The race for mayor and city council will not cross the finish line until October of next year but the first big step is now
The man insists upon a point to be made.
“This is not a takeover by the UCP of municipal elections and it’s not a takeover by the NDP of municipal elections. It won’t be allowed to be. It will be an overt prohibition. Nobody is taking over anything.”
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The man quoted is Ric McIver.
In a previous life McIver was a long-serving fiscal hawk on Calgary city council, nicknamed Dr. No by this scribbler because he was no fan of big spending.
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McIver is now Premier Danielle Smith’s point man on cities and he’s delivering news that could pave the way for a real shakeup at Calgary city council where lefties rule the roost.
Read on.
The race for mayor and city council will not cross the finish line until October of next year but the first big step is now.
It is Thursday and later this day the UCP government led by Premier Smith will roll out its plan to allow local political parties to contest the next city election in Calgary and Edmonton “where political affiliations are most obvious.”
The move is already opposed by Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek who says she is not a fan.
The Smith government is pushing forward.
They intend to create rules city political parties will operate by.
With city political parties, a candidate’s political party will appear on the ballot.
Candidates can still run as independent candidates.
These city political parties will only be in Calgary and Edmonton, at least for now.
These parties will not have any formal affiliation with federal or provincial parties. There will be no city UCP or NDP or Liberal party.
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There will be no sharing of funds or voter lists between federal or provincial parties and these city parties.
The Smith government will discuss all the ins and outs with local governments in Alberta and regulations governing the parties will be on the books by the end of the year, or at least more than six months before the fall 2025 city election.
This will give the cities and the political players in those cities time to prepare for the vote.
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For years, city conservatives, especially in Calgary, have been champing at the bit for the chance to do battle as a local political party.
The belief is, and there is evidence to back it up, if city conservatives could get their act together and agree to one candidate for mayor and 14 candidates for the 14 council seats they’d have a good chance of being the city council majority.
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Why?
Because if Calgarians knew exactly who they were voting for and if it was crystal clear what each of the candidates stood for then you would see more conservatives win instead of the election being a game of who has the most name recognition.
There will be those who will attack the Smith government and say this is about partisanship at the local level, folks picking sides.
Get real.
“There’s a lot of partisan behaviour and people in municipal politics now,” says McIver.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s actually part of free speech, part of the freedom of association, part of what we’re guaranteed in this country.
“Those who say partisanship doesn’t exist are wrong. My guess is people who say that probably haven’t sat through a lot of council meetings. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s a duck.”
And let us not forget in the last city election city unions bankrolled a campaign involving the endorsement of candidates, many of them winning council seats.
McIver says having city parties is an opportunity to hold politicians somewhat accountable.
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The cities boss says right now there are candidates at the doors with no party handle who can tell people they believe are conservative that they themselves are conservative and tell people they believe are liberal that they themselves are liberal.
With city parties, it will make it easier for those who want to vote one way or the other to find their candidate.
The candidate’s affiliation will be spelled out and if the candidate is elected and votes in a different way the voters can more easily call that politician out.
But people like Calgary Mayor Gondek don’t like the idea of city political parties.
What is McIver’s reaction?
“We heard that and we disagree. We think this is a positive thing,” says the man riding herd on the cities file for the UCP.
“It should increase accountability. It should increase the ability of voters to look at candidates and say this is my candidate, this is not my candidate.”
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PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
Americans and Canadians are cousins that is true. Allies today but long ago people were at loggerheads mostly because of the British Empire and American ambitions.
Canadians appreciate our cousins down south enough to visit them many millions of times over the year. America is Canada’s largest and most important trading partner. As a manufacturer, I can attest to this personally. My American clients have allowed our firm to grow and prosper over the past few decades. There is a problem we have been seeing, a problem where nationalism, both political and economic has been creating a roadblock to our trade relationship.
Both Democrats and Republicans have shown a willingness to play the “buy only American Made product” card, a sounding board for all things isolationist, nationalistic and small-mindedness. We all live on this small planet, and purchase items made from all over the world. Preferences as to what to buy and where it is made are personal choices, never should they become a platform of national pride and thuggery. This has brought fear into the hearts of many Canadians who manufacture for and service the American Economy in some way. This fear will be apparent when the election is over next week.
Canadians are not enemies of America, but allies and friends with a long tradition of supporting our cousins back when bad sh*t happens. We have had enough of the American claim that they want free trade, only to realize that they do so long as it is to their benefit. Tariffs, and undue regulations applied to exporters into America are applied, yet American industry complains when other nations do the very same to them. Seriously! Democrats have said they would place a preference upon doing business with American firms before foreign ones, and Republicans wish to tariff many foreign nations into oblivion. Rhetoric perhaps, but we need to take these threats seriously. As to you the repercussions that will come should America close its doors to us.
Tit for tat neighbors. Tariff for tariff, true selfish competition with no fear of the American Giant. Do you want to build homes in America? Over 33% of all wood comes from Canada. Tit for tat. Canada’s mineral wealth can be sold to others and place preference upon the highest bidder always. You know who will win there don’t you America, the deep-pocketed Chinese.
Reshaping our alliances with others. If America responds as has been threatened, Canadians will find ways to entertain themselves elsewhere. Imagine no Canadian dollars flowing into the Northern States, Florida or California? The Big Apple without its friendly Maple Syrup dip. Canadians will realize just how significant their spending is to America and use it to our benefit, not theirs.
Clearly we will know if you prefer Canadian friendship to Donald Trumps Bravado.
China, Saudi Arabia & Russia are not your friends in America. Canada, Japan, Taiwan the EU and many other nations most definitely are. Stop playing politics, and carry out business in an unethical fashion. Treat allies as they should be treated.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca
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