Correction: Sept. 20, 2:28 p.m. – The article originally stated in the Sept. 20 edition of the East Central Alberta Review that the Stettler polling station time was set for 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. as well as Drumheller when it is actually set for Fri. Sept 28 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Drumheller remains with the originally scheduled time.
If you are a member of the United Conservative Party (UCP), you will have the opportunity and obligation to use it.
On Sept. 27, polls will open in Provost from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and in Coronation from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
In Stettler, the polls will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sept. 28 and open in Drumheller from 4:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. the same day.
On Sept. 29, they will open in Oyen from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon and in Hanna from 1:30 p.m. till 7 p.m.
The winner of this nomination will no doubt be our next MLA, so it is vitally important that you make the effort and take the opportunity to participate.
In the Sept. 13/18 issue of the ECA Review, there was a letter to the editor, titled “Working together for the common good”, pg. 6.
The writer was critical of my column titled, Sabotaging a nomination, Aug. 30, pg. 6 in the ECA Review.
He accused me of trying to tarnish the reputation of Nate Horner and of mudslinging and dirty politics.
I have no idea how he came to those conclusions from reading that column.
Everything that I wrote in that column are actual facts.
As I stated in the column that was a founding meeting, it was not intended to be a political rally.
The Electoral Boundary Commission adjusted the boundaries of Alberta’s 87 constituencies to more closely even out the number of voters in each constituency.
When the process is finished, a founding meeting is required in every party to elect a Constituency Association (CA) Board that represents all party members in the new CA, in this case for the United Conservative Party (UPC).
Over the years I have attended several founding meetings for both federal and provincial constituencies, as well I have attended many annual meetings at both levels.
The normal attendance at these meetings is about 60 to 80 people. If a high profile speaker has been invited, there could be up to 100 in attendance.
I was at the March 29 meeting in Hanna. There were over 300 people who attended that event.
It was a professionally organized campaign to motivate hundreds of people to attend the meeting.
It was obvious to me that this meeting was rigged to make sure that the board elected would represent the Horner campaign.
Why else would people be presented with the list of names that they were encouraged to vote for when entering the meeting?
Mr. Stuart has the audacity to write that it was impossible to rig the meeting?
Why else were there that many people at the meeting and why else were they coached as to whom they were to vote for?
I will state what happened again. Forty-two candidates let their name stand for election to that board.
The 30 names on the list were elected and the other 12 who had been members of the previous board were eliminated.
It may be of interest that everyone purged from the previous board had been members of the Wildrose Legacy Party.
With one exception, all the members of the new board had been members of the PC Legacy Party.
Mr. Stuart was correct in stating that the point of joining the two parties into the UCP was to work together for the common good of Albertans.
If that was the objective, why did the Horner campaign purge those that had been Wildrose supporters from the board?
Rather than elect a neutral board, there is no doubt in my mind that what went on in that meeting was for the sole purpose of tipping the scales in favour of one candidate.
If you are a member of the UCP you have a right and a responsibility to vote at a poll for the person who, in your opinion, exhibits integrity, has experience, is effective, and would be a reliable and principled MLA.
by Herman Schwenk
