I present...the List

I've been spending most of 2008 disposing of my disposable income on finally getting all the DVD boxed sets of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I actually got the seventh and final season back in May, and I've spent a lot of my free time these past few months watching ALL of The Next Generation. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the seventh and final season now, and I'm starting to notice a subtle shift.

When the seventh season of TNG came around, Paramount was already hard at work at developing Voyager. And, halfway through the final season of TNG, the series is getting very...Voyager-ish. The dialogue, the plots, how it's filmed...everything has echos of what will become Voyager. It's a little off-putting, to watch one of the best Star Trek shows slowly morph into one of the weakest.

But I'm straying off topic. Hey! We're having an election in Canada!

A few blog entries ago, I said I'd pass along the complete list of candidates in my riding for Fort McMurray--Athabasca once it was announced. Well, it was announced back on Thursday, so I'd better get off my duff.

It's not too different from the one I ran back on Monday...the only difference is, sadly, those rumors of a Libertarian Party candidate turned out to be just rumors.

So, if you live in Athabasca, Fort McMurray, or any point in between, here's what you have to choose from.

In this corner, the reigning champion, representative of the Conservative Party, in the blue trunks...Brian Jean! I've interviewed Jean a few times in my former job as a reporter, and I can say that Jean is a very good backbencher. He has very few opinions of his own. Whenever I interviewed him, it would quickly turn into him going, "Isn't Stephen Harper wonderful?" Yeah. To quote Shania Twain, that don't impress me much.

Make your own opinion. Here's Brian Jean's Website.

And now, the challengers. In the red trunks, representing the Liberal Party, we have John Webb. Webb is a lawyer from up Fort McMurray way. I don't much about him yet.

But hey! He's got a website where we can learn all about him!

Looking dashing in his orange trunks, we've got Mark Voyageur. I don't much about him yet. I can tell you this...the original NDP candidate for this riding pulled out shortly after the writ was dropped. He was also going for a union boss position at Suncor, and didn't want to be running two election campaigns. So, Mr. Voyageur stepped into the task. All I know about him so far is he's a heavy equipment operator at Suncor.

Here's his page at the NDP website, which isn't quite active yet.

Over here, sporting a green kilt for the Green Party, it's Dylan Richards. Now, I'm a little reluctant to make semi-sarcastic remarks about Dylan like I have with most of the candidates so far, mainly because I know Dylan. I like Dylan. He's one of the few friends I have outside of work in this town, and he's a real cool guy. I've got some stories about him...that I'll tell after the election, because we know all the parties these days are trolling the blogs, looking for skeletons in the closet. Until then, let me just say that he'll make things interesting.

Here's his profile at the Green Party website, or I can just bring you along next time he invites me over to play Rock Band.

Now, we get into our other choices...the so-called "fringe candidates." I've always wanted to run in a riding full of fringe candidates...turns out I should be careful what I wish for.

For the Christian Heritage Party, it's Jacob Stydhorst. Strydhorst...why does that name sound familiar? Oh, that's right! He ran under the CHP banner in my home riding of Yellowhead two federal elections ago! Heck, even in his website, he says he was parachuted into this riding because the people demanded a CHP candidate.

I'm not lying. Check out his profile at the Christian Heritage Party website where he says so himself.

For the First Peoples National Party of Canada, it's John Malcolm. I don't know much about him, or this party, so I'll keep all sarcastic comments to myself.

Here's his candidate's profile.

And, we have the fringiest of the fringe candidates...an independent. Shawn Reimer. An 18 year first year PoliSci student at Keyano College. Wow. Someone has too much money and too much time on his hands.

But he's got a website, where you can read his platform. Man, he wants to get more young people interested in politics. That's what every 18 year old candidate with too much money and too much time says.

And that's it. My fellow Athabascans, be sure to circle October 6 on your calendars. That's when we'll be having an all candidates forum at the Nancy Appleby Theatre. It'll be interesting to see who shows...as my colleague in the newsroom shared with me, both Webb and Voyageur have said they'll probably do most of their campaigning just in Fort McMurray, just because they can't afford to travel. And I'm guessing Reimer will only come if his mom doesn't need the car that night.

And as always, I quote the words the Guardian of the Holy Grail spoke to Indiana Jones: you must choose wisely.