Nobility in Defeat: Where are they now?
Josh Semotiuk
This regular blue collar Joe, Josh, that is, was the most colourful of the “other” candidates, that is, the ones who didn’t have a hope in hell of winning and therefore much less to lose. The highlight of his campaign was getting an endorsement from Lemmy of Motorhead – not that the rock ‘n’ roll vote had any discernible effect – but the electrician and father of two was a refreshing voice of common sense in a campaign otherwise rife with bureaucratic blather.
There was no extended vacation for this guy. His activities since the election are the same they were before, working in a steel mill, spending time with his kids, aged five and three, doing home renos, “all that exciting stuff.” He has, however, caught the political bug and is giving serious consideration to running for Ward 2 councillor in 2017. He lives in Ward 2, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
As for what he learned, Semotiuk says, “I found out that I’m not as intimidated by public speaking as I thought I was. That was probably the biggest thing, and I’m not all that terrible at it. In talking with the public on the issues, I think I could be good on that kind of stuff.”
Gordon Ward
This candidate, a “hyperbaric specialist” who offered oxygen chamber treatments to patients, didn’t take much time off, either. He says he’s been pursuing post-graduate studies in the new field of “Bioregulatory Medicine.” He adds, “With the extra time that is now available, that which was consumed by the campaign, I have been able to return to writing a medical encyclopaedia that has consumed 15 years of work so far.”
Ward’s full response is too long to quote in full, but he did say he has since reverted to “an opinionated taxpayer who often turns off the local news in disgust”; that he’s “looking forward to the Oilers bringing Edmonton back to the status of the City of Champions”; and that he also looks forward to the construction of “The Sperm Arena” whose influx of cash will result in lower city taxes. He’s probably being sarcastic.
As for the biggest thing he learned from the experience, Ward suggests all political science students should have to run for public office before they are awarded their degrees. He says, “I am sure that as a result of the campaign, the other two politically inexperienced candidates would agree that they received a PhD in Political Science, the ethics of journalism, media and public speaking in less than four weeks … and I did learn that the No. 1 criteria for a successful campaign truly is money, not issues or public interest.”
Kristine Acielo
The 35-year-old single mom took a lot of ridicule for her suggestion we build a skytrain around Anthony Henday Drive, her critics perhaps forgetting Tooker Gomberg, who was one of the most offbeat people ever elected to Edmonton city council. He was the guy who came up with the idea of flooding streets so we could skate to work, which serious people in this town are talking about again. God rest his soul.
Acielo took time off for family matters. Tragically, her stepfather was diagnosed with cancer during the campaign and died in December. She’s since completed a book on her political experiences and is now studying at MacEwan University with designs on getting into law school. “I’m interested in running for higher politics,” she says, meaning that she doesn’t want to limit her ambitions to city politics.
This candidate’s big lesson from the election was how the political media works. It’s nasty. “It was an eye-opener,” she says. “They’re constantly in your face, surrounding you all the time, twisting your words. I didn’t expect it to be like that.” She adds that she can empathize with Rob Ford; she says she was Facebook friends with mayor of Toronto long before the crack scandal broke.
She might not want to put that on her law school application.
1 2
