Alberta Liberal Party hosts AGM at Westend Seniors Centre
By Trevor Robb
EDMONTON — No election has been called, but that didn’t stop a group of 40 members and supporters of the Alberta Liberal party to attend the Edmonton-Meadowlark Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Westend Seniors Activity Centre Tuesday evening.
The meeting was the first of its kind in almost four years, and among the guests was Edmonton-Meadowlark MLA Dr. Raj Sherman and current Alberta Liberal leader, Dr. David Swann. Dr. Swann led the meeting off with a speech about the opportunity the Alberta Liberal has been given.
- Alberta Liberal leader Dr. David Swann speaks to a crowd of Liberal members and supporters at the Westend Seniors Activity Centre for the Edmonton-Meadowlark Annual General meeting on Tuesday, June 22, 2011. Photograph Trevor Robb.
“It’s a time for real opportunity for us, it’s a time for the Alberta Liberal Party to step up with new leadership, new energy and new support,” said Dr. Swann. “Thanks to some of the new ideas, new energy and new constitutional changes, we have doubled our membership and supporters in the last couple of weeks.”
While Dr. Swann is stepping down as the leader of the Alberta Liberals, he announced he is still continuing his career in politics, stating that there is “too much work to be done.”
But first, a new leader must be elected. Currently in the running for the position are:
- Laurie Blakeman - Liberal MLA for Edmonton-Centre
- Hugh McDonald - Liberal MLA for Edmonton-Goldbar
- Bruce Payne – new to politics/carpenter
- Dr. Raj Sherman – Liberal MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark
Afterwards, Dr. Swann praised the work Sherman has done, previously as a member of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, and currently with the Alberta Liberal Party.
“He (Sherman) is my colleague and my friend, and a very courageous man who has selflessly tried to change the Tory government one-handily from within, and has decided it’s not possible,” said Dr. Swann. “I have not seen anyone work as hard and as selflessly as Raj has in politics.”
Election
The AGM itinerary included the passing of financial and party-president reports, as well as electing four key members to the new Raj Sherman team: President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. Ed Butler was nominated for the position of President, Sharon MacLean was named Secretary and Priya Swarmy was named Treasurer.
All three of the new ‘Team Raj’ members were nominated by Sherman himself, but in the bid for Vice-President, Sherman nominee and university student Nicholas Monfries was challenged by Marie Pang, a former staff worker with Edmonton city councilor Karen Leibovici. An election was held between the two and little blue ballots were handed out amongst the crowd. In the end it was Monfries who won the election with a vote count of 16-9.
Old/New guard together
- Dr. Raj Sherman speaks to a crowd of Liberal members and supporters at the west end Seniors Activity Centre for the Edmonton-Meadowlark Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, June 22, 2011. Photograph Trevor Robb.
After the meeting had adjourned, Dr. Sherman spoke with the West Edmonton Local about the turnout, which consisted of a wide range of age groups, from seniors to university students.
“This is where rubber hits the road in public service and as an MLA, if you don’t have your local constituents involved, you don’t get elected,” said Sherman.
“We’ve united the team that was previously here, in addition to the team I brought along,” said Sherman. “The important thing was to maintain the old guard and the traditional team as well, and that’s what we did here.”