Calgary is a politically conservative city. Despite this many of the mayoral candidates are not conservative. To have any chance of a non-conservative winning, they must narrow themselves down to one. A pre-election election is just the trick to do this.

On October 18, 2010 there is a City election. With three term Mayor Dave Bronconnier stepping down, many candidates have thrown their hat into the ring to replace him. The number of candidates is large and many seem to be serious contenders. If a non-conservative is going to win they need to get serious though.

The front runner is clearly Ric McIver. He has been a City Councillor since 2001. Known as Dr. No, McIver is a hard core conservative, with the belief that the City should be run like a business, with taxes as low as possible. McIver is far and away the most recognizable candidate running for mayor thus far. He is the only candidate with a moustache and a nickname, which helps increase his name recognition immensely.

McIver is a media darling and is always playing for the cameras. In person McIver can be quite personable. Two years ago he approached me at a Christmas party and was actually very engaging. He kept saying that I looked familiar. Though I had spoken in support of a living wage at City Hall on numerous occasions, I told him that we met at a rally. It was true and also weird seeing McIver at a Sudanese protest at the Chinese Consulate a couple of years ago. He came to the protest because the Sudanese community asked him to (rumour was that they thought that since McIver was a champion of taxpayers rights he was a champion of human rights too). I am still not sure whether to give McIver kudos for attending and speaking at the rally or whether it was pure and shameless pandering.

The other mayoral candidates are in tough to defeat McIver. Though the last two mayors (it is actually three if Ralph Klein, who ran as a Liberal is included) have been liberals, with McIver's popularity though I do not see this trend continuing. Surprisingly there are more non-conservatives running for mayor than conservatives. In reality these candidates are going to split an already small vote. If they do not work together the chances of a non-conservative candidate winning is slim.

I realize that every candidate thinks they are going to win. They have already put in a great deal of effort and time into their campaigns. The reality is that only one can win. What I am proposing is that everyone that is not a conservative agree to enter a pre-election election to narrow down McIver’s opponents to one person.

In particular I think that Kent Hehr, Bob Hawkesworth, Wayne Stewart and Naheed Nenshi have to do this if one of these people has any chance of becoming mayor. With this, I propose that on Saturday September 11 a pre-election election be held. This can be done electronically to get a larger turnout or in gymnasiums throughout the City. The details can be worked out later. The losers of the pre-election would agree to drop out of the race for mayor. The winner would go head to head with McIver and at least have a chance of winning. If they cannot win a pre-election election then they will obviously not win the mayoral seat.

It is time to put egos aside and to step up for the greater good here in Calgary. Will the non-conservative mayor candidates be able to do this or will they selfishly fight amongst each other to allow McIver to become mayor? Homelessness, urban sprawl, a potential world class city etc. is at stake.

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