Decoding why Danielle Smith's UCP is down in northeast Calgary
NDP is enjoying its biggest leads in the most diverse quadrant of city, poll shows
As with all polls, this one is a snapshot in time.
This column is one in a series of articles that has come out of this research.
If winning Calgary is vital to winning the province in the upcoming election, figuring out what voters want in the city's northeast will be a key ingredient to the next premier's success.
In 2015, when Rachel Notley became premier, her NDP won all but one seat in this quadrant. In 2019, when Jason Kenney replaced her, the UCP also lost only one northeast riding.
The new poll commissioned by CBC News gives the NDP an edge of five per cent throughout Calgary. But in the northeast, it's three times higher, with the NDP ahead by 48 per cent to 33. That's the biggest lead in any quadrant. The pollster, Janet Brown, predicts the northeast will flip again, this time with all ridings going NDP orange.
To begin to understand why, you must first appreciate the northeast's complexity. It is principally comprised of young voters, new immigrants and diverse ethnic communities.
This part of the city is home to many mosques, gurdwaras, temples, churches and numerous ethno-cultural groups. This diversity is also reflected in its business mix, ranging from the airport, malls, and big box stores, to business start-ups and small businesses.
When the clouds emerged
We also need to understand what happened here in the last few years.
People are still reeling from the devastation of the June 2020 hailstorm. It cost $1.5 billion in damages to personal properties and homes. Many of them had already had their vehicles parked and insurance coverage modified due to COVID restrictions. Their vehicles were destroyed too.
City hall offered some repair grants, but the provincial government only provided disaster relief funding to residents who experienced overland flooding, not for hail damage, insurance deductibles or uninsured losses.
Around the same time, insurance premiums for home and auto increased everywhere in Alberta, making things even worse for people in northeast Calgary.
The perception still remains that the UCP looks after its friends in business more than the working public affected by the hail damage.
A
hailstorm battered much of northeast Calgary in 2020, and there's
lingering frustration with how the United Conservative government
handled the aftermath, Rishi Nagar writes. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Also, at the early stages of the pandemic, this part of the city had disproportionately high infection rates as a significant number of residents continued to work as essential and frontline service workers. Then-premier Jason Kenney blamed the South Asian community's housing patterns for high sickness and infection rates in this quadrant.
Switching premiers could have helped the UCP, as Premier Danielle Smith may be perceived as more empathetic than Kenney. And yet, the party is well behind with only 33 per cent support, compared to 52 per cent on the other side of Memorial Drive in the southeast.
Northeast economy
According to available information, the average individual income in the northeast part of the city is lower than neighbourhoods in the other quadrants. More people here are finding it very difficult to meet their monthly expenses and keep up with the rising costs of living.
Alberta's economy may have rebounded, but people are not feeling it the way they should. Albertans may see the UCP as a better fit to manage provincial finances and the economy, but they trust the NDP more when it comes to helping families, managing health care and education, and tackling environmental concerns.
People in the northeast are educated, and put a high value on health care, kids' education and public sector jobs.
It's worth noting that for the quadrant's many new Canadians, the process for professional credentialing keeps them behind, and away from jobs in the trades and professions they're skilled in, including those in the public sector. Both the UCP and NDP share the blame for not making any significant progress on this issue.
While the UCP has managed to attract good candidates, translating the energy seen in nominations into support on election day remains a challenge. The intense nomination battles so close to an election can also create animosity among those engaged in those in-party battles.
Trade
Minister Rajan Sawhney, left, decided not to run in Calgary–North East
in the spring election, only to get appointed by UCP Leader Danielle
Smith to run in another part of town. The move has raised suspicions
among northeast Calgarians. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
The governing party also faced a blow when Trade Minister Rajan Sawhney, the former UCP leadership candidate, decided not to run in Calgary–North East for "personal reasons," only to get appointed as the UCP nominee across town in Calgary–North West, when Environment Minister Sonya Savage stepped aside.
Many questions remain as to what happened, including whether Sawhney was pushed out by party insiders. These rifts and divisions can play out negatively for the UCP.
New Democrats' potential
The NDP has been building around their only northeast MLA, Irfan Sabir in Calgary–Bhullar–McCall, for a while now. It's worth noting that even when the NDP was washed out in this quadrant in 2019, Sabir grew his support substantially compared to his first narrow win in 2015.
And northeast Calgarians are almost twice as likely to believe Rachel Notley's NDP will run an honest government than the UCP, the data shows.
Based on my observations and the numerous conversations I have had with residents across this quadrant, I expect Calgary–North East, Calgary–Bhullar–McCall and Calgary–Falconridge to go NDP. I note that the UCP won Calgary–Falconridge only by 96 votes, which made it the closest race in the province in 2019.
However, Calgary–Cross may become a battleground between the UCP's Mickey Amery and the NDP's Gurinder Gill.
The ground game matters in every election, but more so in this riding. Mickey Amery was recently appointed as the Children Services minister and his father represented the area from 1993 to 2015. Gurinder Gill is well-educated and well-known in the community and has run unsuccessfully twice for the federal NDP.
On election night, no one should be surprised if the result in Calgary-Cross determines the next government.
CBC News' random survey of 1,000 of Calgarians was conducted using a hybrid method between March 23 - April 6, by Edmonton-based Trend Research under the direction of Janet Brown Opinion Research. The sample is representative of regional, age and gender factors. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. For subsets, the margin of error is larger.
The survey used a hybrid methodology that involved contacting survey respondents by telephone and giving them the option of completing the survey at that time, at another more convenient time, or receiving an email link and completing the survey online. Trend Research contacted people using a random list of numbers, consisting of half landlines and half cellphone numbers. Telephone numbers were dialed up to five times at five different times of day before another telephone number was added to the sample.
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'Unrepentant' harasser Kevin J. Johnston ordered to pay $650,000 to AHS worker
Judge found that Johnston had defamed AHS inspector
Meghan Grant · CBC News · Posted: Apr 14, 2023 2:51 PM ADT
'Unrepentant' harasser Kevin J. Johnston ordered to pay $650,000 to AHS worker
Judge found that Johnston had defamed AHS inspector
For months, Johnston "spewed misinformation, conspiracy theories and hate" as he executed a "disturbing" and relentless campaign of defamation and harassment, wrote Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby.
The main target of Johnston's harassment was AHS public health inspector Sarah Nunn.
Johnston's harassment became so intense, Calgary police advised Nunn that her children should not take public transit. He also posted photos of her family along with hateful comments.
'Mr. Johnston is unrepentant'
But in his 40-page decision, Feasby also issued a permanent injunction because he doesn't believe the financial penalty will dissuade Johnston from continuing his harassment.
"Mr. Johnston is unrepentant, and I have no confidence that the damages award will function as any sort of disincentive to him continuing to defame and harass Ms. Nunn," wrote Feasby.
"Accordingly, I conclude that a permanent injunction is a just and appropriate remedy that is required to prevent Mr. Johnston from continuing to defame and harass Ms. Nunn."
Johnston repeatedly called Nunn a "Nazi" and a "terrorist" in his posts and voiced his intent "to make this woman's life miserable."
"I intend to destroy this woman's life," said Johnston in one of his online rants.
"Mr. Johnston's statements could reasonably be interpreted as inciting his followers to violence against Ms. Nunn and her family," wrote the judge.
'Hate speech'
Feasby's decision is the latest in Johnston's years-long, cross-country involvement in criminal and civil courts.
In 2019, an Ontario judge issued an injunction against Johnston and ordered him to pay $2.5 million in damages to Toronto restaurateur and philanthropist Mohamad Fakih for what the judge described as "hate speech at its worst."
But Johnston's hateful, racist comments continued in a series of videos and posts, repeatedly calling Fakih a "terrorist" and "baby killer."
Johnston's breach of the injunction resulted in a contempt conviction and an 18-month jail sentence, but he has never returned to Ontario to serve his time behind bars.
'Dangerous and out of control'
Johnston moved from Ontario to Alberta in the fall of 2021 to run for mayor in Calgary.
Angry with public health measures, Johnston threatened to arm himself and show up at the doors of AHS employees during his campaign for mayor.
In the spring of 2021, Johnston spent the equivalent of seven weeks in jail for the crimes of harassing and threatening Nunn, plus causing a disturbance at a downtown Calgary shopping mall when he berated shop staff who demanded he wear a mask.
In July of that year, Johnston was convicted on two counts of contempt after spending months inciting his followers to defy Alberta's public health measures.
Fugitive on the run
At the time, the sentencing judge described Johnston's behaviour as "dangerous and out of control."
He received a 40-day sentence to be served on weekends but failed to show up for his final four-day stint in January.
Johnston was arrested in Montana on Jan. 4, 2022, after crossing the border on foot in what he described as an attempt at claiming political asylum.
At the time of his arrest, Johnston was wanted in Ontario and Alberta after failing to show up for jail sentences in both provinces.
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