With the nomination date to determine the next PC representative for the Bonnyville - Cold Lake constituency looming ever closer, one municipal politician is upset that one of the region's three urban centres is being "forgotten and ignored" in the c
With the nomination date to determine the next PC representative for the Bonnyville - Cold Lake constituency looming ever closer, one municipal politician is upset that one of the region's three urban centres is being "forgotten and ignored" in the controversial local voting process.
MD of Bonnyville Coun. Mike Krywiak, who represents the Glendon area, believes the village and its residents are getting the short end of the stick in this nomination process, with the main poll being held in Cold Lake on Saturday (Feb. 21) and an advanced poll in Bonnyville on Thursday (Feb. 19).
"I'm very, very disappointed with the way this whole nomination process in the Bonnyville - Cold Lake constituency has unfolded so far," Krywiak told the Nouvelle last week. "The process is not open, not honest and not democratic...the seniors in Glendon are all very upset. We definitely need a poll for Glendon."
The local nominating committee announced earlier this month that it would be running with just one polling station on nomination day, with the seniors centre in Cold Lake north chosen as the sole location with the Centennial Centre in Bonnyville already booked. Polls will be open for five hours from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
After a heavy backlash from the public, the PC Alberta nominating committee stepped in and announced a two-hour advanced poll for Bonnyville, scheduled to take place at the ACFA Hall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday. For Krywiak and Glendon residents, the addition of that advanced poll simply is not enough.
"You can't tell me a two hour advanced poll in Bonnyville is going to serve all the voters from Bonnyville and all the voters from Glendon. That's simply not enough time to process what I expect will be hundreds of people turning up to place their vote," Krywiak said. "I don't like the process at all. I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's right."
Krywiak shared his displeasure with PC Alberta Executive Director Kelley Charlebois, who simply told the Ward 3 councillor the local nominating committee had "met all the requirements of the PCAA constitution."
Town of Bonnyville Coun. John Irwin is one of three remaining members of that local committee and when speaking to the Nouvelle last week, Irwin said he doesn't understand where these issues are coming from.
"I've been very disappointed in a lot of people over what I've read in the media and heard about (first hand and online)," Irwin said. "We've been complimented on the way we have run things from the provincial people, so I really don't think there's as much of a story here as people think there is."
He added, "What it all boils down to is we started out with a very short time frame, we initially wanted the C2 as the venue, but that was already booked for the hospital gala, so that created the move to a different venue."
With many of the senior voters in Glendon unable to travel long distances by themselves, Krywiak said those PC members looking to vote in the nomination process will have to be bused into Bonnyville for the advanced poll on Thursday.
Former Mayor of Bonnyville Ernie Isley has been very vocal regarding his thoughts on the local nomination process, going so far as to call the process "blatantly rigged." In an email sent directly to Premier Jim Prentice, Isley called for the province to step in and provide an "open, transparent and honest" nomination process.
"(One of two ways you will get this situation under control) will be to implement a roving polling station (the feds used it very successfully in the recent Lakeland nomination) to include Glendon (as well as Bonnyville)," Isley said. "(Right now the system) is so blatantly rigged, it's laughable."
The deadline for candidates to submit their nomination papers passed on Friday. Both Craig Copeland and Dixie Dahlstedt will be officially up for nomination when the polls open later this week.
An advanced poll is scheduled for Bonnyville on Thursday at the ACFA Hall from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. The main poll will be held on Saturday at the seniors hall in Cold Lake north from noon until 5 p.m.
