Edmonton Election 2013: Update #9

We’re through all of the official Edmonton Elections forums now, and archives of each have been posted online. The final mayoral forum took place on Thursday evening in front of a large crowd. It had some entertaining moments, but for the most part, none of the forums have captured the energy we saw in 2010.

Here’s my latest election news roundup:

• Have you voted yet? The first week of advance voting wraps up today, but it picks up again on Tuesday. There will also be advance vote locations on the NAIT, MacEwan, and University of Alberta campuses next week.
• The Journal has helpfully summarized its profile of the six mayoral candidates. The top three contenders get in-depth profiles, the other three get smaller ones.
• Don Iveson had another busy week of announcements, posting his policies on the arts, innovation, and infill. He also wrote about volunteerism and did another social media Q&A post.
• Kerry Diotte posted about seniors fighting for advance polling stations, and called on Edmontonians to become “voting angels” to help seniors. He also made it easier to read his policies on one page.
• Karen Leibovici promised to champion post-secondary institutions in our city and also expressed concern about seniors and voting. On Thursday, she announced her campaign has raised in excess of $550,000. Additionally, her negative campaign tone continued with two posts attacking Don Iveson, one on housing and one on spending. She also incorrectly stated she’s the only candidate to support the arts.
• Wondering how the big three voted on key issues? The Journal has taken a stab at summarizing their records.
• Dave Cournoyer posted his endorsement of Don Iveson. “Over his two terms on city council, Don Iveson has defined himself as a hard-working and thoughtful leader through his words and actions,” he wrote.
• In case you missed it, here is Dave’s latest Edmonton Election Substance & Style post.
• After Dave said the mayoral race is now between Iveson and Diotte, David Staples and others took exception and said no, the race is between Iveson and Leibovici.
• Here’s another one from Lorne Gunter: Iveson most impressive mayoral candidate.
• Videos for Public School Board Trustees are now up on the EPSB website.
• Tad wonders, what if we get an all male City Council?
• With just over a week to go in the election, The Local Good is featuring some thoughts from local organizations on what it’ll take to get a progressive City Council.
• Forget top ten lists, here are 50 reasons why Randy Boissonnault is supporting Don Iveson.
• John Richardson has issues with statements Karen Leibovici has made related to taxation.
• Another great comic by Chad Huculak.
• Here is some great investigative work from Michael Ross. He provides data that suggests Gordon Ward, Mike Nickel, and potentially some other candidates are buying followers on Twitter and likes on Facebook.
• The results of the Centre for Public Involvement’s poll are now in. They found that 96% of candidates and 91% of citizens agree the City should create additional opportunities for citizens to have a say in important matters. Public involvement is an issue that hasn’t received much more than lip service from the candidates thus far.
• ActivatED was profiled by the Journal. “All three on the ActivatED team said they’ve had a negative experience dealing with city hall that pushed them into campaigning for change.”
• Vue Weekly wrote about Yuri Wuensch’s Zombie Wall campaign.
• Here are the latest responses to The Local Good’s questionnaire: Allan Santos in Ward 5, mayoral candidate Josh Semotiuk, Brian Kendrick in Ward 5, Dave Loken in Ward 3, Harvey Panesar in Ward 11, and Heather Workman in Ward 8.
• Good question from Global: What are city council hopefuls looking for in Edmonton’s new mayor?
• Interested in urban sprawl? CBC spoke to some candidates about the issue. Also, check out our recent episode of Mack & Cheese on the topic too.
• Hey candidates, check out this great Make Something Edmonton project: Recycling Election Signs.
• ICYMI: In a sea of platitudes, are there any specifics?
• Don Iveson is doing a special AMA on Reddit on Monday at 7:30pm!
• The Breastfeeding Action Committee of Edmonton (BACE) has found that “a majority of city council and mayoral candidates support a move to make Edmonton’s public facilities Breastfeeding Friendly.” You can see the results here.
• Have you ever found yourself longing for a mayoral candidate cage match? It seems someone else did too:

You can follow Edmonton Election news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegvote and you can see my coverage here. Also be sure to check out the #yegvote flipboard for curated election-related stories on a daily basis.

What have I missed? Let me know!

Disclosure: I’m actively volunteering for Don Iveson’s mayoral campaign.