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Popular posts from this blog

But His Email: Why Did Mayoral Candidate Jami Paras Ask the Minor Hockey Association to Sue Peace River?

Peace River is just as passionate about hockey as you'd expect for a small northern Canadian town. That's why debates over the new multiplex , which is being built in town as we speak, have been raging across local Facebook forums. Some residents want a second ice surface; some wonder why more space wasn't allocated for the arts, or different user groups; some worry about increased taxes to cover the cost of the construction. With the municipal election upon us, the arena has become a bonafide election issue. The candidate who is perhaps the most responsible for stoking the controversy over the arena is mayoral candidate James (Jami) Paras , who has been publicly questioning the design of the new arena since at least 2014 and has suggested the old arena could still be used as a second ice surface . However, in the course of these public conversations about ice, a more important question has emerged. It's a question that deserved a fair hearing at the candida...

Controversial Former Peace River CAO Kelly Bunn to Seek UCP Candidacy

The United Conservative Party's leadership contest is over, and to almost no one's surprise, Jason Kenney is the new leader of the new party. Poor Brian Jean may finally have to accept that he signed his own political death warrant with the party merger, now that he's not only lost the leadership role but also been completely shut out of Kenney's leadership team . Kenney has also apparently gone to swift work firing any staff member who supported Brian Jean , and getting an MLA to step down to leave room for a by-election so he has his chance to win a seat in the Legislature. Peace River will be one key battleground in the provincial election coming up in what UCP supporters believe will be the “2019 summer of repeal," if the fact the constituency saw visits from all three UCP leadership hopefuls in recent weeks is any indication. Even before the merger, the constituency was already seeing meetings featuring Wildrose MLAs from neighbouring constituencies ...

Nomination Papers Show Friedt and Paras Share Same Campaign Manager

Since I wrote my first blog on mayoral candidate Jami Paras' failed attempt to get the Peace River Minor Hockey Association to launch legal action against the Town over the borrowing bylaw for the arena, one of the major questions that has emerged is whether or not candidates for council are truly running as independents, or whether there is some kind of voting bloc, coalition or coalitions operating behind the scenes. When I had first asked Paras in our interview about the leaked email whether he had mentioned any other candidates, he had stated he didn't, which was at best only partially true. While he didn't mention anyone by name, he did mention in the leaked email that he had “2-3 other candidates” and was looking for more of the “right people”. The implication seemed to be that if he won he would not be only a single vote on council, and had others who would vote with him. His public note of support for Bryon Schamehorn and Chelsey Friedt, posted to his p...