Dear editor,
A week ago I was browsing through the Vancouver newspaper headlines in a local drugstore and saw Calgary Mayor Nenshi’s photograph, along with an article about a newly formed group that hopes to unseat him in the upcoming fall election.
The name of the group is Common Sense, a name which rang a bell because I think that was the name of the ‘slate’ that ran in Courtenay in the last election.
Recently I remembered hearing a spokesperson for the Manning Centre for Building Democracy (Preston Manning) who stated they wanted to be involved in politics at every level, civic, municipal, and provincially, so I Googled to see if there was a connection between this Centre and Common Sense.
And, yes, a big connection! In Alberta, developers, realtors and others donated $1.1 million to the Manning Centre, and $10,000 of that was given back as seed money to form the Common Sense group and pay for their training.
The article goes on to say that Mayor Naheed Nenshi is such a popular figure there’s not much of a chance he will be unseated, but because of historically low civic turnouts, his council could see a number of Common Sense candidates on it.
My question?
Is there any connection between the Manning Centre and the Common Sense slate that ran in Courtenay in the last election?
Rosemary Baxter,
Courtenay
Editor’s note: A group calling itself Common Sense endorsed candidates in the past Courtenay and Comox municipal elections. We will see if any Comox Valley Common Sense member answers Rosemary Baxter’s question, or whether they reappear for the next Comox Valley municipal elections scheduled for next year.
