Western Standard - CORY MORGAN SHOW： Is This Municipal Election Really About the Candidates or About Control？

00:00:00.000 Well, hello there, everybody and fine viewers.

00:00:29.800 Welcome to the Western Standard.

00:00:31.280 This is the Corey Morgan Show.

00:00:33.380 I am not Cora Morgan.

00:00:35.100 I am Lindsay Wilson of Link Strategies.

00:00:37.700 I'm filling in for my very good friend, Corey Morgan, who is traveling abroad right now.

00:00:43.060 John, would you kindly put up a photo of Corey Morgan just so people can remember what he looks like?

00:00:49.420 Excellent.

00:00:50.160 Yes, this fine-looking gentleman right here.

00:00:52.640 He is currently overseas.

00:00:54.340 He is traveling, I believe, in Israel right now.

00:00:56.620 So I'm sure when he returns to take his show back on, he will come here with lots of photos and stories and adventures.

00:01:04.080 So, Corey, we wish you well.

00:01:05.500 Please travel safely and make it back home to tell us all about it.

00:01:08.980 Well, folks, it's been quite the election week here in Alberta.

00:01:12.700 And if you are a political junkie living and working in this space like yours truly, you've probably got more questions than answers coming out of this one.

00:01:19.940 Because what we've just witnessed in Calgary and Edmonton is a tipping point for how politics at the local levels played and how the province regulates it.

00:01:27.940 Let's start with the basics.

00:01:29.220 Turnout.

00:01:30.000 Or, more accurately, the lack thereof.

00:01:32.600 Just 33% of Calgarians cast a ballot.

00:01:35.960 And worse yet, in Edmonton, 30% is that democracy in action or on life support.

00:01:41.160 To make matters worse, the process itself threw up unnecessary obstacles.

00:01:45.680 As reported at the Western Standard, Alberta held course on eliminating electronic vote tabulators in favor of paper-only system.

00:01:53.540 And the results were exactly what you'd expect.

00:01:55.840 Long lines, delays in counting, confusion.

00:01:58.680 And in some political polling stations, the lineups were stretched so long that voters just left rather than wait.

00:02:04.040 We heard reports that some areas were taking two to three hours for voters to cast their ballots.

00:02:09.940 And all signs point to people just getting fed up and leaving.

00:02:13.700 If you already think that local government has lost your interest, being confronted with a voting experience that looks like it was designed for the 1980s doesn't help.

00:02:21.760 But for those who did vote, the results sent a message.

00:02:24.560 In Calgary, Jeremy Pathfinder Farkas made history.

00:02:28.220 He became the first person to unseat a sitting Calgary mayor since Ralph Klein did so back in 1980.

00:02:32.680 That's 45 years, folks.

00:02:35.240 And the margin?

00:02:35.980 Fewer than 600 votes.

00:02:37.640 Separated him from Sonia Sharp of the community's first party.

00:02:40.760 It's a thin win.

00:02:42.200 And while Sharp has officially called for a recount, as most candidates would in her position,

00:02:46.760 it's pretty fair to assume that it would be a long shot and fairly safe to say it won't lead to a change in the mayor's chair.

00:02:52.780 Trailing behind them were outgoing mayor Jody Gondek, plus Jeff Davison and Brian Thiessen.

00:02:57.720 Respectable showings, but not enough to close the gap.

00:03:00.820 Up the road in Edmonton.

00:03:01.720 No upheaval.

00:03:03.520 The mayor was re-elected for a third term.

00:03:05.620 Clean.

00:03:06.220 Predictable.

00:03:07.180 No major shake-up.

00:03:08.680 So we have two snapshots here in our major cities.

00:03:11.440 Calgary voted for change.

00:03:13.020 Edmonton chose continuity.

00:03:15.160 Now, was this election a referendum on local leadership?

00:03:18.020 Certainly.

00:03:18.960 But was it also a giant middle finger to the creeping party system in municipal politics?

00:03:23.700 I would argue yes.

00:03:25.260 Let's talk about Bill 20.

00:03:26.660 In short, it's the provincial legislation that opened the door for formal political parties at the municipal level, increased oversight of municipalities, changed donation rules, all in the name of, quote, leveling the playing field.

00:03:38.260 It was piloted this election cycle in Calgary and Edmonton.

00:03:41.700 A conservative political government wanted to create a path for conservative candidates to keep up with more left-leaning candidates, many of whom were very well-funded by the unions.

00:03:50.960 But the shake-out wasn't exactly a dream come true, and with a majority of newly elected officials being independents, some may call the entire experiment a total bust.

00:03:59.060 Instead of clarity, we saw fragmentation.

00:04:02.180 And where the centre-right should have coalesced, we got competing flags, vote-splitting, brand confusion, and outright mudslinging.

00:04:09.100 There is a saying that conservatives simply can't and won't unite, and that they eat their own.

00:04:14.080 Progressives didn't completely dominate, but they quietly benefited.

00:04:17.660 But the story doesn't stop there.

00:04:19.520 On the provincial front, we now learn the government is preparing yet another bill.

00:04:23.440 This time, to limit who can run in political elections.

00:04:27.140 According to recent reporting, the bill would give new rules to ensure only those who truly care and are serious about representing the community get on the ballot.

00:04:35.540 I'm not quite sure what that means, but the government says that it's about transparency and it's about clarity.

00:04:40.280 But critics warn it can easily become a gatekeeping mechanism.

00:04:43.720 So imagine that.

00:04:45.200 At the local level, we have Bill 20 stirring up the party game in our cities.

00:04:48.780 And at the provincial level, the governing party is now talking about a bill to decide who can stand for election.

00:04:54.460 It's two big structural changes, two big questions, and a lot of controversy.

00:04:59.200 Does the province stick with this experiment and try to refine it?

00:05:02.480 Or does it blow the whole thing up before the next municipal cycle?

00:05:05.460 And that cycle starts today.

00:05:07.380 Because if the idea was to build a stronger, more coherent, conservative presence in Alberta cities, that just didn't happen.

00:05:13.600 Now, first time isn't always a charm, and it does take time for people to take on change.

00:05:17.340 After all, there are municipal parties in cities like Vancouver and Montreal.

00:05:22.220 But what we got this time around was instead voter fatigue, fractured campaigns, and a perception that local issues are being overshadowed by partisan maneuvering.

00:05:30.180 The most important piece is that Calgarians didn't just reject incumbents.

00:05:33.520 Many rejected being told which team to vote for.

00:05:36.380 They're tired of ideology being measured and snow plowing schedules and pothole contracts and zoning decisions.

00:05:42.700 Excuse me.

00:05:43.120 They want delivery. 0.83

00:05:44.520 They want competence.

00:05:45.300 They want to believe that their vote moves something real and not just fuels another political turf war.

00:05:51.340 So where does this leave us?

00:05:53.440 We have a brand new mayor in Calgary.

00:05:55.540 After decades of continuity, a steady incumbent in Edmonton, and a frustrated electorate.

00:06:01.900 A provincial legislation that's tinkering with both the local and provincial electoral machinery, and a conservative movement that must ask, have we strengthened ourselves or weakened ourselves?

00:06:11.760 There is a lot to unpack out of this election, and we're going to do just that.

00:06:16.700 I'm going to be joined by two guests today who know Alberta politics inside and out.

00:06:21.060 Amber Ruddy, Vice President at Council Public Affairs, and Stephen Carter of Decide Campaigns.

00:06:27.660 He is the man behind campaigns for Alison Redford, Naheed Nenshi, and Jody Gondek.

00:06:32.920 We'll hash out what this election really means for the future of Bill 20, for the rise or fall of municipal parties, and what people should expect for the next municipal cycle.

00:06:42.640 And for all of you fine folks watching today, we would like to remind you that the Western Standard needs your support.

00:06:49.480 Please like, share, comment, follow Western Standard News on all our platforms.

00:06:54.060 If you're not a subscriber yet, go to westernstandard.news and click on subscribe.

00:06:58.480 It's just $10 a month or $100 for the year.

00:07:01.380 Thank you for your support.

00:07:03.800 All right, John, I think we are going to get right into it, and we're going to move over to our guests.

00:07:08.340 I don't know if they're waiting there in the rooms and they're ready to go, but I think we will get into it here.

00:07:14.040 So we've got Amber Ruddy.

00:07:15.120 She's a go-to strategist for organizations seeking to navigate Canada's intricate political landscape.

00:07:20.880 Amber transforms complex policy challenges into strategic opportunities for her clients.

00:07:25.820 She also has previously served with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses.

00:07:31.800 We will also be joined by Stephen Carter.

00:07:34.380 Stephen Carter is an innovator.

00:07:35.540 He's always pushing the bounds of what is possible.

00:07:38.340 Best known as one of Canada's leading political strategists, he played a leadership role in the rise of Mayor Nahid Nenshi, Premier Alison Redford, Mayor Jodi Gondek, National Post, CBC, and other political commentators have always described Stephen as a political mastermind.

00:07:53.960 And this time around, Stephen was involved with the Calgary Party.

00:07:57.100 So, folks, let's get into it.

00:07:58.420 Thank you so much for joining me.

00:08:00.120 Amber, thank you.

00:08:01.260 I appreciate you coming out and taking part in this today.

00:08:04.220 And Stephen, thank you very much.

00:08:05.860 So, I think we'll open it up and I think we'll just start with Amber, how was your involvement with this municipal cycle and maybe compared to other municipal cycles?

00:08:17.560 And then we'll take the same question over to you, Stephen.

00:08:24.540 Oh, I think we can't quite hear you, Amber, or is it just me, John?

00:08:29.660 No, she's on mute.

00:08:30.680 Oh, you're on, I think you're on mute, Amber.

00:08:34.760 Can you hear me now?

00:08:36.480 Yes, I can hear you now.

00:08:38.220 Excellent.

00:08:38.780 Thank you, Lindsay.

00:08:40.100 Yeah, thank you.

00:08:40.800 This election, I do admit I've been more of an observer, having followed quite closely the municipal scenes of Calgary and Edmonton for some time.

00:08:50.640 It was a little bit refreshing to take a backseat on the municipal election coming fresh off of a federal campaign, which I was quite involved with.

00:08:58.800 My observations, look, this is the first time this system has been in place in Alberta.

00:09:05.200 So, of course, there's going to be growing pains.

00:09:07.920 Of course, there's going to be some kinks to work out. 0.97

00:09:11.160 But I think, frankly, the whole reason the system was put in place is to give voters a bit more transparency in terms of the candidates that they have to vote for.

00:09:21.160 And having that branding, that bit of organization, you know, I think brings value to the municipal scene.

00:09:30.200 And, of course, there's not a sweep of any one candidate or slate across Edmonton or Calgary.

00:09:37.480 But this is democracy.

00:09:38.960 And the incumbency factor is strong.

00:09:41.940 You see a lot of folks that have been in the role were either running as independent because they didn't attach themselves to any one particular party.

00:09:49.920 They fared quite well.

00:09:51.560 And so I don't think that this system is going anywhere.

00:09:54.880 Maybe there will be some tweaks to refine it.

00:09:57.400 But this is democracy.

00:09:58.680 And I frankly think it's a little bit messy, but it works.

00:10:02.300 Okay.

00:10:02.860 Thank you, Amber.

00:10:03.540 And Stephen, over to you.

00:10:04.580 Stephen, just tell us a little bit about your role in this municipal election.

00:10:08.380 And then let's get into your thoughts and how everything kind of fell out.

00:10:13.260 Yeah.

00:10:13.440 I mean, I was the creator of two parties, one in Calgary and one in Edmonton.

00:10:19.520 You know, so the Calgary Party and Better Edmonton Party.

00:10:23.480 We created, we took advantage of the system that Danielle Smith created.

00:10:28.580 I think that she wanted to elect some of her own people under conservative banners. 0.99

00:10:34.340 It tried to put in place our own people in more progressive, centrist banners.

00:10:41.340 And I think that overall, the system itself worked fairly well.

00:10:46.220 I like the party structure.

00:10:47.760 I think I agree with Amber.

00:10:48.920 I think it gives us an opportunity to know who it is that we're voting for, what it is that we're voting for.

00:10:53.980 And all too often, I think people get elected.

00:10:57.640 For example, Sonia Sharp ran as a progressive in 2021 and then turned into a very strong conservative.

00:11:04.640 And ran as a conservative today in this municipal election.

00:11:09.680 This gives people a better opportunity to know what it is that they're, you know, who it is they're voting for and what their principles are, what their values are, what their ideology is.

00:11:19.120 So, I think that it worked out fairly well.

00:11:23.940 The fundraising rules are a disaster.

00:11:26.460 They need to be rewritten immediately.

00:11:28.840 The hand counting, disastrous, needs to be rewritten immediately.

00:11:34.600 But, you know, I mean, I'm sure it worked really well in rural communities municipalities where they were only dealing with small portions of votes.

00:11:41.900 But we have, you know, we have upwards of a million voters in Calgary and 700,000 in Edmonton.

00:11:50.920 Hand counting is just, it was a gong show.

00:11:56.220 And disappointing to see the new rules.

00:11:59.900 But I'm hopeful that the new rules will be taken advantage of properly.

00:12:03.600 But, you know, and I don't, I don't doubt that elections Alberta and elections Calgary is just flooded with complaints.

00:12:10.120 I mean, you know, transparency, of course, I, most people watching this will know that I worked very closely on the Jeff Davison campaign.

00:12:16.260 And Jeff ran for mayor-in-law, came in fourth.

00:12:18.560 And we had an outpouring of supporters who were reaching out to the campaign.

00:12:23.180 And, you know, they were cold.

00:12:24.580 They were standing outside.

00:12:25.480 They were waiting two and three hours, particularly heard a lot of reports in around downtown polling stations, as well as in the deep south.

00:12:33.880 I'm sure it was just luck of the draw wherever people were throughout the city.

00:12:37.780 But some people said it was a good experience.

00:12:40.240 But we definitely, I would say in my experience with elections, there was an outpouring of complaints and people just simply walking away from polling stations.

00:12:48.220 Which I know for those of us who are really engaged in municipal politics, that's really frustrating.

00:12:52.940 We're always trying to get people to buy into municipal politics.

00:12:57.580 After all, it is the level of politics that affects you the most on the day-to-day.

00:13:01.500 This is what affects, you know, the snow plowing and your garbage pickup and your property taxes, mostly.

00:13:07.640 That's provincial as well.

00:13:08.660 But these are all the things that affect you the most.

00:13:11.740 And yet people have the least amount of engagement.

00:13:14.980 Amber, over to you.

00:13:16.220 You were very involved with the federal election campaign in the spring.

00:13:20.280 And, you know, I know over on our side, we felt very much that voter fatigue had a part to play in this.

00:13:29.660 And it was a very slow uptick into people even being engaged or interested.

00:13:34.220 I mean, I don't know, Stephen, you might agree with me.

00:13:36.220 Like, I feel like nobody was really paying attention to who was running for mayor and didn't even have any idea who was running for council in Calgary.

00:13:42.940 And you can probably chime in a little bit more about how that was in Edmonton.

00:13:47.420 They didn't even pay attention until maybe the last seven to ten days.

00:13:51.880 So, Amber, we'll just, how much do you think that voter fatigue played into it?

00:13:55.180 And then Stephen, we'll go over to you on your thoughts on engagement.

00:13:58.780 You know, I think it is important, going back to the conversation about the voting and the lines and the new system.

00:14:06.220 It is important to do a process that instills confidence, because when you have systems that aren't working for folks and are driving a reluctance to vote because they feel like it might not count and the way it's processed is not fair, there's different iterations of how that has played out.

00:14:23.580 I know some folks wanted to write it in pen or, you know, there's different considerations.

00:14:29.640 I think we do need to take seriously people's concerns so that they have confidence in the system when they do spend an hour or whatever it is that they had to take and go in line and do that.

00:14:39.340 So, first of all, I just want to say that, that there's got to be a pendulum.

00:14:42.600 There's maybe some things they can do to improve it.

00:14:45.300 But I think it is important to take those concerns of voters seriously.

00:14:49.780 When you look at overall, there is a fatigue.

00:14:53.840 And again, if you follow the news, you might be hearing rumors that a federal election could be imminent.

00:15:00.160 I think, you know, it is a layering on of issues.

00:15:03.940 The municipal level is, of course, closest to the people.

00:15:06.440 You're most likely to, you know, drive down the street with potholes, need to book swimming lessons for your kids, you know, want to go to a public library and use those services.

00:15:17.520 So, it is important and I'm glad we've had this kind of participation in Calgary, for example, the incumbency factor is strong, but our incumbent mayor, you know, she's moving on.

00:15:32.220 And it is important to have choices in the system so that people can make those decisions.

00:15:38.400 So, I think that overall, you know, there are probably a bit more reflecting and lessons we can learn as the sort of ink dries on the voting results and we see who are in these roles.

00:15:52.660 But, yeah, I'm very confident that the system will be improved and continue to work for Albertans going forward.

00:16:00.480 And then, Stephen, you know, voter fatigue from the federal election and then, like, let's throw in this teacher strike.

00:16:07.000 I mean, this has been wild, right, the last couple of weeks.

00:16:11.060 And how do you think that that impacted the election?

00:16:14.040 I know some of the candidates, including Brian Thiessen, had a lot to say about the teacher strike, certainly.

00:16:18.020 So, over to you, Stephen.

00:16:19.620 Yeah, I mean, I think that we had a significant number of headwinds, if you will.

00:16:25.800 The federal election was certainly a headwind.

00:16:27.640 It was hard to get people's attention during the campaign, I agree with you, pushing through and trying to get people to actually pay attention on this campaign.

00:16:38.540 We certainly noticed an uptick in attention in the last week and a half, the last 10 days.

00:16:44.120 But we had already done half of advanced polling before people had even started to pay attention.

00:16:50.180 I mean, yes, it is the most difficult level of government to get people out to vote for.

00:16:55.440 But let's take a look at the actual statistics.

00:16:58.420 Voter turnout was down in Edmonton on advance polls, down in Calgary on advance polls, down in Edmonton on voting day, down in Calgary on voting day.

00:17:08.480 Why?

00:17:09.300 Well, in part, it was the teacher strike.

00:17:11.440 In part, it was the Blue Jays game.

00:17:13.480 In part, it was people not really caring about municipal government.

00:17:17.100 But in part, it was rumors of long lineups, people not wanting to give up an hour and a half.

00:17:22.400 We have a world standard elections organization in Elections Canada, and we can't seem to figure out how to run a municipal election in Alberta.

00:17:31.780 And then this makes me crazy.

00:17:32.960 The rules changing the way that they did was a significant impediment to people being able to actually vote in the election this time.

00:17:44.560 And I think that the provincial government needs to take a look at that and say, what role did we play and how are we going to make it better?

00:17:53.140 But so far, what they're indicating is that they're going to make it harder to run, which on some levels I support.

00:17:59.780 I think that we do have a lot of candidates who are a little bit junky, if you will, if you're running for a stunt.

00:18:08.500 I'd like the candidates that run to be legitimate candidates that have the resources, volunteer and otherwise, to actually run a campaign.

00:18:18.860 But that's not our primary problem.

00:18:21.260 Our primary problem is how do we get people out to vote?

00:18:25.020 I'd like to see more provincial support in terms of advertising that the municipal election is happening.

00:18:31.900 We could have used a lot of that.

00:18:33.820 Elections Canada does so much advertising to make sure that people know that the vote is occurring.

00:18:38.120 And we had none of that, really, in Calgary, Edmonton or the balance of Alberta.

00:18:42.640 Yeah, and certainly the province was really busy.

00:18:44.980 There was a lot of announcements over the last month, from new license plates to a war with the ATA.

00:18:52.120 And certainly that did overshadow things.

00:18:54.580 What about the conservative predicament?

00:18:57.340 And Stephen, I really am, as somebody who's a little bit more on the other side of things, I'm really interested in your perspective about this.

00:19:03.160 There was a lot of mudslinging, and that was between, certainly, the Sharpen Communities First campaign, Jeff Davison campaign.

00:19:10.380 There was a lot.

00:19:11.480 There was some bad blood that was created there.

00:19:13.120 And I'm sure everybody can, you know, sow these seeds of division, right, as we come to a close with this election.

00:19:19.580 But are there changes that could happen structurally, do you guys think, where to prevent, say, two conservative parties or two more progressive parties from coming up that would prevent this, you know, quote, vote split?

00:19:33.340 We've heard this term vote split over and over and over, right?

00:19:35.880 Some people say, you know, we love democracy.

00:19:37.480 We love the choice.

00:19:38.260 And others say, well, no, this is vote splitting.

00:19:39.860 And you're stopping this person from getting in.

00:19:41.840 And we all just need to get behind a candidate.

00:19:43.760 So there's so many different ways to unpack what that really means.

00:19:48.560 And I know one of the thoughts is that you make it harder.

00:19:53.300 You make it so a party has to go out and get X amount of signatures, make that a really high threshold.

00:19:58.140 So you're not going to have a bunch of different parties and groups running around and doing that.

00:20:02.220 So, I mean, what are your thoughts on that, Amber?

00:20:04.480 I'll let you start with that one.

00:20:06.480 Yeah.

00:20:06.740 And just to layer on another issue, the Canada Post strike, not having your voter cards and information.

00:20:12.320 That's a very obvious thing to be advertised.

00:20:14.620 And added another step in the voting booth where you had to go and you don't have a card to present, right?

00:20:19.660 You had to go through an extra step.

00:20:20.860 So that slowed things down as well.

00:20:22.140 So almost a perfect storm of issues.

00:20:24.160 I just wanted to touch upon briefly this issue about having legitimate candidates in elections.

00:20:29.320 And I think the impetus of this, of course, if you've been following federal with the last by-election in Battle River Crowfoot with the longest ballot, there are some provisions I think you can do to tighten it up.

00:20:41.900 I think over a hundred of those candidates, for example, had the same CFO or like the person that's signing off on the document was the same person for a hundred of those candidates.

00:20:52.560 We could add a bit more heft to make it so that this is a serious exercise and that it's not becoming a way to make a statement.

00:21:01.580 So I'm a firm believer of that.

00:21:05.340 But yeah, overall, I think it is just an interesting time.

00:21:09.980 And I like that there's choice.

00:21:12.880 I don't think, you know, it would be great, in my opinion, to have a bit of a higher threshold.

00:21:18.980 And if you could bring along with it, maybe if you are a serious party, that you would get access to a voters list, because that's something that happens provincially and federally.

00:21:28.640 So that could perhaps weed out having too many parties that are all trying to act in an interest if the signature level of what you needed to create that party was higher.

00:21:40.140 So maybe there could be a characteristic approach of, if the voters list was, you know, a certain higher threshold, being able to offer that to the serious parties, I think would be an improvement.

00:21:51.860 Okay, Stephen, over to you.

00:21:53.540 I mean, some thoughts on this, quote, vote split.

00:21:55.760 And what's your advice maybe to conservatives or, and we can take it far more generally than that.

00:22:00.660 What do we do to not have just all these, quote, competing parties?

00:22:05.200 Well, I think that competition is essential in politics.

00:22:07.660 And I don't like the term vote split.

00:22:09.160 You earn the votes.

00:22:10.540 We all started at zero.

00:22:11.720 Davison started at zero.

00:22:12.900 We started at zero, right?

00:22:14.420 That's just the nature of the game.

00:22:15.960 I think you earn your votes.

00:22:17.940 But if you really are concerned about votes, let's take that premise and just take it through.

00:22:23.460 My recommendation would be to put a preferential ballot in place.

00:22:26.820 Why not put a preferential ballot in place for municipal politics? 0.57

00:22:30.360 It would be fascinating to see who would actually get over the 50% threshold.

00:22:35.800 Would it be progressives?

00:22:37.100 Would it be conservatives?

00:22:38.120 Would it be centrists?

00:22:38.820 I don't know.

00:22:39.640 I actually wouldn't be able to tell you with 100% accuracy where the Brian Thiessen vote would have gone after the first ballot.

00:22:47.420 I don't think it would have gone en masse to Jeremy Farkas, Jyoti Gondek.

00:22:53.080 I think that it would have gone, it would have split into four or five, you know, four different directions for sure.

00:22:58.520 The same would be held with Jeff Davison.

00:23:02.240 I don't think that Jeff Davison is the same type of roaring conservative that Sonia Shark was trying to present herself as.

00:23:08.280 I would have loved to have seen a preferential ballot.

00:23:10.940 I also would have loved to have seen a voter's list.

00:23:14.660 Amber is completely right.

00:23:16.740 Not having a voting list was just that in the postal strike.

00:23:20.660 Amber, I'm glad you brought both of those up.

00:23:22.540 They were devastating to these campaigns.

00:23:24.980 I had 500,000 pieces of mail that were supposed to land the day that the postal strike started.

00:23:32.100 We have to essentially send trucks to go and get them back so we could try and handle it here.

00:23:37.740 500,000 pieces of mail, which is impossible.

00:23:40.460 Amber's come up with two great ideas, but I think bottom line, all of this needs to be looked at in the future so that we wind up with the right type of civic government.

00:23:52.100 If the provincial government thinks that the most of the voters are conservative, then bring in preferential ballot.

00:23:58.620 Go for it.

00:23:59.520 It is an opportunity to change our voter system in a way that doesn't impact the provincial election.

00:24:08.220 It doesn't impact the federal election.

00:24:10.100 Give it a go.

00:24:11.040 See if it works.

00:24:11.740 See if we like it as Albertans.

00:24:13.620 If you're going to be messing around with the election anyways, mess around with the election in terms of fashion that it actually makes you a vote.

00:24:20.140 Yeah, you know, and this was a pilot project, right?

00:24:22.040 And the province had put it forward.

00:24:23.080 Hey, this is a pilot project.

00:24:24.020 We're going to try it in Calgary.

00:24:24.840 We're going to try it in Edmonton.

00:24:25.860 So, I mean, we have to, you know, have a little bit of grace for that, right?

00:24:29.160 It's everything is a pilot project.

00:24:30.920 You look at it, you're like, okay, what went wrong?

00:24:32.900 And clearly a lot of things went wrong, but some things went right.

00:24:35.340 I think a lot of people could look at this election objectively.

00:24:38.660 Certainly in Calgary, I mean, in Edmonton, you definitely got a lot more of the same.

00:24:42.800 It's more continuity up there.

00:24:44.380 But I think certainly in Calgary, there seems to be, I think, I feel like things were dialed a little bit more to the middle.

00:24:50.020 I mean, I'm very optimistic that, you know, a good group can be put together and people will bring a little bit more balance back to City Hall.

00:24:58.680 And, you know, because it's not healthy for democracy when we have things like a recall Gondek petition and we have such an unhappy electorate, right?

00:25:07.700 We just, it's not healthy for us as, you know, as a city to have people just pitted against one another and like this extreme division in politics.

00:25:17.000 I mean, I've always been one for multi-partisanship and bringing things a little bit more to the center.

00:25:22.280 And maybe this, maybe this path will help us get there.

00:25:26.100 So, Stephen, you folks over at the Calgary party ran, I'd say you'd ran a very polite campaign.

00:25:34.240 And I think there was a lot of people that were expecting a little bit more, you know, you've, you've definitely, you're one of the most creative people in, in politics.

00:25:42.160 And you definitely sometimes can drop a few bombs, but you, I mean, your folks ran, ran a very polite campaign.

00:25:49.460 So any thoughts on kind of your candidates and how it all kind of laid out for you and Brian Thiessen himself and what's next for Brian Thiessen?

00:25:57.400 Because I think there's a lot of us that thought, huh, I think that Brian Thiessen is getting ready to do something maybe at a provincial level.

00:26:04.260 And I know you can't probably say too much to that, but I just wanted your thoughts.

00:26:08.320 Well, I think that the, the, the challenge for us was who to attack.

00:26:13.820 You know, we knew that we were definitely coming for fifth place.

00:26:16.880 So who do we attack, right?

00:26:18.920 We attacked Sonia quite a bit in, in the debates.

00:26:22.500 I felt there's Sonia Smith sharp.

00:26:25.200 That was the level that we made to go to.

00:26:27.200 We didn't want to go to anything too, uh, too personal or too, or pushing too hard.

00:26:33.380 Um, and we just felt like our best that was to run a positive campaign, especially with the Davison and sharp campaigns.

00:26:42.120 He's such nasty smacks at one another.

00:26:45.140 It just felt like it wasn't necessary for us and attacking Jeremy Farkas.

00:26:50.940 We tried a couple of times, but it just didn't have the legs.

00:26:54.200 So we wound up actually going after Danielle Smith, which did have legs. 1.00

00:26:58.520 Um, we did very well with that, that part of the campaign, obviously not well enough to win.

00:27:03.540 So, uh, the, the Western standard viewer may be, uh, turning over and, and, and getting a little bit more angry about that.

00:27:10.460 But for our voters, it worked quite well.

00:27:12.680 Um, and one of the, I think challenges that Tim Cartmell had in, in Edmonton was not running a more negative campaign against the, uh, uh, the conservative, uh, the UCP, uh, and the government there.

00:27:26.240 Um, Tim was, uh, pegged as the UCP candidate.

00:27:30.380 And I think that was an unfair, uh, positioning, but did nothing to un-push that narrative.

00:27:36.120 So this is the, the challenge with campaigns is when do you go negative?

00:27:40.600 Uh, people who were running against, uh, Bahadinechi remember that he was one of the most negative campaigners we'd ever seen in Canadian municipal politics.

00:27:50.360 Um, but Brian wasn't that guy.

00:27:52.600 Brian just did not want to attack unless it was, uh, uh, 100% required.

00:27:59.480 And it just wasn't in this campaign.

00:28:01.280 It just didn't work.

00:28:02.380 It didn't require, uh, us to, uh, open up the bag of dirty tricks.

00:28:07.280 Uh, and I'm glad we didn't.

00:28:08.500 It was, uh, it was a good campaign.

00:28:11.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:28:12.060 And before we go over to you, Amber, I just, John, do we have some, uh, do we have anybody that's up with any questions on the, on the live stream feed?

00:28:19.080 And happy to read out a couple of these questions.

00:28:21.980 So, uh, okay.

00:28:24.960 Jocelyn says post office strike had nothing to do with apathy.

00:28:28.000 Just pull out your driver's license.

00:28:30.460 Uh, well, fair Jocelyn.

00:28:31.740 I mean, obviously you're a dedicated voter, but I guess some people aren't.

00:28:34.980 Um, let's see, what do we have here?

00:28:37.120 We got Paul.

00:28:38.160 Paul says electronics can be manipulated marks on paper.

00:28:42.280 So simple, simple marks manipulation makes manipulation more difficult.

00:28:47.700 Use a pen, not a pencil.

00:28:49.440 Yeah.

00:28:49.580 We did hear a lot of people that were complaining about, uh, about that.

00:28:53.200 Um, I think there's a little bit of, there's a little bit of lack of understanding around that.

00:28:56.760 Like, because when you make the pencil mark, it can't be erased and, and Amber, maybe you can just kind of answer that question for somebody who's concerned about not using a pen and, uh, and using a pencil instead.

00:29:06.480 I mean, I think what the election authorities often say is that the pens, like if they order in bulk dry out, so they have pencils on hand because then you can reuse them and they have, uh, they're standing by.

00:29:16.860 But you know, like I have confidence in our voting system that the ballot boxes are sealed, that the appropriate scrutineers are available for each, um, candidate to observe.

00:29:27.240 And so I have confidence in the system, but I, I know some folks have reluctance.

00:29:31.640 Um, I, I just wanted to go back and comment a little bit about, um, I agree with Steven that nobody's voters belong to somebody else.

00:29:39.240 So if you look at the Edmonton example, you can't just simply take the conservative leaning candidates, add them together and assume, uh, that the, the top vote getter would have got those votes naturally.

00:29:52.140 Um, I, I think we're at a bit of a cross hairs in terms of what is the conservative position because a blanket rezoning happened to be a top, um, municipal topic.

00:30:03.840 And you don't really see consistency.

00:30:05.820 There's not like a conservative position on that.

00:30:08.580 And, and frankly, you see different, um, people coming at it, uh, progressives and conservatives coming at it from similar angles.

00:30:15.900 So I think it's not so, um, cut and dry in terms of what is a conservative position on X municipal issue.

00:30:25.220 So the creativity that those candidates have to come up with to brand themselves and showcase what type of positions they would take, um, is, you know, a new kind of way to look at it.

00:30:38.280 And I, I, there's no monolithic, I'm a conservative, I'm voting for this person, right?

00:30:43.380 You, you have to be able to offer ideas that resonate.

00:30:47.080 And if you can't do that, then sorry, your, your vote doesn't necessarily belong to somebody else.

00:30:51.660 So I think that's something that we have to get past.

00:30:54.380 And if you want to, um, enhance, perhaps there's ways we can enhance those parties that you think might be the best option going forward for a specific voter to park their vote.

00:31:05.700 Yeah.

00:31:05.900 And I like some of what we're talking about today, right?

00:31:07.780 I like, I like a higher threshold, maybe not so, so high.

00:31:10.920 I mean, there's a lot of thought around that.

00:31:12.260 I like a higher threshold.

00:31:13.040 I really liked the voter list, Steven.

00:31:14.840 It's, um, you know, that's, that's really important.

00:31:17.480 And I think all of us really suffered from that certainly.

00:31:19.800 So those are things that I, I, I really like, but yeah, I mean, I, I, I personally don't, don't like the term vote split because you know, if this is democracy and this is democracy in action, then may the best candidate win.

00:31:30.160 Right.

00:31:30.500 So I don't like that.

00:31:31.640 And it was definitely driving for a force in the narrative.

00:31:34.940 Um, and, and certainly I think that that, that one, the community's first party and their candidates, Sonia Sharp.

00:31:40.660 Uh, now speaking of that, now that was a very close mayor's race.

00:31:45.040 And I think some of us were very surprised.

00:31:46.840 I know certainly on our camp, we were very surprised, uh, but that it happened.

00:31:50.700 And it's a margin of almost 600 votes that separated a new mayor elect Jeremy Farkas from Sonia Sharp with the community's first, uh, team.

00:31:58.860 And, and, and, and, you know, I think any good campaign manager would, would absolutely say, yeah, you know, call for a recount.

00:32:04.680 I think it would be, it's fair to say it would be very surprising if, um, if the results were anything different than having a mayor elect become the mayor, Jeremy Farkas.

00:32:14.420 But, uh, Jeremy Farkas, you know, that's, uh, I, um, I have a history with Jeremy.

00:32:18.880 I, I worked for him in the ward 11 office when he was a counselor before I worked for him for almost two and a half years.

00:32:23.440 And, you know, I felt that there was a change in his position.

00:32:26.180 I think most of us did, but, you know, uh, he ran a very smart campaign and he catered to everybody.

00:32:32.860 So he catered to the left, he catered to the right.

00:32:35.120 It was confusing for some, uh, I, and I'm interested to see how that will play out, how that will play out in his office.

00:32:40.480 If it will be a very centrist office or if it'll be, if it'll revert back to more conservative, uh, people behind him, or if it'll stay on the left side.

00:32:49.220 So, uh, Stephen, I really want to hear your thoughts on, on the new mayor elect Jeremy Farkas, who certainly with, I think it was a 26%, correct me if I'm wrong.

00:32:57.080 Um, that's not a strong mandate.

00:32:58.680 So that's, I think Jeremy being, um, you know, the very dedicated campaigner and, uh, I know he's taking this very seriously.

00:33:05.780 I think, you know, he's, he's got a, his mandate is, Hey guys, I'm here for you, Calgary, I'm here for all Calgarians.

00:33:11.740 So Stephen, we'll let you start with that and then we'll carry over to Amber on that.

00:33:15.460 Yeah.

00:33:15.640 I mean, it's a real challenge to suggest he even has a mandate, right?

00:33:19.160 Like he he's been elected by less than 100,000 people of a 1.6 million person, uh, city, uh, he has, um, a lot of work to do.

00:33:29.660 Um, his vote total dropped significantly from 2021, 2021, he was a much more popular politician than he is in 2025, but he won.

00:33:38.900 And, you know, this is where the, the challenge is, how does he create a, a, uh, cohesive council when frankly, he's got, you know, some really rabid progressives.

00:33:51.900 I mean, uh, I know that conservatives sometimes dislike conservatives, but I'll tell you, there's no, there's no feud like the inter-progressive war.

00:33:58.780 I'll tell you that, um, blood, blood tests all around just to make sure that you're the right level of progressive.

00:34:04.800 Um, but this, you know, he's got some people who are just rabid, uh, rabid also on the right way, you know, Landon Johnson, not really a conciliatory type of fellow.

00:34:15.240 I mean, he ran the, uh, recall again, Gondek campaign.

00:34:18.820 He's going to be a big voice in, in, in municipal government.

00:34:22.440 Um, how does he work with Jeremy?

00:34:25.900 I think he would have worked really well with Jeremy 1.0 Jeremy 2.0.

00:34:31.000 I'm not sure he works well with at all.

00:34:33.020 So I'm, I'm just dying to see how Jeremy takes this extremely small mandate, both in terms of, uh, level of victory and overall number of votes and turns it into, um,

00:34:45.240 something that Calgarians rally behind, uh, the way that we rallied behind Dave Brown, Kanye, the way that we rallied behind, uh, Denchy, uh, Ralph Klein.

00:34:54.500 Um, this is fascinating.

00:34:55.740 This is the first time that a incumbent mayor has lost in Calgary since, uh, Ralph Klein beat, uh, Rod Sykes in 1980.

00:35:04.140 So this is a, uh, a significant election from that point of view, uh, as well.

00:35:09.460 I think we're all interested, Amber, you know, we'll go over to you here.

00:35:12.280 We're, we're all interested in, you know, we all remember, and that's who I used to work for was, he was Jeremy 1.0.

00:35:17.380 And that was, you know, he was the Bravo rouser and he stood on the soapbox and he was, you know, the man of the people.

00:35:22.720 Right.

00:35:23.080 And from, uh, in his term from 2017 to 2021, I guess.

00:35:28.700 And we're seeing a different version of Jeremy.

00:35:30.340 Is this a more mature Jeremy has a, is this a more collaborative Jeremy?

00:35:34.180 Because I would argue that whoever is leading the city, you have to be collaborative.

00:35:38.500 It's one of the number one skillsets for me, that's why I got behind Jeff Davison.

00:35:42.520 I saw that he had that ability to bridge the left and the right.

00:35:45.520 Will Jeremy be able to do that?

00:35:48.040 Amber, what do you think?

00:35:49.840 I mean, it's a first past the post system and he won.

00:35:52.780 And I think, uh, that we have to get behind him as our mayor, you know, we're facing a lot of different, um, things that are going on in the, in the context.

00:36:02.680 And we need a strong voice for Calgary and I think we need to give him the room to create that collaborative culture.

00:36:09.040 He's been signaling I've, I've seen in his social media posts.

00:36:11.740 He's already been meeting with some of the, um, folks that are coming forward and have been elected as we sort of, um, hear all the results coming in and things are finalized.

00:36:21.700 Um, and I, I, you know, I have confidence that he's going to put his best foot forward.

00:36:27.460 I think he might surround himself with some folks, uh, in his advisory capacity to the right of him and some to the left of him.

00:36:34.440 And that's probably where you need a mayor to be. 0.79

00:36:37.560 Um, this isn't partisan politics anymore.

00:36:39.740 You know, there's some major projects that we need to get forward.

00:36:42.440 We need to, um, have some discussions with the federal government on some very important, uh, projects.

00:36:48.080 And, um, frankly, let's just give him the space to see what he's able to do.

00:36:53.320 He's one vote on a council and the more that he can try to collaborate with his colleagues and set a better tone.

00:37:00.300 Uh, we've had some toxic councils.

00:37:02.660 We've had some toxic councils that maybe they got more votes, uh, for a certain thing, but look how sideways things have gone.

00:37:10.360 Um, and the fact that Gondak didn't come in second, I think speaks volume to a change, uh, type of election.

00:37:17.760 And, um, I'm hopeful.

00:37:20.340 I'm just going to be optimistic that he, uh, he puts his best foot forward and, um, let's give him the space to do that and, and see how he lands.

00:37:28.840 No, and I think we have to do that, right?

00:37:30.020 We have to be positive and we have to build bridges, not walls.

00:37:33.500 So, uh, I, I too wish Jeremy Farkas all the best.

00:37:36.400 And I hope he surrounds himself with some really excellent people and, uh, governs with, uh, with collaboration as he moves forward as the next mayor.

00:37:45.080 So I guess we'll kind of wind down the show with going into it, just a little bit about what's happening in some of these, uh, in some of the councillor positions.

00:37:52.040 So Landon Johnson's very interesting.

00:37:54.380 He won, he won, he had very strong numbers.

00:37:57.200 Um, so, you know, all the best to him with that, but certainly there are a lot of, there's a lot of buzz that he is Jeremy 1.0 and that he's going to be quote the new Jeremy.

00:38:06.820 So I too am interested to see how that'll play out.

00:38:10.180 Um, that it will be really interesting.

00:38:12.560 I do feel there's a lot of people that kind of hover around the center, kind of both ways.

00:38:16.680 Um, I'm trying to think if there's any other really, really big personalities in there.

00:38:21.020 I know we've got a couple of recounts coming.

00:38:23.640 So I think it's just the mayor, uh, recount coming, which I don't know that we'll see any really different results, but Ward 12.

00:38:31.660 Now that, Stephen, uh, correct me if I'm wrong.

00:38:34.200 I think that differentiation is 29.

00:38:36.460 So that would be, uh, the Alberta Calgary party or the ABC party that would be their, their one seat in, uh, in this election, which would be Mike Jameson and Ward 12.

00:38:47.320 Um, and then that's the Calgary party candidate, Sarah Ferguson, who, who's, uh, up against him there.

00:38:52.860 So tell me a little bit about that and what you think about some of these, some of where these councillors landed.

00:38:59.960 Counted by machine election.

00:39:01.680 I think it would be, uh, much less optimism on our side.

00:39:07.760 Um, but because it is hand counted and the process, uh, does have a little bit more room for error.

00:39:14.140 So I'm, we're, we're, we're cautiously optimistic.

00:39:17.620 Obviously when you do a recount, it can go either way, right?

00:39:20.740 You don't know if there's mistakes, number one.

00:39:23.020 And number two, you don't know the direction that the mistakes are made.

00:39:25.800 Uh, when there was a recount in, in 2021 with DJ Kelly versus Sean Chu, Sean Chu wound up getting a larger number.

00:39:32.840 Uh, so we'll see how things go in 2025 for Ward 12.

00:39:37.840 Um, I think that the number is too big for the mayor's chair, 500 plus, um, strikes me as, as too big, uh, of an error, uh, error rate.

00:39:47.920 Uh, but 29 in Ward 12, uh, like I say, it could go either way, but we are cautiously optimistic that we'll find, uh, Sarah Ferdison, uh, in council instead of, uh, Mike Jameson.

00:40:00.820 Yeah, very interesting.

00:40:02.140 I think, John, we'll go to some of the comments here.

00:40:04.200 Um, what do we got here?

00:40:05.680 We've got Wayne Lewstow, we need to get rid of municipal politics, nobody shows up to vote, uh, Amber, can you take that question on?

00:40:15.360 And when people, there is, there is a little bit of that idea out there.

00:40:19.400 And what do you say to those folks who are just like, ah, get rid of it, let the province just take it all over or whatever.

00:40:24.440 What do you say to that?

00:40:26.220 Well, I mean, when you look at the federal and provincial system, we do go through redistribution, uh, after every census, because you do want to have some representatives, um, that can

00:40:35.620 speak for you and that are accessible because they have a fair number of voters that they would deal with.

00:40:41.780 And I think, uh, municipally you're sort of the closest to people.

00:40:46.060 And in fact, there could probably be a case made, you know, fair representation would add a few councillors over time, but I'll leave that conversation for another, for another chat.

00:40:57.940 Certainly.

00:40:58.840 Do we have any more questions in there, John?

00:41:02.380 All right, guys.

00:41:03.100 Well, I think we're going to bring it to just some final closes.

00:41:05.380 I mean, uh, Steven, like your overall, like what's your takeaway from this election and, and what do you want the, what do you want everybody who's watching this to know about what went down and what you want to see moving forward?

00:41:19.000 Well, first, let me address the importance of municipal politics.

00:41:22.040 Um, the, the ability to, uh, reach a representative and, and get at your pothole fills and your, and the ability for water to go uphill and poop to go downhill, uh, are super important.

00:41:34.420 Uh, we can't be, uh, pretending that the provincial government is going to step in and do any better job.

00:41:40.580 Um, that just frustrates the heck out of me.

00:41:42.920 Uh, the, the overall election, um, you know, Edmonton said they want to change and they kept the same.

00:41:50.420 Uh, Calgary got a massive change.

00:41:53.180 Uh, we'll see how, uh, these two governments approach the provincial governments, uh, how they approach the federal government and how things change in the next four years.

00:42:02.820 Uh, our cities are in, in, in the, in the midst of a huge change, uh, especially Calgary with our population growth.

00:42:11.940 Um, but these changes are going to need to be met by really quality municipal governments.

00:42:19.260 And I wish the best to all those who want.

00:42:21.600 All right, Amber, over to you.

00:42:24.220 What are, what are your, some thoughts?

00:42:25.560 And, you know, I said in my opening monologue today, uh, was this election with it, as far as Calgary is concerned, was this election like a giant middle finger to the party system?

00:42:34.840 Because, you know, as of right now, as of today, we have one from ABC.

00:42:39.660 We have one from the Calgary party, Carter.

00:42:42.960 Is that correct?

00:42:43.460 There's, there's one DJ Kelly.

00:42:44.680 And then, yep, and then we have two from communities first, technically four, although I think most of us would argue that wards 10 with, uh, ward 10 with Andre Chabot and ward 13 with Dan McLean, they would have been elected regardless of the, the party system was, was really, uh, a complete wash for either one of them.

00:43:04.960 So, you know, you technically have four with communities first, but really only two of those would have been viewed as, as, as, as part of the party system.

00:43:12.220 So what do you think about that?

00:43:13.680 Amber?

00:43:13.980 Again, I think the party system is in its infancy.

00:43:17.400 I think we're going to see it grow.

00:43:19.920 And, um, I thought that it added a transparency.

00:43:23.480 I thought that it added that level of, uh, branding and organization, and perhaps that helped, like you say, um, each party got at least one candidate through, right?

00:43:34.380 So I think that shows that, you know, that's democracy.

00:43:38.680 I don't think you necessarily would expect to have an entire sweep of, uh, one party taking over the whole system and there's differences in how the parties operated, right?

00:43:49.100 Like some were more like slates while others were more like parties, right?

00:43:53.100 So like, if you look at how, um, a better Calgary had members and tried to do votes and try to, you know, hold, hold their, a grassroots type of style.

00:44:03.900 Well, the communities first was more like a slate.

00:44:07.320 Like who is the, uh, candidate that they can field for a specific seat.

00:44:11.820 So I think these things are going to evolve and I look forward to what the next iteration does.

00:44:18.320 And I hope it brings us even higher quality, uh, folks that continue to want to step forward, given the context of how tough it is to be an elected official.

00:44:26.700 I think we should commend everybody that did put their name forward and thank those that will be serving us for the next, uh, uh, term here as they face some challenging discussions with Ottawa, with the provincial government.

00:44:39.060 And, um, with other municipalities in the region.

00:44:42.060 So I'm hopeful that it will, you know, we'll see better things the next iteration.

00:44:47.160 And I think, I think I just want to add that I think it's, it is interesting just very quickly.

00:44:50.820 It is really interesting how the party versus slate, right?

00:44:54.160 And, and so, and, um, you know, maybe it's fair to say Calgary party was a little bit of both, but Calgary party was very clear.

00:44:59.560 We are a party we're running together and it was very clear on their branding and signage.

00:45:02.740 ABC was very clear we're a party and that was very clear on their branding and their signage.

00:45:06.500 And it wasn't as clear with communities first.

00:45:08.300 So I'll be interested to see if there's going to be more rules that come around that, that people, hey, better or worse, they want to know, are you with the party or not?

00:45:14.960 And not be able to not tell that from the signage.

00:45:17.900 Um, yeah, Steven, I feel like you just want to jump in for like a really quick comment on that.

00:45:22.800 Listen, I mean, they wanted the best of both worlds.

00:45:25.300 They wanted to run his independence and Terry Wong was a member of communities first too.

00:45:29.400 Um, people forget because he never ever acknowledged that he was part of it.

00:45:35.300 So he wants the benefit of being part of a party and the benefit was fundraising.

00:45:39.860 The benefit was the capacity, uh, on a lot of different things.

00:45:44.420 And, uh, you know, he, they want the benefit, but he doesn't want to take the, the hit, if you will.

00:45:51.140 Oh, I don't know what do you think about it.

00:45:52.580 I mean, we, we went to the debates and it was like communities first.

00:45:56.960 I don't know what that is, you know, I mean, first of all, very pleased that Terry Wong lost.

00:46:04.160 Nonetheless, we move on.

00:46:05.840 And, and fair enough, but you know what?

00:46:07.160 Very interesting.

00:46:07.880 That's very good.

00:46:08.420 I think, I think folks, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

00:46:10.840 So you either, you take a stand, right.

00:46:12.800 And you stand and you're with the party or you're not.

00:46:14.900 And either way, but I think a little bit of clarity in the next election wouldn't hurt all of us.

00:46:18.980 A principled stand is best, always.

00:46:22.040 Yeah, absolutely.

00:46:23.320 I would agree with you.

00:46:23.900 I just want to thank you guys so much.

00:46:25.320 Steven Carter from Decide Campaigns and Amber Ruddy from Council of Public Affairs.

00:46:29.120 Thank you so much for joining us today.

00:46:31.100 Uh, folks just thank you.

00:46:32.780 Thank you for tuning in.

00:46:33.800 I hope you found this valuable.

00:46:35.700 Um, thank you for joining us.

00:46:37.200 Thank you for your comments and you know, uh, for all of you watching today, just want to remind

00:46:41.420 you Western Standard needs your support.

00:46:44.000 Like, share, comment, follow Western Standard news, follow on all the platforms.

00:46:48.080 And, uh, if you are not a subscriber yet, you can head on over to westernstandard.news

00:46:52.980 and you can subscribe.

00:46:54.320 It's just $10 a month or a hundred dollars for the year.

00:46:57.340 And we'll just one more time.

00:46:58.840 Well, John will bring up my friend Corey Morgan's photo back up here.

00:47:02.600 You are going to see this handsome guy.

00:47:04.840 He's going to return.

00:47:05.760 This is his show.

00:47:06.540 This is not my show.

00:47:07.520 I am not Cora Morgan.

00:47:09.000 I am Lindsay Wilson of Link Strategies.

00:47:11.660 Thank you all.

00:47:12.400 Thank you to all of you voters, all of you listeners, um, like and share and subscribe to

00:47:16.860 Independent Media and always get out there to vote.

00:47:20.340 Thank you.

00:47:46.860 Thank you.

Western Standard - October 24, 2025

CORY MORGAN SHOW： Is This Municipal Election Really About the Candidates or About Control？

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript