Regina South Nomination - Belatedly Posted Liveblog

Regina South Nomination Meeting

7:10 For lack of wireless I've written this at the meeting for later posting. Turnout looks to be strong, with a lineup out the door to register starting shortly before 7. And now more chairs are being set up - which would seem to suggest more attendees than expected.

7:13 On a rough look Heather looks to have an edge in the sign department to go with a strong display - but we'll find out soon whether that will translate into votes.

7:27 Still a couple of dozen people in line to register, even as the room is rapidly filling up. If Heather's signs aren't yet being peddled for use as fans, they will be soon.

7:45 And we're underway as Donna Shire takes the podium and highlights the work both candidates have done in building the riding.

7:50 Jeff Grubb, the balloting chair, goes over the rules - noting in particular the constitutional amendment preventing nominations from the floor. But wouldn't this be far more fun if a new candidate could get tossed into the mix?

7:54 On to speeches, with Kent Peterson introducing Heather first and emphasizing the Andrew Thomson endorsement. Jennifer Tupper follows as the official nominator, discussing the need to challenge Bill Hutchinson and presenting Heather as a stronger contrast.

7:59 Heather's speech follows along the "clear contrast" message, then turns to a line that she communicates for a living, seeing that as the best way to make a difference. (That's contrasted against seeing election as a "stepping stone" to other goals.)

8:02 Heather turns to a discussion of an appetite for change from the spin of a Sask Party government which doesn't listen - using "if he'd bothered to ask" as a repeated line criticizing the Wall government's actions.

8:06 "Sask Party Kittens" is officially the joke of the night.

8:07 Heather finishes strong, going back to the contrast message but seeming much more comfortable as the speech went on.

8:10 Velma Wessel introduces Yens, noting his having stepped in on short notice after Thomson left suddenly shortly before the 2007 election - which definitely saps some of the power from Thomson's endorsement.

8:13 "He isn't a woman, but he is a feminist" among other lines about Yens.

8:14 Yens begins his speech saying "tonight, there can be only one loser - Bill Hutchinson".

8:16 Yens recounts his efforts in 2007, saying the lesson to take is that time on the doorstep matters both for winning elections and for learning about constituents.

8:17 On to a reminder of Yens' work as party president and leadership candidate, noting that he stayed involved in Regina South all along.

8:20 Yens talks up his membership sales, particularly highlighting a number of new young members before pledging to knock on every Regina South door twice before the election if he's nominated.

8:21 "The reason I'm running" leads into personal appeals to deal with climate change and child poverty - noting the importance of change even when it's difficult.

8:25 Yens jokes about how often he ends up asking for support, closing by tying that into a message about his experience and commitment.

8:26 And the turnout is...21 guests signed in (plus many not signed in), and 195 delegates. And now voting begins.

8:56 Dwain Lingenfelter finishes his stump speech, with the results to follow Trent Wotherspoon's financial appeal.

9:03 And the winner is...Yens, with the announcement followed shortly by Heather's motion to make the result unanimous. 

Congratulations to both candidates for a hard-fought campaign - and the work that went into tonight will make for a great start on 2011.

Regina South Nomination Wrapup

When the Regina South nomination race first got started, I figured both Heather McIntyre and Yens Pedersen would face some interesting choices as to whether to cast off their positioning from previous races. And both have done so with a vengeance.

After highlighting her ability to represent Ward 2 in last year's City Council race, McIntyre has made an explicit appeal to Regina South based on her being the "only candidate who lives in the constituency". Similarly, Pedersen has gone from emphasizing personal but unnamed endorsements as an outsider in last year's NDP leadership race, to presenting testimonials from the biggest names possible as part of an insider/frontrunner campaign.

So where have both candidates gone while distancing themselves from their previous messages?

On the bright side, both candidates presented some excellent ideas to spread messages which seemed to fit their image - but unfortunately, both allowed those to disappear during the course of the campaign. McIntyre's Coffee Talk seemed to be an effective way to take a conversational tone with possible voters visiting her website, but version One was never followed by a Two. Likewise, Pedersen put up a strong blog post on the WEPA when it was first announced which seemed to hint at more wonkish policy discussion than one normally sees in a nomination race - but he didn't follow up with a single post afterward, and his other communications through Facebook have focused almost entirely on photos and membership sales.

With those means of reaching potential voters falling by the wayside, the deciding factors look to be the traditional ones associated with any nomination campaign. And each candidate has had something to crow about lately: Pedersen his strong number of memberships sold, McIntyre her endorsement from longtime Regina South MLA Andrew Thomson. And the race has also become relatively chippy over the last little while (see the comment sections of my previous tagged posts) - which may be surprising based on the past connections between the candidates, but makes sense in a two-candidate race where there's no need to pursue later-ballot support.

So where does that leave the candidates going into tomorrow night's nomination meeting?

(Non-)Endorsement

I'll start by passing on what will become a regular feature in future nomination races. From the beginning of the Regina South race, I've been hesitant to get involved for or against either candidate, and I'll likewise hold off on making an endorsement either way.

Suffice it to say that both McIntyre and Pedersen are top-flight candidates with track records of involvement in the party and the riding. And whoever wins the nomination race should be an effective MLA for a long time to come starting in 2011.

Prediction

That said, I'll be less shy about predicting the outcome than trying to influence it. Both candidates have some obvious strengths they can point to - but the race will ultimately come down to who can bring out the most supporters tomorrow night. And the combination of a province-wide profile built during the leadership race and a high number of claimed new memberships looks to give Pedersen the upper hand against McIntyre's head start and high-profile endorsement.

With that in mind, I'll call the likelihood of winning the Regina South nomination at 60% for Yens Pedersen, 40% for Heather McIntyre. But in a race as close and as hotly contested as this one, neither candidate can take the outcome for granted - so tomorrow's nomination meeting (Sunset United Church at 7:00 pm, for those keeping track) should be a can't-miss for Regina NDP members.

Regina South Virtual Document Drop

Heather McIntyre


Yens Pedersen
Yens Handout

(Edits: fixed formatting, updated image.)

Saskatchewan Nomination Roundup

A few notes on provincial and federal nomination races around the province...

In Regina South, Yens Pedersen has focused on membership sales lately, and is announcing that his campaign has brought in 65 new members as of last week's deadline. Meanwhile, Heather McIntyre is pointing out Kent's timeline of the race.

In Regina Coronation Park, last month's debate has been followed by a surprising lull in apparent activity. Roger Bucsis has yet to put up any apparent public presence, and Tory McGregor and Fred Kress have combined for a single Facebook wall post since then. That's left Jaime Garcia and Tamara Harder as the two candidates still making an effort to keep voters interested and informed online - though it's possible the others have simply turned their focus elsewhere.

But at least the NDP can claim that its provincial nominations are being contested. In contrast, Sean notes that city councillor Gord Wyant has been acclaimed as the Sask Party's candidate in Saskatoon Northwest.

Meanwhile, the Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre continues to see plenty of online activity, as Brian Sklar is making an effort to match Don Hansen's steady stream of posts. But does anybody know exactly what Brian means when he says he wants to "elect the first "Western Senator""?

Saskatchewan NDP Nomination Roundup

There's plenty of news to point out on the Saskatchewan NDP nomination front - so rather than splitting it up into several posts, let's bundle it together for your reading convenience.

- On the federal side, Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre nomination candidate Brian Sklar has unveiled his website, featuring sharp criticism of Con incumbent Tom Lukiwski along with a policy section that mirrors Dwain Lingenfelter's provincial vision. Meanwhile, Donald Hansen's Facebook page has become an extremely lively and informative source of news and opinion.

- On the provincial side, the biggest news is the scheduling of a joint nomination meeting for all six of Regina's NDP incumbents on May 25. Of particular note, the list includes includes the Regina-Dewdney nomination, which no longer appears to be contested (as confirmed by the deletion of any "running for" from Kaitlin Stocks' Facebook page).

- Meanwhile, a couple of the candidates working toward nomination dates next month have activities on the go which deserve pointing out. Jaime Garcia has become the latest NDPer to look to a money bomb to finance his campaign in Regina Coronation Park, while Heather McIntyre will be holding a BBQ tonight in support of her Regina South campaign.

- Finally, the Regina Northeast race looks like it's about to get even more interesting in the wake of the two initial entries. At least two more entrants are apparently set to announce their intentions, including one of the NDP's long-anticipated new candidates. Stay tuned...

Saskatchewan NDP - Regina Nomination Roundup

To date, I haven't followed up much on the Regina Coronation Park and Regina South nomination races since mentioning the entry of each candidate. But now that the fields look to be fairly well set, let's take a closer look at what each candidate is currently doing to build support online.

Off the top, it's worth noting that each one of the six candidates has put together at least a reasonably well-updated Facebook group in support of his or her effort - not to mention that all six candidates attended the Prince Albert provincial convention to interact with the broader party. But it's worth also pointing out some of the creative steps taken beyond that strong baseline of activity for all of the candidates. So let's go through the candidates in alphabetical order by riding to see what they've been up to.

Regina Coronation Park

The first candidate to review also looks to be winner in the creativity department so far. Jaime Garcia's campaign has left no stone unturned in getting his name out into the public, with the efforts so far ranging from billboards to custom pop bottles in addition to active Facebook, Twitter and web presences. And the fact that he's also held a fund-raising dinner hints at how he's been able to afford forms of advertising not normally expected in a nomination race. About the only question I'd have about Garcia's campaign so far is his degree of focus on candidate branding over policy - but he's certainly done well in getting his name known.

The other Regina Coronation Park candidate with a complete set of online campaign tools is Tamara Harder, who likewise features regular Facebook and Twitter updates to go with the strongest web presence among the Coronation Park candidates. (Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I'm helping out with Tamara's campaign.)

Not surprisingly, Fred Kress is somewhat behind the younger candidates in his online presence, as he's the candidate with the longest gap in online updates (having last posted on March 21). Hopefully he'll get back in the habit of posting, as his earlier updates offered some sharper and more candid commentary than most of the candidates have provided.

Finally, Tory McGregor has also gone awhile since his last update on March 23. But it's worth highlighting a few of his earlier entries which reflect the most direct effort of any of the candidates to educate voters about an area of interest (that being the Sask Party's proposed changes to environmental regulation).

Regina South

As expected, both of the candidates in Regina South have maintained a strong online presence. But the most notable new development looks to be Heather McIntyre's Coffee Talk feature, offering visitors the chance to hear conversational interviews about Heather's campaign (with more apparently to come) to accompany her regular written updates.

Meanwhile, Yens Pedersen's campaign has provided updates primarily through his Facebook group, featuring a bevy of photos and outside links. It's worth noting that much of Yens' website (including the blog portion) has been pared down or cleared since last year's leadership race, and it'll be worth watching the extent to which he ends up offering less formal commentary on the nomination race to counter McIntyre's personal focus.

Update (April 9): To his credit, Jaime Garcia has been posting plenty of policy links and commentary over the past few days since I posted the above. For my next demand, I'd like to see a musical number.

Saskatchewan NDP Convention 2010 - Saturday Afternoon Recap

I didn't note in this morning's post that the Saskatchewan NDP convention's "internet cafe" was shut down after last night - hence the limited posting today. (That said, thanks to the NDP communications staff for allowing me to use the computer room this morning to put up the earlier post.)

For this afternoon, the most interesting portion of the proceedings (the caucus bearpit) looked to be one where I'd inevitably miss important content if I tried to update during the day. So instead, here's my review of the afternoon's events.

To start with, there was no surprise in the election of the provincial President, as Jane Wollenberg was re-elected by acclamation. That left plenty of time for Darcy Furber to give the host MLA's address prior to the bearpit.

The bearpit itself featured loads of interesting questions from a variety of participants - and no, none of the MLAs (let alone the party leader) had to pitch in filler questions as has apparently happened in some other parties. (In fact, at least five more people were waiting to ask questions when the moderator finally had to call the session to a close.)

Instead, Dwain Lingenfelter kept extremely busy by answering the vast majority of the audience's questions - by my count providing the full answer to 11 of the 19 questions posed by the audience, along with partial answers to 2 more. One had to be impressed by his ability to take the lead role in answering a broad range of issues, though it might have been a plus to hear from a few more caucus members during the session.

Among the interesting answers provided by Lingenfelter:
- The NDP would plan to reinstitute the funding for Station 20 West that was pulled by the Wall government, as well as the neighbourhood organization funding cut in last week's budget.
- On a question about the abandonment of branch lines, Lingenfelter would be open to provincial support for the rail sector, noting that the result could be to save money compared to the cost of instead repairing overburdened highways.
- Responding to a question focused on forestry, Lingenfelter raised for himself the possibility that social housing might make for an effective use of some of the wood products which currently aren't finding a market.

There were a couple of points in Lingenfelter's answers which hit off notes. In response to a question and follow-up about how to get younger citizens interested in the NDP, Lingenfelter's focus on highlighting past policies seemed to miss the questioner's concern. And while he was right to point out the Regina Coronation Park nomination candidates as examples of diversity within the NDP, it's a little surprising that he didn't include Tory McGregor's Metis background - particularly at a convention where First Nations and Metis issues have been in the spotlight, and given that McGregor's former Green allegiances have been mentioned more than once as an example of the NDP's adding support from other parties.

While Lingenfelter's answers were generally well-received, the strongest crowd reaction came from Frank Quennell's lone answer. In response to question about the Wall government's marriage commissioner reference, Quennell slammed the Sask Party for abandoning important legal proceedings on equalization, tobacco and gangs while deciding to commit public money to arguing both sides of a settled question, and got a boisterous standing ovation as his reward.

As for the questioners: while as noted none of the current MLAs got in line to raise issues, a few familiar names did. Robert Hale questioned whether the NDP would be better off focusing on the Sask Party's using the province's rainy-day fund when the sun is shining rather than arguing over whether the budget is technically in deficit or not; Yens Pedersen raised a question on changing environmental legislation to include assessment of the cumulative effect of multiple exploratory oil wells; and Heather McIntyre raised concerns about the Sask Party's privatization by stealth.

After a break and a brief election planning report, the first plenary session began to deal with the convention's resolutions. As usual, most of them passed, but two noteworthy resolutions didn't survive the convention floor: EN10 (setting a 40% GHG reduction target) was referred to the policy review process so that a target could be developed in conjunction with discussion of the means of reaching it, while PA2 on free party membership (discussed in this post) was defeated.

Tonight will feature the nomination meetings for Prince Albert Northcote and Prince Albert Carlton, with more elections and plenary to come tomorrow.

(Edit: fixed typo.)

Regina South: Yens Pedersen Enters NDP Nomination Race

Leftdog reports that Yens Pedersen has announced his plans for 2011, and has decided to seek a rematch against Bill Hutchinson in Regina South after suffering a narrow loss in 2007.

But of course, he'll face a challenge for the NDP's nomination first. And with Heather McIntyre already in the race, the nomination contest looks to be a fascinating one. And due only in part to the fact that the two candidates were fixtures in each others' inner circles in the races that each ran in 2009 (Pedersen for the NDP leadership, McIntyre for City Council).

Perhaps even more noteworthy, though, is the fact that some of the main messages used by each in their previous campaigns will now cut in the opposition direction. McIntyre, having fought a "doesn't live in the ward" message in her Council race, is now the candidate who would be tempted to run as the candidate who does live in the riding - while the experience vs. renewal dynamic from the leadership race may be reversed as Pedersen grapples with his status as the candidate who's run but lost in the riding before.

Either way, Regina South voters will be able to look forward to a strong NDP candidate in 2011. And when that's combined with the increased level of enthusiasm following a hotly-contested nomination battle, one has to like the odds of the NDP retaking the seat.

Regina South: Heather McIntyre to Seek NDP Nomination

With a competitive nomination race developing in Regina Coronation Park, it's fairly clear that the Saskatchewan NDP is on strong ground in replacing its retiring MLAs. But with the party obviously needing to win additional seats in order to form government in 2011, the next question is whether it might face any more difficulty recruiting strong challengers in seats now held by the Sask Party.

Fortunately, there's some great news on that front. After running a strong City Council campaign last year in Ward 2, Heather McIntyre is now aiming for the NDP's nomination in Regina South, making a direct personal appeal about the harm done by the Wall government:

My grandmother lives in a Regina South nursing home with staff the government refuses to treat with respect. My daughter’s school may lose its teaching assistants and the value they bring to countless families. And soon my neighbours will be paying higher power bills. Everyone in Saskatchewan is being forced to pay for the Wall government’s mismanagement.

With the 2009 City Council race giving her both plenty of recent campaign experience and a head start in parts of the constituency, McIntyre should be a formidable candidate for the nomination. But there's also talk that she may not be alone in pursuing a seat which saw one of the NDP's two narrow losses in Regina in 2007.

On mixed messages

In general, last night's municipal election results seem to reflect loads of narrowly-missed opportunities for positive change. And a lack of citizen interest figuring to be the main culprit.

For example, Heather McIntyre fell just short of winning ward 2 in a race whose numbers look like an instant replay of the Hutchinson/Shreesh Juyal contest of 2006 - except that the nearly 2,000 votes which went to a third candidate last time out stayed home. John Conway came within 150 votes of beating out Fred Clipsham - and again, about 2,000 less people voted in the ward this year than in 2006. Indeed, while a few of the 2006 ward vote totals look to have disappeared into the ether, it looks like the only ward where the 2009 winner had substantially more votes than the 2006 victor was Ward 1 - and that primarily due to the fact that there were only 3 candidates instead of 9.

Of course, it's disappointing both that public interest in the elections dropped off so precipitously from its already-minimal levels, and that we won't have more direct positive change to show for all the hard work that went into the elections. But it's also worth noting that the incumbents can hardly feel particularly comfortable either, particularly to the extent any may have actually believed that the "83% council approval" number would be reflected in the vote totals.

Rather than being able to rely on any favourable public impressions to coast to easy victory, two of the incumbents fell and three more hung on by the skin of their teeth. And not a single one of the council candidates actually reached 83% of the vote in yesterday's results - with 2006 upstart Mike O'Donnell coming closest at 75% in ward 8.

So while there wasn't much of a mandate for change, nor was there any particular groundswell of support for the current direction of the city council. Which should give all sides reason to spend a lot more time and effort building citizen interest than they seem to have done over the last three years.

For more about the elections, see LRT and Dog Blog.

Municipal Election Breakdown - Regina Ward 2

As I've mentioned before, Ward 2 is the one municipal campaign where I've been directly involved this year, so my endorsement shouldn't come as much surprise. That said, it's still worth taking a look at what we can expect come tomorrow night in a ward which was home to one of the closer races in 2006.

Jocelyn Hutchinson - video profile - website

While Hutchinson largely sticks to the "more of the same" party line, she's also more explicit than any of the other council candidates in pushing for ever more and bigger development, seeing the city as taking the "lead role" in MEGAPROJECTS!!! like the transport hub.

In fairness, that's balanced somewhat by at least some acknowledgment that the city also needs to invest in culture and community organizations. But if there was any doubt where Hutchinson's priorities lie, it should be put to rest when one notes that her 2006 promise of a better recycling program seems to have been dropped from her platform this time around. But then I suppose it's tough to juggle even a single new idea along with a deep philosophical position like "lives in the ward".

Heather McIntyre - video profile - website

Needless to say, Hutchinson's abandonment of green issues makes for a stark contrast compared to McIntyre, whose platform includes both a curbside recycling program in particular, and a more general commitment to sustainable development among other policy priorities.

As for most of the challengers, the main question for McIntyre is whether she's been able to get her message out to enough people to overcome the name recognition advantage of the incumbent. All indications that I've seen look promising - but we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure.

Endorsement

Strong progressive challenger + weak conservative incumbent = easy decision. The endorsement goes to Heather McIntyre.

Breaking the silence

The Leader-Post reports on how quiet the Regina municipal elections have been to date. And it's all too true that there's been somewhat less talk about the election than one would hope for so far.

But for those looking for some of the discussion which hasn't yet been processed for media consumption, the City has posted video statements from a large number of candidates - and some are going beyond that in bringing their ideas to voters.

On big projects

I'll have plenty more to say about the Regina municipal races over the next little while. But for now, I'll take a moment to mention my stake in one of the campaigns, as I'll be contributing some content to the web presence for Heather McIntyre's campaign in Ward 2.

But of course I'll also continue to put together content which is purely mine rather than having anything to do with the campaign - such as this first response to the "The ONLY" theme which McIntyre's opponent Jocelyn Hutchinson is pushing:


Needless to say, suggestions working off the theme are more than welcome.

A few municipal notes

For those looking for reason to be excited about the possibilities in this fall's municipal elections, look no further than Heather McIntyre's run to unseat Jocelyn Hutchinson in Regina's Ward 2 (first publicly announced on Kent Peterson's blog). McIntyre was one of the main forces behind the scenes of Yens Pedersen's remarkably successful leadership campaign, and her candidacy looks to be in great shape due to the enthusiasm that's built among Regina's NDP supporters since the leadership race ended.

For those looking out for an old favourite in a new role, longtime MLA Glenn Hagel has formally declared his intention to run for mayor of Moose Jaw. So far there are two other candidates in the race, but neither with much political profile that I'm aware of - making Hagel the early frontrunner.

And for those looking for a multi-candidate pileup, look no further than Regina's Ward 3, where Don Young's announcement that he'll once again join the perpetually-crowded race leaves him facing off against John Conway, Shirley Dixon and possibly incumbent Fred Clipsham (who still hasn't formally announced his intentions).

We'll find out before too long who will emerge from the pack to win the council seat this fall. But barring some unexpected influx of challengers elsewhere, there may be as many nominally left-wing candidates finishing as also-rans in Ward 3 as there are similarly progressive candidates mounting serious challenges in all of Regina's other wards combined. And I have to wonder if the city as a whole would be better served if the big names looked at using their greater visibility either to take aim at some of council's more reactionary members, or better yet to take on Pat Fiacco in the mayoral vote - rather than adding more names to the ballot in a ward whose representative is bound to be a comparatively progressive vote on council no matter who wins.

(Edit: fixed wording.)