'It just feels underhanded': NDP offends some with involvement in Edmonton vote
An Edmonton voter has stopped payment on monthly donations to the Alberta NDP over the party’s involvement in next week's municipal election - and she’s not the only one crying foul.
“I feel really strongly about not having partisan involvement in municipal elections,” Kelly Granigan told CTV News Edmonton Friday.
Granigan lives in Ward Metis and is supporting Ashley Salvador for council.
She’s also been an NDP voter and donor - but she’s not happy that MLAs are endorsing candidates, calling voters and appearing in mailed endorsements.
Granigan said she’s received unwanted calls and a lawn sign from candidate Cori Longo - who has been endorsed by three sitting NDP MLAs and is using orange like the NDP in her signs and flyers.
“If the provincial NDP are sharing resources with municipal campaigns, that crosses a line for me. I don’t think it’s against the rules in any way, it just feels a bit exclusionary,” she said.
Granigan had a federal NDP candidate's sign on her lawn. After the election it was removed, and another one showed up.
“We look out later in the day and there’s a Cori Longo sign on our lawn, and we didn’t ask for a Cori Longo sign, and we already had another candidate's sign,” she laughed.
“I poked around and I heard other people had the same thing happen to them, and it just feels underhanded.”
Granigan said she contacted Longo’s campaign and the sign was removed.
A spokesperson for Longo said she wasn’t available for an interview Friday, but offered a written statement.
“With over 1,000 signs on private property, we have of course had volunteers drop a few off at the wrong location,” her campaign wrote.
They added Cori is “honoured” to have the endorsement of NDP MLAs. The statement said they “respect” when people ask to no longer be called, but didn’t comment on where the contact information came from.
‘GROSS AND I HATE IT’
Granigan is not the only one to complain about the NDP’s overt support for certain candidates on social media.
“Just received an auto dialer call from (NDP MLA) Sarah Hoffman prompting me to vote for Michael Janz in the #yegvote. As a progressive, I have feelings about this, and none of them are good,” trustee candidate Hannah Hamiltion tweeted Thursday.
“I don’t want to come on here to fight anyone but this feels like overstepping, like this just confuses people,” Rajah Maggay tweeted Thursday, including a photo of a flyer that shows an NDP MLA’s endorsement of Longo.
“This is gross and I hate it,” Puneeta Sandhu McBryan, executive director of the Downtown Business Association, tweeted about the flyer in Maggay’s post.
“Both my NDP MLAs know how much I respect and appreciate them, so to them and the party I say, ‘This is deeply disappointing we can’t afford the toxic politics of (the legislature) and jurisdictional confusion seeing into (city council),’” she added.
NOTLEY RESPONDS TO CRITICISM
NDP leader Rachel Notley defended her MLAs when CTV News Edmonton asked her about the connections on Friday.
“Some of our individual MLAs have been working to support some candidates,” she said.
“We’ve heard from lots of folks, in cases where there have been endorsements, that they’ve found it helpful.”
Notley made it clear her party is not officially endorsing anyone, but her MLAs are free to.
“This is no different than what has been happening in terms of provincial politicians occasionally supporting and endorsing politicians of other levels of government in their elections,” she argued.
Other candidates have connections to the UCP and the Alberta Party, but endorsements and support by NDP MLAs has been far more visible.
NDP candidates have posted photos and videos of themselves door knocking and endorsing candidates as well.
Notley didn’t definitively answer if her MLAs have shared voting lists or phone numbers with council candidates, instead saying municipal campaigns often have their own data.
“I really speak to how individual municipal candidates are running their campaigns, I truly can’t,” she said.
“When you have a federal election and a municipal election and you have referendums and all those sorts of things, a lot of people are being contacted by a lot of candidates,” she said.
The election is Monday, Oct. 18.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Dan Grummett
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
BREAKING Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Prince William and wife Kate thank public for birthday messages for son Louis
Prince William and his wife Kate thanked the public for their messages which had been sent to mark the sixth birthday of their youngest son Louis on Tuesday.
She was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father. Then life dealt her a blow
Anne Marie Cavner was the closest she'd ever been to meeting her biological father, but then life dealt her a blow. From an unexpected loss to a host of new relationships, a DNA test changed her life, and she doesn't regret a thing.
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Fire engulfs old Edmonton municipal airport hangar
A historical hangar at the former Edmonton municipal airport beside the NAIT main campus was on fire Monday night.
Soft skills, preparation can help new graduates land jobs, experts say
As new graduates enter the workforce over the next few weeks, they are likely to face challenges getting their foot in the door and must be prepared to effectively communicate what they bring to the company.
RCMP uncovers plot to sell drones and equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a ploy to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.