Latest news with #LenWebber
Global News
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Canada election 2025: Calgary Confederation
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Calgary Confederation is a federal riding located in Alberta. This riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Len Webber who first took office in 2015. Webber collected 28,367 votes, winning 46.03 per cent of the vote in the 2021 federal election. Voters will decide who will represent Calgary Confederation in Alberta during the upcoming Canadian election on April 28, 2025. Visit this page on election night for a complete breakdown of up to the minute results. Candidates Liberal: Corey Hogan Conservative: Jeremy Nixon NDP: Keira Gunn Green: Richard Willott Marxist-Leninist: Kevan Hunter Canadian Future Party: Jeffrey Reid Marsh People's Party: Artyom Ovsepyan
Edmonton Journal
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Calgary Confederation: Spectre of vote-splitting raised in hotly contested race
Article content Since forming ahead of the 2015 federal election, the riding has been held by Conservative Len Webber. In 2015, the Liberals came within about 2.4 percentage points of taking the seat. But in the past two elections, the Conservatives have strengthened their hold on the riding, securing just over 45 per cent of the vote in 2021, while Liberal support hovered just below 28 per cent. This year, polling and seat forecasts suggest the race is neck-and-neck between Liberals and Conservatives. The latest 338Canada projections show the Liberals holding a narrow lead in Calgary Confederation, with 45 per cent support compared to 44 per cent for the Conservatives. The NDP trails at six per cent. Calgary Confederation includes diverse neighbourhoods like Crescent Heights, Dalhousie and Highland Park, and is home to three post-secondary institutions. It's also a hot spot of concerns about progressive vote splitting. 'It's a very close race,' says Hogan. 'If (voters) are thinking about voting NDP, I'd ask them to consider me as a candidate because this could be a real opportunity to give different representation in Calgary Confederation, which is probably the least conservative part of the city.'
CBC
20-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Retiring Conservative Calgary MP Len Webber makes good on promise to late wife
It started with a promise Len Webber made to his wife in 2010, as her long battle with cancer came to its end. They had fallen in love in the mid-1980s when they were both varsity athletes at Red Deer College in central Alberta. Heather Macdonald-Webber was 47, and the couple had been married 23 years. "She shed a tear knowing that she wasn't able to donate any of her organs," said Webber, a member of Parliament. "I told her that it's OK. I will do what I can." That promise turned into an effort to combine two of life's certainties: death and taxes. Webber announced last month his retirement from politics, after 10 years as an Alberta Progressive Conservative legislature member and 11 years as the Conservative MP for Calgary Confederation. "I'm not a spring chicken. I'm going to be 65 this year. If I went one more round, I'd be 69, 70-ish. And then what? 10 years of life?" said Webber. "It was time to go now." As he prepares to leave politics, one of Webber's defining legacies will be his advocacy for increasing Canada's rate of organ donations by offering a consent option on tax forms. A lack of organ transplants continues to be a deadly issue. The Canadian Institute for Health Information says a third of Canadians on the transplant list were taken off in 2023 because they died while waiting. As an Alberta MLA, Webber introduced a private member's bill to establish one agency to co-ordinate organ and tissue donations and set up a provincial organ donor registry. In 2015, taking a narrow victory to federal office, he marched on by introducing a bill that would add a question to tax forms, signalling interest in becoming an organ and tissue donor. Those who wish to become donors would be contacted by their province for details on registration. Years later, the bill passed unanimously through the House of Commons and was sent to the Senate to receive royal assent. But an election was called in 2019, forcing the Senate to drop the matter and Webber to return to the start line. "It was incredibly disappointing, because it took years to get where it was," he said. Webber came back around for another shot after he was re-elected in 2019. His name, as he remembered, was the first pulled from a lottery determining "order of precedence" for considering private members' bills. "It was just a sign that this was meant to pass," he said. Once again, the bill passed with a unanimous vote across party lines and received royal assent in June 2021. Because provinces are responsible for organ donations, many haven't yet agreed to add the checkbox on their tax forms. Ontario and Nunavut were the first to commit, starting in 2022. Alberta has said it's working on adding the box and B.C. added it this year. "I've been lobbying them all," Webber said. In 2023, about 2.5 million Ontario taxpayers indicated they were interested in becoming organ donors. In Nunavut, 3,900 taxpayers ticked the box. "Hopefully, perhaps, I saved somebody's life because of this," said Webber. Webber will also be remembered for triggering the revolt against former Alberta premier Alison Redford in 2014, as a controversy over her travel expenses dogged — and eventually ended — her leadership. "She's really just not a nice lady," Webber famously said the day he resigned from caucus to sit as an Independent. Redford resigned six days later. "Some people give me a pat on the back for it," Webber recalled. "Sometimes you just need to do the right thing. I just saw too many times some negativity out of that leadership, so I could not be a part of it." His retirement is likely to make for a competitive race in Calgary Confederation. Polls widely suggest the riding, with its long history of sending conservatives to Ottawa, will be a toss-up between the Liberals and Conservatives. About six months before his wife died, Webber travelled with her to Hawaii so she could watch three people she coached run in the Honolulu Marathon. After her death, he ran it three times in her honour. Whether he runs in the marathon again is up for debate. He didn't say what might come next.
CBC
23-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Calgary MP Len Webber not seeking re-election
Conservative Member of Parliament Len Webber will not seek to retain his seat representing the riding of Calgary Confederation in the upcoming federal election. Webber has represented the federal Calgary riding for about a decade, and before that sat in the Alberta Legislature for three terms as the MLA for Calgary-Foothills. According to the biography page on his website, Webber is the chair of the Alberta Conservative Caucus and currently sits on multiple parliamentary committees. During his time as an Alberta MLA, he served as a cabinet minister under former premier Ed Stelmach. He notably quit the Alberta Progressive Conservative caucus in 2014 to sit as an independent in protest of the leadership of then-premier Alison Redford. "It has been an honour to be the elected Member of Parliament for Calgary Confederation since 2015, but the time has come to pass the torch," Webber said in a statement posted to social media Saturday night. "I want to thank deeply my constituents for their ongoing support and encouragement. This was not an easy decision, but one that I have come to after long and thoughtful consideration." He added he remains supportive of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and said he will do what he can to help the Conservatives win the election. Webber brought forward a private member's bill that simplified becoming an organ and tissue donor by allowing Canadians to specify their intent to sign up as a donor through their annual income tax return. The bill was passed with unanimous approval in 2021, after which Ontario and Nunavut implemented the change. His work in the Alberta Legislature years prior also paved the way for the creation of the Alberta Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. The Liberal Party of Canada selected Thomas Keeper to run in Calgary Confederation in the federal election, while Keira Gunn will run for the New Democrats. It's unknown who the Conservatives will choose to run in Webber's place.
