On Tories giving back to education, their golden business cards, and other news

For other videos, please visit youtube.com/artemNDP

Notes for the Election Report to be made at the Edmonton-Leduc NDP AGM

Election result – 11,488 and 19.3%. Best for the party in the riding’s history. Best for non-Tories since 2004.

NDP 1^st in 4 polls (1 in Brander Gardens, 1 in Royal Gardens, 1 in Sweet Grass, 1 in Blue Quill Estates).

We are second in all but a handful of the rest of the polls.

We have a very good result in several other polls in Royal Gardens, Riverbend, Hodgson, Blue Quill, Greenfield, Sweet Grass, Duggan, Steinhauer.

We have significantly improved our standing in a number of polls in Aspen Gardens, Brander Gardens, Brookside, Rhatigan Ridge, Buylea Heights, Henderson, Leger, Haddow, Terwilleger, Ogilvie, Skyrattler, Ermeniskin, practically all of Leduc and all of Devon.

Importantly, while we jumped almost 8% and almost doubled our vote count, the result for James Rajotte went up by less than half a percent point. Given the number of new areas and residents since 2008, this cannot be good news for the local Tories.

Discouraging news for everyone in this election is not only the fact that the Tory vote still went up, but also that the turnout increased by just 3%. Still, this is the highest number of people that voted ever in Edmonton-Leduc.

Once again, heartfelt thank you to everyone that participated in the campaign. Our canvassers and volunteers in the next campaign will meet more former NDP voters than ever before. We are definitely moving forward. We still have a long way to go, but if we don’t stop now and wait until the next election, we’ll get a lot done. Thank you.

"What Canadians want" and what they should expect from the Harper Conservatives

Southwest Edmonton NDP AGMs coming up

	Thursday, October 6 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
	Southminster-Steinhauer United Church 10740 - 19th Ave Edmonton, Alberta
	GUEST SPEAKER: Elisabeth Ballermann, President of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta Edmonton-Leduc Federal NDP Edmonton-Whitemud Provincial NDP Edmonton-Rutherford Provincial NDP Find out what the SW Edmonton social democrats are up to these days. You don't have to be an NDP member to attend! Facebook event

On Conservative waste math hypocrisy and keeping voters involved outside of an election

On Afghanistan, the new Air Canada strike and Arctic oil spill cleanup

$500,000 spending limit per leadership candidate, really?

I almost feel like supporting the NDP leadership hopeful that doesn't spend more than a few hundred dollars on the campaign. Given the fact that dozens of federal riding campaigns throughout the country in the 2011 election worked with around $15,000 budgets and thus could only ironically smile at suggestions of "second mailers towards the end of the campaign" and "larger signs placed strategically", the $500,000 spending limit per candidate in the leadership race doesn't sound anywhere reasonable to me. I don't know, maybe I'm new to this and don't understand something important that would make this a logical number, but I don't see how spending some 33 riding campaign budgets (times however many candidates there will be) on an in-party race in a social-democratic party makes sense. Running a Facebook page and a Twitter account, together with support for a wide online discussion and the opportunity of asking questions at a series of public forums (which several candidates can hold together) doesn't cost half a million dollars. Please, don't prove me wrong! Let's use this outrageous amount of money (which must be available, or else why would it ever be mentioned?) on revitalizing a bunch of riding organizations, holding interesting events and training sessions, organizing a joint fund to support innovative approaches in grassroots campaigns, staying in the mainstream media, anything else that will prove more worthwhile in the long run.

On preventive detentions, the mission in Libya and Tony Clement's attitude to Canada

Round Table Discussion on Labour Rights and Privatization Issues in Canada

Hoping to see many of you at the non-partisan Round table discussion taking place on Sept. 20th starting at 7 pm at the Riverbend Public Library in Edmonton. Representatives of CUPW, CUPE, the Council of Canadians (and the federal NDP) have confirmed attendance.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=224791227562971

On party mergers, Tory rudeness, tons of complaints, anti-immigrant sentiments, and other news