatever the Premier's office asks him to. Welcome to Alberta.

Paul Jackson went on the CBC Eyeopener last week to try and explain himself and what followed was probably the funniest interview I have ever heard in my lifetime [and while I'm hesitant to link to no-libs.com, I can't find it on the CBC page and the interview is just so absolutely amazing that I had to]. It should be mandatory listening for anyone who has ever read a Paul Jackson column.

Ken Chapman chronicles Jackson's various contradictions quite effectively here. Among Jackson's highlights:


"I never said I'd support Chandler - I wouldn't vote for Craig Chandler if he gave me a million dollars"

"I've never in my life supported Craig Chandler."

But...wait a minute...if you go to Craig Chandler's site, you can see video of Jackson pre-phonecallfromPremier'soffice saying:


"we need Craig Chandler and people like him in elected office"


Now, Jackson explains himself by saying, gosh, Craig asked me to emcee his fundraiser because no one else would do it and, you know, I was trying to be polite. If this is the case, I can only hope that, for his sake, Paul isn't asked to emcee Chandler's upcoming "Democracy Denied" fundraiser because then he'd have to accept, and once again sing Chandler's praises.

More on that fundraiser in a second, but first, my favourite exchange from the eye opener interview:

Jim Brown: "How do you think this incident will affect your credibility as a columnist"
Paul Jackson: "Mr. Chandler has ruined my career after 43 years"

I only hope that Jim Brown was asking Paul Jackson about his "credibility as a columnist" as a tongue in cheek joke...


Oh, and for all of you "supporters of democracy and freedom" out there lamenting "the day democracy died in Alberta", Craig is hosting a fundraiser on January 31st because:

On Saturday December 1st , Democracy was Denied, as Premier Stelmach and the PCAA executive decided to ignore the democratic process and give Craig Chandler the boot. What Premier Stelmach has done is a blatant attack on democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.

If you care about freedom of speech, freedom of religion and democracy, then you need to attend the Democracy Denied Dinner on Thursday, January 31, 2008. This is not just about Craig Chandler, but is about what we want Alberta to be. Come and meet members and candidates from the Alberta Alliance, the Wildrose Party, Independents and many from the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party who are organizing to insure that Ed Stelmach is not supported in his next leadership review.

Belated hat tip for the CBC article on this to The Greatest Political Organizer Ever In The World

In and Out

Mr. Smith is out of Washington...with a six figure severance package, despite leaving his posting early by his own choosing. Man, I would totally be gunning for that job if it wasn't for the fact that you need to be a Tory Cabinet Minister to get it.

Also out is Minister of Finance Lyle Oberg (AKA Skeletor), after feuding with Stelmach for most of 2007.

Possibly in, however, is Craig Chandler ally David Crutcher who has announced his intention to run for the Calgary Egmont nomination his buddy was DQ'd from:

After last week's ruling, Chandler denounced the party and accused it of intolerance toward people of faith.

Crutcher said he shares Chandler's belief system, and that's why he's testing the democracy waters with his nomination bid.

But he wants the party's affirmation up front that it will accept his candidacy, so that he isn't saddled with the bills of a rejected bid.

Chandler says he plans to sue the Alberta Progressive Conservatives for the $127,000 he claims he spent on his campaign to secure the party's nomination.

"What I don't want to do is go through the same thing that Craig Chandler did, where he put a lot of time and money into winning a nomination only to be told he can't run," Crutcher said.

A spokesman for the premier said nominations are a party matter and declined comment.

Advil, Ed?

Money for Nothing

Craig Chandler is none too happy today:

Rejected Tory candidate Craig Chandler says he plans to sue the Alberta Progressive Conservatives for the $127,000 he claims he spent on his campaign to secure the party's nomination in Calgary-Egmont.

[...]

Chandler said he now wants his money back.

"Why didn't they let me know beforehand that they weren't going to let me run," said Chandler. "I think it's cruel and unusual punishment to allow me to spend $127,000 and six months of my life on the campaign," he said.

Forget a lawsuit. Given the cruel and unusual punishment that's been inflicted on Chandler, I think he should be taking this one in front of the Alberta Human Rights Commission.


Delayed Hat Tip because he insists upon it to the GPOitHotW

Adapt or Leave

No surprise - the saga of Craig Chandler has come to an end...or has it?

Knowing Mr. Chandler, I suspect this isn't the last he'll be heard of.

You know what your nickname is, Mr. Bigot

Just because I probably won't have the opportunity to take shots at the nominated PC candidate in my home riding past Saturday, I thought I'd toss out a few gems from the best of Craig Chandler courtesy of today's Globe & Mail:

Earlier this year, a settlement arranged by the Canadian Human Rights Commission forced [Chandler] to publish an apology for comments made on a radio program that he co-hosts - among them, reportedly, that "God sees murder as equal to homosexuality." As part of the settlement, he agreed to "cease and desist" from posting information on the Internet claiming that "homosexuals are conspiring against society" and that they are "sick, diseased or mentally ill."

His homophobia appears to know few bounds. On the website of Concerned Christians, he approvingly pointed to a letter by Calgary pastor Stephen Boisson charging that "[w]here homosexuality flourishes, all manner of wickedness abounds." When Belinda Stronach ran for the Conservative leadership, he suggested the presence of gay activists on her campaign team meant "a takeover from the militant homosexual movement" was at hand.

I should point out that all of this was public record when the PCs decided to let him run for the nomination in the first place...


(sorry on the obscure Chandler from Friends reference in the title - it narowly beat out, "Could he BE a bigger homophobe?")

The Saga of Craig Chandler

When the saga of Craig Chandler broke this fall, I didn't blog about it. As much fun as it would have been to skewer Craig (and after reading this post, you'll fully appreciate just how much fun it is!), the fact was he was just some guy going for the Tory nomination and I didn't think comments of his, no matter how ridiculous they sounded, were really newsworthy until he became an official candidate.

Luckily for us, that day has arrived.

For those unfamiliar with Craig Chandler, as they say in Pushing Daisies, the facts were these:

-If you're from outside Alberta, you might remember Craig Chandler as the guy who showed up with between zero and six delegates (depending who you ask) at the 2003 leadership race and threw his support behind Jim Prentice, much to the dismay of the Prentice team. In the words of wikipedia:

The night before the PC leadership convention, Chandler delivered a platform that the Canadian Press described as homophobic, fundamentalist and "neoconservative to the bone." James Muldoon, a fundraiser for front runner Peter MacKay, described Chandler as "the true black face of neoconservatism. He could live to be 100 and he'll never know the meaning of, I am my brother's keeper." [1]. Chandler's statements were called "bitter and resentful" by MacKay, whom Chandler criticized for supporting of the passage of Criminal Code of Canada amendment Bill C-250 that added homosexuals to the list of groups protected by hate crimes legislation.

-You may also remember Craig as the guy who organized a fundraiser where you could pay to shoot guns at Liberal logos.

-Craig has been a member of the Reform Party, Social Credit Party, Progressive Conservatives (federal and provincial), and Canadian Alliance. He the campaign manager for the Alberta Alliance candidate in Calgary Egmont last election. I remember him showing up at the all candidates debate and asking an abortion question last time.

-In August, Craig got headlines by posting the following online:

To those of you who have come to our great land from out of province, you need to remember that you came here to our home and we vote conservative. You came here to enjoy our economy, our natural beauty and more. This is our home and if you wish to live here, you must adapt to our rules and our voting patterns, or leave. Conservatism is our culture. Do not destroy what we have created.


-You can watch the CTV recap here, featuring a great closing tag by Darrell Janz:



So...now that Craig has the nomination, I think it's fair to ask a few questions that have been on my mind for quite some time:


1. Ed Stelmach responded to Craig's initial comments by saying "This province has welcomed newcomers and we will continue to welcome newcomers.” Why then, did his communications director use the same talking points as Craig to blame Stelmach's plunging poll numbers on new Albertans?


2. If people have to "adapt or leave" to the political culture of where they live, does that mean that Craig needs to leave a "left of centre" country like Canada? Should Conservatives be forced to leave Redmonton? Or does Chandler's advice only hold true for provinces?


3. If it only holds true for provinces, should Conservatives who move to Ontario be forced to "adapt or leave"? Is that why Craig left Ontario in the 90s?


4. Do current Albertans need to leave too? 53% of Albertans voted against the PCs last election. In fairness, Craig has clarified his comments to say that he meant small "c" conservatism. Still, 42.2% of voters voted for the Liberals, NDP, or Greens last provincial election in Alberta. Should they "adapt or leave" or is it only newcomers who need to? And what of the 60% of Albertans who didn't vote last election? If they didn't feel strongly enough about the PCs to take 15 minutes to vote for them, should they "adapt or leave" too?


5. If "Conservatism is Alberta's culture and we don't want it destroyed", should the culture be protected? But...if conservatives believe culture shouldn't be protected (damn the CBC!) isn't that a contradiction? How should we protect Alberta's conservative culture? Subsidize the Western Standard? Build more statues of Peter Lougheed? As a big culture guy, I'm open to ideas.


6. Chandler says newcomers should adapt to Alberta's "voting patterns". But, if over half of Albertans didn't vote last time, isn't our "voting pattern" just not voting. So, should newcomers simply not vote, then? Or, if he means historical voting patterns, Alberta's historical voting pattern is to kick the incumbents out after 30 years or so...if that's the case, we're due for a government change.


7. Does Chandler feel we should do something to restrict entry into Alberta? Should people take a test in conservatism before they are allowed to move here? Or will defacing a Pierre Trudeau portrait be enough to grant them residency?


8. How does Chandler reconcile these two statements?

Media Release: "Some in our party have become complacent and think we have the natural right to govern because we are conservatives."

Website: "Craig Chandler is seeking the riding nomination for the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. We all know that whoever wins the nomination will surely become your next MLA."

The obvious conclusion is that Craig Chandler is among the "some in our party" but I don't quite think that's what he's getting at...


9. On Chandler's website he talks about putting Alberta's democratic house in order. Is telling people how they should vote part of this?


10. On CTV, Chandler talks about the conservative philosophy of "not spending, and not going into debt". Given that the Tories increased spending by 17% in their spring budget and are intent on going into debt with a wide range of P3 projects, do they really represent Alberta's culture of conservatism? What does Craig think of the front page "Alberta to take on debt for deal?" headline he no doubt read in the Herald yesterday?


11. If Chandler explains the drop in Stelmach's Calgary support from 59% in January to 30% in August as being because of these foreigners moving to Alberta, wouldn't it mathematically stand to reason that Calgary's population has at least doubled in the last 9 months? If so, how come no one else has noticed?


12. Chandler discounts the poll because it was conducted by Cameron Strategies who poll for Dave Bronconnier. But didn't Cameron Strategies also poll for Lyle Oberg during the PC leadership race?


13. Was Chandler's September 19th press release intended to be satircal or was that just a delightfully enjoyable typo?

> Wednesday, September 19, 2007
> VOTERS SMARTER THEN THE MEDIA
> Record Membership Sales After Media Attacks

14. Why did Chandler edit his blog post and "than" lie in a Herald Op-ed about what he'd said originally on this blog?


15. Will Ed Stelmach support the will of a local riding association and sign Craig's nomination papers or will he oust his democratically nominated candidate?



As a constituent in Calgary Egmont, I'm a little torn about this one. Having Craig Chandler as my MLA is a scary thought but, at the same time, it puts a riding that was never going to elect a Liberal MLA before into play. The Alberta Liberals have nominated former Catholic school board trustee Cathie Williams in the riding - quite the catch. Cathie is an accomplished woman who is smart, politically astute, passionate about policy, and not Craig Chandler. These four qualities of hers should make Calgary Egmont a riding to watch during the upcoming provincial election.

Adapt or Leave

Craig Chandler comes through in Calgary Egmont!

I'll go into quite some detail on the saga of Craig Chandler tomorrow for those who haven't been following it. To put it into perspective, this is akin to Randy Hillier losing a nomination battle...in which he is the more moderate candidate. This is going to be fun, fun, fun!


UPDATE: More nomination news for the Tories. The scud stud takes the Calgary Currie nom, pitting him against deputy ALP leader Dave Taylor. Meanwhile in Calgary Buffalo, it's Sean Chu who gets the nod, setting up a battle with Kent Hehr. Given that Sean has been quite active with the federal Liberals before, it just goes to show how ridiculous the lumping of the ALP and LPC in together is.