The Briefing Note Podcast (Sarah Elder from Madame Premier)

In Episode 22 of Ellected, host Sarah Elder-Chamanara talks with Alberta's Minister of Children's Services Rebecca Schulz about the $3.8 billion child care deal she signed with Ottawa in November 2021 that will see Albertans paying an average of $10 per day for child care by 2026.

Rebecca Schulz was elected to Alberta's Legislative Assembly on April 16, 2019, as the MLA for Calgary-Shaw. A wife and proud mother of two young children, she has master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. Rebecca was appointed as Alberta’s Minister of Children’s Services on April 30, 2019.

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist and political clothing company based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Madame Premier creates the opportunity for conversations about why politics needs to change. Madame Premier has been featured in the National Post, CBC, Forbes and Toronto Star. Sarah opened Madame Premier’s first retail location in 2021 in Calgary.

In episode 23 of Ellected host Sarah Elder-Chamanara talks with multi-multi-hyphenate lawyer, feminist, advocate, mentor, political candidate Naomi Sayers.

Naomi and Sarah talk about the process of political parties vetting candidates and how it doesn't work, how it could change so that more women and people actually run, how she ultimately ended up running as an independent (spoiler that isn't surprising - the system needs to be rebuilt because it doesn't work but does continue to work for anyone who isn't a white man who has been planning his campaign since birth), changing narratives and more.

More about Naomi Sayers:
Naomi Sayers is a lawyer and Indigenous feminist, called to the Ontario (2018) and Alberta (2020) bars with nearly a decade of consultation experience. Previously in-house counsel at Hydro One, she officially launched her own practice in early 2020. She regularly advises on issues relating administrative law, human rights, police abuse/violence, constitutional issues, lobbying and law reform initiatives, and non- profits. Naomi is proud to bring nearly a decade of consulting work to her clients and their files. She has previously provided consultation services to federal, provincial, and regional (municipal) governments. Some of her clients include other non-profit organizations engaging in advocacy work, Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Amnesty International’s International Governing Body and the federal government’s Status of Women, to name a few. Clients generally come to Naomi during times of crises and appreciate her calm demeanor and ability to narrow complex matters down into manageable issues. Naomi is frequently invited by the media to comment on pressing issues and issues of national importance or public interest, ranging from regulatory work to human rights commentary.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

More about Senator Kim Pate:

Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost, the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent nearly 40 years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized — particularly imprisoned youth, men and women.

Senator Pate graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 with honours in the Clinical Law Programme and has completed post graduate work in the area of forensic mental health. She was the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) from January 1992 until her appointment to the Senate in November 2016. CAEFS is a federation of local societies who provide services and work in coalition with Aboriginal women, women with mental health issues and other disabling conditions, young women, visible minority and immigrant women, poor women and those isolated and otherwise deprived of potential sources of support. Prior to her work with CAEFS, she worked with youth and men in a number of capacities with the local John Howard Society in Calgary, as well as the national office. She has developed and taught Prison Law, Human Rights and Social Justice and Defending Battered Women on Trial courses at the Faculties of Law at the University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University and the University of Saskatchewan. She also occupied the Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2014 and 2015.

Kim Pate is widely credited as the driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. During the Inquiry, she supported women as they aired their experiences and was a critical resource and witness in the Inquiry itself. She also persuaded the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to initiate the Self-Defence Review and appoint the Honourable Madam Justice Lynn Ratushny to review the convictions and sentences of women jailed for using lethal force to defend themselves and/or their children against abusive men. She then worked tirelessly in pursuit of the implementation of the many positive recommendations from both. Senator Pate has been instrumental in building coalitions across the country with other equality-seeking women’s, anti-racism, anti-poverty and human rights groups and organizations; and, in this capacity, has worked with feminist legal scholars, lawyers, other professionals and front-line advocates and activists — from Indigenous communities to transition house and rape crisis centre workers.

Read more about Senator Pate here.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In episode 25 of Ellected host Sarah Elder-Chamanara talks with politician, political scientist, activist, author and mother Dr. Kate Graham about her election loss, the election, they get into discussing if and how electoral reform might increase voter turnout in future elections with two different takes on the topic, the metrics that matter during a campaign, conversations with girls at the doors and the release of Kate's new book No Second Chances: Women and Political Power in Canada.

More about Dr. Kate Graham:

Dr. Kate Grapham researches, writes, speaks and teaches about politics in Canada. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario. Her areas of focus include Canadian politics, local government, urban politics and public policy.

Her PhD dissertation, Leading Canada’s Cities: A Study of Urban Mayors, examined the role and power of big city mayors in Canada. The research process involved travelling across Canada to conduct 70 interviews with political and community leaders across Canada. She blogged throughout the experience and developed an online following for what became affectionately known as the “Mayors Project."

Kate is a regular media commentator and speaker on local politics in Canada. Kate teaches in the Political Science departments at Western University (Local Government Program), King’s University College and Brescia University College. She currently teaches two courses on women and politics. She is an associate producer of the 25% documentary (see: 25percent.ca) about the underrepresentation of women in Canadian politics.

Before entering academia, Kate spent a decade working as a public servant. Most recently she served as the Director, Community & Economic Innovation at the City of London where she was responsible for the City’s government relations, strategic initiatives, culture and economic partnerships portfolios.

Kate is an active community member and volunteer. She served as the Chair of the Pillar Nonprofit Network Board of Directors, on the Executive of the ReForest London Board of Directors, and as a volunteer for numerous community organizations. She was named one of London’s Top 20 Under 40 in 2015. Kate ran in the 2018 Provincial Election in Ontario and ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in 2020 and most recently ran as a candidate again in the June 2022 Ontario provincial election.

Kate lives in London, Ontario with her family.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In a special feature for Ellected, this weeks episodes feature back-to-back conversations with UCP leadership candidates, one of whom will be the next premier of Alberta, Rebecca Schulz, Rajan Sawhney and Leela Aheer.

Episodes are being released in the order in which they were recorded. The first conversation with Rebecca Schulz hits on the UCPs spending, the proposed school curriculum, nomination contests and more.

More about Rebecca Schulz:

Rebecca Schulz is the MLA for Calgary-Shaw.

She was elected in 2019 and was most recently the Minister of Children's Services.

In that role, Rebecca fought for and successfully negotiated a fair deal on childcare with the federal government.

The Made-In-Alberta childcare agreement is unique in Canada and critical for seeing Alberta families and children succeed.

Rebecca has also served on Treasury Board and several policy and legislative committees.

She first got involved in politics in 2009 working in the Premier’s Office in Saskatchewan under Brad Wall.

Rebecca then chose Alberta to raise her family and was drawn to the united conservative movement.

She believes unity in the conservative movement is critical – both at the provincial and federal level – to ensure free-market, pro-growth governments can succeed.

Rebecca is an active campaigner and believes that hard work and staying connected with voters – most importantly, door knocking – is the best way to both grow the movement and serve at the ground level.

She lives in Calgary with her husband and two children.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

The second episode in this weeks series of conversations with some of the UCP leadership candidates is here with a conversation with Rajan Sawhney.

Rajan and Sarah talk about her bid to be the next leader of Alberta's United Conservative party and the next premier of Alberta. Rajan shares what differentiates her in a very frank conversation with some very straightforward answers on issues like the proposed elementary curriculum update and she delivers the most succinct answer of the three candidates that Sarah speaks with if there is a role for Jason Kenney if she wins.

More about Rajan Sawhney:
Rajan Sawhney was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta on April 16, 2019, as the MLA for Calgary-North East.

Born and raised in north east Calgary, Sawhney is a mother of four, an activist, and an engaged community volunteer. Rajan attended the University of Calgary, earning a degree in Economics and Political Science as well as an MBA.

Sawhney worked in the oil and gas industry for over twenty years in a variety of different roles in economics and business development. Prior to her election, she served as the Vice President of Business Development for Fracture Modeling Inc.

As an active volunteer, Sawhney is passionate about community engagement initiatives. She has played a key role in leadership with several non-profit organizations and has also spearheaded several programs and events designed to spread awareness and raise funds for worthy causes. For her community engagement work, Rajan was recognized as a Community Builder by the YWCA for Canada 150.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

CONTENT WARNING - Please be aware that this episode discusses personal accounts of abortion, miscarriage and pregnancy loss.

In Episode 26 of Ellected Sarah talks with Kathryn Marshall, partner at the Toronto law firm Levitt Sheikh about her work as the lawyer representing Ariella Kimmel who is suing Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's office for wrongful dismissal after alleging she was subjected to a toxic workplace environment and wrongful dismissal.

In the second half of the epsiode, Kathryn and Sarah discuss the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, why abortion is health care, some of the challenges to accessing it outside of urban centres and in certain parts of the country, how it is not a constitutionally protected right and their agreement on why it should be. Kathryn and Sarah also share their extremely personal stories about accessing the healthcare system in different was and how it has impacted them individually.

More about Kathryn Marshall:

Kathryn Marshall’s practice is focused on employment law, human rights, and civil litigation. She is a dedicated and compassionate lawyer with a passion for advocacy and justice. She handles all areas of employment law, from job offer reviews to litigation involving wrongful termination, constructive dismissal, discrimination, bad faith, harassment, sexual misconduct, bullying, disability, executive compensation, and shareholder disputes. In addition, Kathryn has made a name for herself handling complex employment matters involving high profile individuals in politics and provides advice on media strategy and crisis communication. 

In 2022, Kathryn was nominated by Canadian Lawyer Magazine as a one of Canadas’ most influential lawyers in the area of human rights advocacy. In 2021, she served as a member of the Ontario Workforce Advisory Committee which provided key recommendations to shape the future of work in Ontario.  A number of these recommendations have already become law such as the ban on non-compete clauses and the right to disconnect. In 2021, Kathryn was voted as a top labour and employment lawyer in Toronto by Post City Magazine.

She is committed to resolution where possible and is experienced in the courtroom.  Kathryn has successfully represented clients at trials and hearings and is a fervent advocate in every stage of litigation. Read more here.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In Episode 30 of Ellected, host Sarah Elder-Chamanara talks with Ontario Liberal political candidate Katie Gibbs about a series of tweets she sent out during the June election sharing the most commonly asked question she received on the doors - "how old are you?"

Katie and Sarah talk about the questions women in politics are asked and why, along with more about Katie's experience of running, including receiving an endorsement from climate change advocate and environmentalist Catherine McKenna, and more. 

More about Katie Gibbs:
Katie Gibbs is a scientist, organizer and advocate for science and evidence-based policies. While completing her PhD at the University of Ottawa researching threats to endangered species, she was one of the lead organizers of the ‘Death of Evidence’ rally - one of the largest science rallies in Canadian history. Katie cofounded Evidence for Democracy and now serves as its Executive Director. She has a diverse background organizing and managing various social and political campaigns at the local and national level. Katie is frequently asked to comment on science policy issues and has been quoted and published in numerous media outlets, including the CBC, The Hill Times, the Globe and Mail and the National Post. Katie most recently ran for the Ontario Liberal Party in June 2022 finishing second with almost 23% of the vote.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

More about Leela Aheer:
Leela Aheer was first elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the constituency of Chestermere-Rocky View on May 5, 2015. She was re-elected on April 16, 2019, as the MLA for the newly formed riding of Chestermere-Strathmore.

Born in Edmonton and raised in Chestermere, where she is raising her family, Aheer is a proud wife and mother of two boys. Prior to entering politics, Aheer was a professional vocal coach and music teacher, who instructed singing in seven languages, owned and operated businesses as an entrepreneur, and was heavily involved in the arts, volunteerism and community service.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 31 features Amanda Kingsley Malo, the founder of PoliticsNOW, an organization she founded that's dedicated to electing women to municipal councils across Northern Ontario. Sarah and Amanda talk about how Amanda got involved in politics, how and why she started PoliticsNOW, why they both want to see Canada's next female prime minister and so much more.

More about Amanda Kinsley Malo:
Amanda is a teacher, volunteer and an award-winning community activist, whose work and passion intersect at the forefront of K-12 education, public policy and gender equality. She is the founder of PoliticsNOW, an organization dedicated to electing women to municipal councils across Northern Ontario. She is a leading expert on women in politics in Canada and has appeared as a contributor with CBC, Flare Magazine, CTV, Global News and local news organizations across the country. She is currently undertaking a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy at OISE.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 33 of Ellected features Stephanie Mitton, principal and founder of Beacon North Strategies and principal and co-founder of WOMENdontDOthat, a podcast and blog that inspires women to do whatever it is they think they can’t do. Host Sarah Elder-Chamanara digs into Stephanie's experiences running for a contested nomination for the Conservative Party of Canada in 2018 in the federal riding of Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, her WOMENdontDOthat podcast and their mutual desire to see Canada's second female prime minister.

More about Stephanie Mitton:
Stephanie Mitton is the Principal and Founder of Beacon North Strategies, a boutique public affairs firm. She is also the Principal and Co-Founder of WOMENdontDOthat, a podcast and blog that inspires women to do whatever it is they think they can’t do.

Most recently Stephanie’s prior roles include Managing Director of the not-for-profit Children First Canada, and Assistant-Director of Government Relations at Universities Canada.

Stephanie has a Master’s Degree in International Public Policy from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 32 of Ellected features Alberta NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi in conversation with Ellected's host Sarah Elder-Chamanara on Rakhi's journey into politics, her interest and focus on governance over the politics of politics and who and how she was asked to run. Rakhi and Sarah discuss what she's hearing at the doors versus what is said on social media, leaders making tough decisions rather than easy ones, what stories Rakhi and the Alberta NDP would tell in contrast to those told over the last three years by the UCP, the necessity and importance of diverse candidate recruitment and more.

More about Rakhi Pancholi:
Rakhi Pancholi knows first-hand what matters most to the citizens of Edmonton-Whitemud. As someone who grew up in South Edmonton, and is now raising her own family there, Rakhi is proud to represent the people and families of Edmonton-Whitemud.

Rakhi serves as the Official Opposition Critic for Children’s Services and is a member of the Public Accounts Committee and Standing Committee for Families & Communities.

Rakhi has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta in political science and a law degree from the University of Toronto. She has lived, volunteered and worked abroad in England and South Africa.

Rakhi has been deeply involved in the Alberta education system throughout her career. As a lawyer, she has experience working in both private practice and as a member of the public service. She has practiced in the areas of education law, labour & employment law, and privacy law with the Alberta School Boards Association and as a senior legislative consultant for Alberta Education. As an MLA, she continues to advocate for Alberta children and families to ensure a brighter future for us all.

In the past, Rakhi has volunteered with organizations in Edmonton, including ParityYEG, the Humane Animal Rescue Team, the National Education Program Committee, and the Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund. She has also volunteered her services as a lawyer with Edmonton Community Legal Centre, providing legal advice to low-income clients.

Rakhi lives in South Edmonton with her husband, two school-aged children and furry rescue dog.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Would you say yes immediately if asked to become the communications advisor to the minister of health and deputy premier during a global pandemic? Zoe Knowles did exactly that in 2020 working for former Ontario Progressive Conservative Minister of Health Christine Elliott.

In epsiode 36 of Ellected Zoe shares her entry into politics, what a day in the life of a communications advisor is like, some behind the scenes stories of rolling out Covid vaccines and initiatives and her transition to the housing ministry and so much more.

More about Zoe Knowles:
Zoe has always had a love of politics - with a renowned political reporter as her mother - which brought her to study Political Science and Marketing at McGill University. After graduating with distinction in 2016, she cut her teeth working in the fast-paced world of advertising, with clients including Hershey, Budweiser, and Merck Pharmaceuticals, all while volunteering on political campaigns on the side. She decided to combine her love of communications and politics by making the shift into public affairs at Sussex Strategy Group, where she specialized in housing and health care. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was recruited to serve as Christine Elliott's Senior Communications Advisor, then Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, where she managed critical files including the vaccine rollout, Ontario Health Teams, and digital health transformation. Within a year, Zoe was promoted to Director of Communications to Steve Clark, Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Over the past year in this role, she is proudest of her leadership in shifting the mainstream media narrative to recognize that the key to fixing the housing crisis is building more housing of all kinds. 

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 38 with Michelle Johnson, communications director to Canada's Minister of Labour and the Member of Parliament for St. John's South-Mount Pearl, Seamus O'Regan. The episode focuses on how Michelle got involved in politics and how she became a powerhouse youth organizer in Ontario. This is a must-listen episode but especially if you want to get involved in politics but don't know where to start and how to do it so that you can move on to other political work outside of school.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In Episode 39 of Ellected you are introduced to Kim Wright of Wright Strategies. Kim is a master of all things municipal politics in Ontario and she chat's with Ellected's host, Sarah Elder-Chamanara, about the difference of getting things done versus being partisan which, spoiler alert, you can get more done with people who aren't on your side because it leads to collaboration. Kim and Sarah also talk about the pace of municipal politics, how almost everything is municipal politics and round it all Kim's advice on how to be the one media calls on for political commentary and finally some thoughts on the federal Conservative leadership race.

More about Kim Wright:
Since 2005, Kim Wright has provided senior public affairs counsel to national and international clients across multiple industries. Kim has engaged in public affairs campaigns across Canada at all three orders of government. Leveraging her deep knowledge of politics and public affairs, she founded Wright Strategies in 2018.

Kim has built and executed successful public affairs engagements on a wide range of issues including public health, infrastructure, technology, economic development, transportation, labour relations, and licensing frameworks. She has successfully managed various aspects of development files, changes to municipal by-laws and policies, and has overseen procurement response programs.

Kim is best known as a municipal affairs expert; however, her expertise is not limited to one level of government and frequently navigates complex interjurisdictional files. She has been involved in politics at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels since 1990. Throughout her career, she has developed a well respected, pan-partisan approach to government relations that allows her and her clients to achieve a trusted advisor status.

Kim is a frequent media commentator on political issues. She regularly appears on the CBC, TVO, CityNews, CP24, Global News, Zoomer Radio, SiriusXM, Toronto Star, and CPAC.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 34 is all about branding and design for your campaign with Crystal Reynolds, the woman behind the award-winning design for Calgary's new mayor, Jyoti Gondek. Crystal and Sarah delve into what goes into designing a political campaign logo, the three things you have to have for your campaign if budget is a factor and you can't afford to hire someone to help you, what goes into a good design and so much more. If you are planning on running, running your own campaign or love a good campaign sign, this is the episode for you!

More about Crystal Reynolds:
Collaboration · Respect · Value

Crystal is a proud GEN X born and raised Calgarian. Her schooling was local up to graduating with a Bachelor Kinesiology degree from the University of Calgary. Crystal’s career began on campus in marketing and eventually she breached the university bubble of influence into the private sector and eventually choosing to freelance her design skills while raising two daughters.

Crystal's 25 years of experience in visual design has provided her experience in all levels of business development that include marketing, branding, and design needs. Her work with the Jyoti Gondek for Mayor campaign leveled up her experience not just within the political world, but also as a leader as she oversaw the communications.

Her design chops flex best when working on brand design, both digital and print marketing and advertising, and her true love puzzling together large publications.  

Crystal has grown her network nationally and internationally, recognized by Print Magazine for her magnetic qualities and recently was part in winning two awards at the 2021 Reed Design Awards for her work on the Jyoti Gondek for Mayor Campaign in Calgary. 

After years of working with multiple clients, Crystal has learned that the challenge for a designer is to collaborate with a client’s vision while also ensuring the brand vision is respected with professional design standards.

CRYSTALINK.CA

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Meet Ayesha Chughtai in episode 35 of Ellected. Ayesha and host Sarah Elder-Chamanara cover a lot of ground going all the way to when they first met during the federal election in 2015 when Ayesha was a regional organizer for the Liberal Party of Canada and Sarah was volunteering on her first campaign after stepping away from politics as a staffer in 2012.

Ayesha and Sarah talk politics, Ayesha's move from working as a regional organizer in Alberta to working in Ottawa, the work-life balance or lack thereof in the life of a staffer and the absolute need and importance of having radicalized people in politics and so much more.

More about Ayesha Chughtai:
Ayesha Chughtai most recently served as in Prime Minister of Canada's Office as regional adviser for the Prairies and North and now works as the manager, public policy (government lead) with Deloitte's The Future of Canada Centre. The Centre facilitates an exploration of new ideas, viewpoints, and insights about our country’s most important national issues, with the aim of helping propel Canada into a new age of growth and competitiveness.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 40 of Ellected features Lisa Naylor, Manitoba NDP MLA for the downtown Winnipeg riding of Wolseley. 

More about Lisa Naylor:

Lisa has represented the people of Wolseley as the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) Ward 4 Trustee since 2014, serving as vice-chair and chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee and on the Executive of the Manitoba School Boards Association.

Lisa is known for being accessible and accountable to her community and as a tireless defender of comprehensive public school funding.

Lisa is a feminist activist who has worked in front-line social services and community health organizations for thirty years. She started her career as a street outreach worker in Toronto and worked as a counsellor with sexually exploited youth before moving to Winnipeg to work as a counsellor and health educator at Women’s Health Clinic. Lisa has also been an active volunteer in the community and has served as a director on the board of the University of Winnipeg Student Association Day Care and Klinic Community Health Centre.

Lisa is a passionate advocate who has made countless contributions to policy and public awareness on issues that impact youth mental health and well-being. Lisa has long been an activist for reproductive health, LGBTQ2S* rights, and other social justice issues. As a trustee, Lisa introduced WSD's groundbreaking policy for the protection and inclusion of trans, queer, Two-Spirit, and non-binary students and staff.

Lisa is committed to a just and equitable society where everyone is treated with compassion and has access to opportunities. Her advocacy efforts and political service are a natural extension of her mental health work. She knows that addressing poverty, colonialism, racism, and other inequities is the path to a healthy, thriving community. Well-being for all includes addressing the climate crisis with the urgency it demands to find sustainable solutions that develop green technologies and green jobs.

Lisa has lived with her family in Wolseley for twenty years.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Has anyone ever told you are about to lose a campaign but that it's ok because they think you should run for something else, something even bigger? That's what happened to Carla Qualtrough, Member of Parliament for Delta and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion in the lead up to the 2015 federal election. Hear from Minister Carla Qualtrough about how she got into politics, her work in her portfolio, even about some of the changes being made in the renovation to Centre Block and the House of Commons in Ottawa more accessible and how barriers and biases in and out of politics are harmful to people with disabilities and why it has to change.

More about Minister Carla Qualtrough:
The Honourable Carla Qualtrough was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Delta in 2015. She has served as Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion since 2019. Minister Qualtrough has previously served as Minister of Accessibility, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities.

A successful lawyer, dedicated volunteer, and Paralympic swimmer, Minister Qualtrough is a strong advocate for Delta, with a commitment to addressing inequality and championing diversity.

Committed to equity and inclusion, Minister Qualtrough has practised human rights law at the federal and provincial levels. She chaired the Minister’s Council on Employment and Accessibility in British Columbia, and was an adjudicator with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal. Minister Qualtrough has been visually impaired since birth.

Passionate about the power of sport and physical activity to change lives, Minister Qualtrough has volunteered locally, nationally, and internationally, including with the International Paralympic Committee and for the Toronto 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games. She has been President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Chair of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. She was also on the Board of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, and was Vice-Chair of the Delta Gymnastics Society.

As an athlete, Minister Qualtrough won three Paralympic and four World Championship medals.

Minister Qualtrough has degrees in political science from the University of Ottawa and in law from the University of Victoria. Among many awards for her work, she has been named one of Canada’s Most Influential Women in Sport numerous times, and received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

"Hello, please hold for the Prime Minister." Can you imagine getting that call because it would be one to remember forever. Someone who will remember it forever is Karen Sorensen, who had it happen a year ago when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called and told her she would be Alberta's newest senator. Hear more about Senator Sorensen's journey to the senate, from the mountains of Banff to Canada's chamber of sober second thought in episode 43 of Ellected with host Sarah Elder-Chamanara of Madame Premier.

More about Senator Karen Sorensen:
Karen Sorensen is an accomplished community leader with experience working with all orders of government and the private sector.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Sorensen was serving her third term as Mayor of Banff. She previously served as a municipal councillor for six years and as a school board trustee for four years. After a successful 25 year career in the hotel industry in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, she founded Catalyst Enterprises Consulting in 2000, providing customer service and sales training in the hospitality industry, and sharing her expertise as a keynote speaker.

At the municipal level, Ms. Sorensen served as Chair of the Town of Banff’s Governance and Finance Committee and on the Banff Lake Louise Tourism Board. She also contributed to the town’s Environmental Master Plan, Community Plan and participated in the creation of the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission. In addition, she supported her community through the Alberta flood of 2013, the wildfires across the province in 2017, and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Sorensen also co-chaired the Bow Valley Human-Wildlife Coexistence Round Table and served on the Regional Transit Commission, Bow Valley Regional Housing, Banff’s Assessment Review Board, Banff’s Development Appeal Board and the Banff Heritage Corporation.

In 2005, Ms. Sorensen was named Alberta Centennial Ambassador. She is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and YWCA Banff 2019 Woman of Distinction Award.

Ms. Sorensen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Guelph.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 45 of Ellected is a conversation with one my favourite union activists, Tiffany Balducci. Tiffany is an extremely dedicated union member and leader in Ontario and the backstory of how she became so involved, a leader, at such a young age is both anger inducing but also inspiring. 

More about Tiffany Balducci:
Originally from the United States, Tiffany Balducci has been involved in union activism at some capacity since she was a steward at a public library system in Flint, Michigan at fourteen years old.

Tiffany is the 2nd Vice President of CUPE Ontario and President of Durham Northumberland CUPE Council.  Tiffany loves advocating for strong public services, feminist grassroots and community organizing, fair working conditions and wages, human rights and social and climate justice. She is an organizer with Green Jobs Oshawa and cohost of The CUPE Cast podcast on the labour movement.

Tiffany is a new mom, enjoying parental leave alongside these volunteer roles.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

The ongoing Hockey Canada scandal, the most important sports organization in the nation, using player dues to pay individuals who have made sexual assault allegations of players has completely disrupted the status of hockey in Canada and for very good reason. Hockey culture is problematic and for a lot of reasons. In this episode Tara Sloane, the former co-host of Hometown Hockey, and I discuss the scandal and how the organization has responded. 

More about Tara Sloane:

Growing up a hockey fan, Tara Slone first professionally pursued her passion for music, becoming the lead singer of the Juno-nominated rock group Joydrop, and as a finalist on the hit CBS series Rockstar: INXS. Tara also has a lengthy acting resume, having appeared in dozens of films and television shows.

When looking for the next step in her career, Tara jumped at the opportunity to work at a small TV station in Toronto, and it became clear that moving from interviewee to interviewer gave Slone a unique perspective with her interview subjects. Tara’s next stop was as the host of Breakfast Television Calgary, where she spent five years. It was there that was given the opportunity to work in the world of sports, acting as a regular contributor to Sportsnet, covering the WHL and CIS hockey, curling, soccer, and bobsleigh.

Slone currently co-hosts the groundbreaking NHL broadcast Rogers Hometown Hockey alongside Ron MacLean, and helms the weekly Sportsnet series Top of [HER] Game, focussing on stories of empowered women in the world of sports. Tara is also a 2020 Canadian Screen Award nominee for her work on the CityTV music program Budweiser Stage at Home.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 47 is a conversation with former councillor for the Township of Esquimalt, Dr. Jane Vermeulen.

More about Dr. Jane Vermeulen:

Dr Jane Vermeulen is a veterinarian, former Councillor for the Township of Esquimalt (2018-2022), military spouse, mother and founder of Vets for Pets- Victoria. Jane has been involved in politics for over 20 years, starting as a "door knocker" for a federal candidate. She has worked on campaigns at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. She has also been active on her local Electoral District Associations and National Policy Committee.  Jane was the primary organizer for Women's Campaign School (2015, 2016) with the Canadian Women's Voters Congress and has seen several of the graduates successfully campaign to all levels of elected government, including leading a provincial party. 

In July 2022, Jane moved to South Carolina with her family to advance her career as a veterinarian and is now the Medical Director for the South Caroline Veterinary Specialists & Emergency Care.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

The Green Party of Canada is in the midst of a leadership race to replace its former leader Annamie Paul, the first Black and Jewish woman to ever lead a political party in Canada, with two individuals and two co-candidates in the race (even this is complicated). One of those individuals is Sarah Gabrielle Baron and she joins Ellected's host Sarah Elder-Chamanara in a very upfront conversation about some of the issues the federal Green's are dealing with right now and her thoughts and ideas on how to move forward.

More about Sarah Gabrielle Baron:

Sarah Gabrielle Baron (SGB) is a teacher, business woman, and writer from Manitoulin Island, Ontario. She uses the pronouns she/her.

Sarah holds a B.A. in Politics and Indigenous Studies from Trent University, and her B.Ed. was attained through the Indigenous Teacher’s Education Program at Kenjgewin Teg and Queen’s University. She teaches all grades, from Kindergarten to adult, with specialization in Indigenous Studies, co-op education and Special Education.

As a creative writer, Sarah focuses on poetry, short stories and screenplays. Themes of feminism and environmentalism run throughout her work. As a small business owner, Sarah ran a small resort on Manitoulin Island for twenty years, and today she assists other small business owners and individuals with taxes and organization.

Sarah has spent the past two years learning about the nuclear power industry in Canada and globally. Sarah exposes truths for Canadians in her podcast, RADIOACTIVE on Anchor.fm, where she interviews regular Canadians living in neighborhoods with radioactive legacies.

Sarah’s political activities have always been housed within the Green Party of Canada family. She ran in 2006, started an EDA that year, and continues to act as Official Agent for federal Green candidates and Financial Agent for provincial Green candidates.

Sarah advocates for the arts, for Indigenous-led self-government evolution, for protection of minority rights, and for societal development that honours the realities of climate change that future generations will endure.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In episode 48 of Ellected you get to hear a conversation that wouldn't have happened in 2009. That's the year BC NDP MLA Michelle Mungall was first elected to the BC Legislature in opposition and that was also almost two years into my time as a staffer for the then BC Liberal government. We played on different political teams but now we are talking about Michelle's time in opposition and government, about her being the first woman and person to ever bring their child on to the floor of the BC Legislature and the book she's now in the midst of writing that has the working title of 'Minister Mom.'

More about Michelle Mungall:

In 2002, Michelle was the youngest person ever elected to Nelson city council, and seven years later, at age 31, Michelle became the first woman elected as MLA in Nelson-Creston for the BC NDP in 2009 and was re-electedin 2013 and 2017.

Michelle served as the Official Opposition Opposition spokesperson for social development, Caucus Deputy House Leader, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness and Minister for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. 

Michelle now works in the private sector and is working on her first book. She and her family live in Nelson, BC.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Episode 49 is unlike any other so far - it's a candid and free-flowing conversation with Sarah Biggs, the co-principal of Olsen and Biggs, a political affairs firm based in Alberta.

Sarah and host Sarah Elder-Chamanara focus their conversation on Alberta politics discussing Biggs's  work for former UCP leadership contestant Leela Aheer, what they both find frustrating and disappointing about with Premier Danielle Smith's leadership and more.  They also discuss how they each channel their anger and frustration and leave listeners with a call to action - vote.

More about Sarah Biggs:

Since 2004, Sarah Biggs has been working on a multitude of campaigns. Party Leaderships, federal, provincial and municipal campaigns. From Parliament Hill to Alberta, Sarah has gained a wealth of knowledge 

Sarah is campaign manager for UCP leadership candidate Leela Aheer, and recently worked as a key organizer on Jyoti Gondek’s successful mayoral bid.

Having extensive experience in lobbying, policy, community engagement, oil and gas industry, Sarah is able to provide services in french and english. Having an accounting background, she also has experience in merger and acquisition, capital projects and campaign finances.

Educated at Universite de l’Outaouais and the University of Lethbridge, Sarah brings a fresh and bold approach to campaigns. Viability, sustainability and understanding the electorate/clientele is key to her approach.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

50 episodes of Ellected! And what an episode to share to mark the milestone - a conversation with the Premier of the North West Territories Caroline Cochrane.

In this episode of Ellected, Premier Cochrane shares some very personal stories of her youth including be homeless as a teenager and young mother with a grade nine education. Premier Cochrane is very deliberate and intentional in her actions and her advocacy to see more people, more women, more Indigenous people, more improvised people in politics because, as you hear often on Ellected, it matters who is at the decision making tables because they will bring all of their experiences with them and that means better decision making. This episode left me feeling inspired, challenged and optimistic and I hope it does the same for you.

More about Premier Caroline Cochrane:

Caroline Cochrane was re-elected to the 19th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly representing the constituency of Range Lake. Ms. Cochrane was first elected to the 18th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in 2015. During the 18th Assembly, Ms. Cochrane was also elected as a Member of Cabinet and held the positions of Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Minister of Public Works and Services, Minister Responsible for Addressing Homelessness, and  Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.  After a Cabinet shuffle on April 4, 2018, Ms. Cochrane was appointed as the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and retained the portfolio as Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. Ms. Cochrane was also a member of the Special Committee to Increase the Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly.

Ms. Cochrane is especially proud of her work, through successful engagement with residents, to restructuring the philosophies, policies, and programs of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation into attaining overall goals to assist residents to obtain, retain, and maintain their homes. As well, Minister Cochrane led the work to begin the implementation of the first 9-1-1 service in the NWT and continues to lead the Campaign Schools for Women to promote and support women being elected to all levels of government.

Ms. Cochrane is of Métis descent, holds a degree in Social Work, and has twenty years’ experience in administration and direct service provision within accredited agencies that support high risk families. She has developed and facilitated workshops on topics related to parenting, child development, a variety of “train the trainer” and facilitation/service provisions. She has also trained community health workers to conduct developmental assessments for children.

Ms. Cochrane and her partner, Rory, have a blended family of adult children and one grandchild. They look forward to their future generations enjoying the benefits the north has provided to them both. She is excited to be able to work towards ensuring a healthy, prosperous, sustainable future for the generations to come.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In Episode 51 Ellected’s host Sarah Elder-Chamanara sat down for an in-person conversation with Sabrina Grover, fresh off her win as Mark Sutcliffe’s campaign manager in the hotly contested Ottawa mayoral elections. 

Sabrina and Sarah talk about the Ottawa campaign, including what you need to do to win outside of party politics, how talking with people you don’t agree with can be a good thing, why elections aren’t won on Twitter, the long overdue participation of women in colour in lead campaign roles and so much more. 

More about Sabrina Grover:
Sabrina is an experienced advocacy, policy and communications professional who has worked extensively with civil society and youth.

Sabrina previously worked in Government Relations with the Calgary Real Estate Board and then the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), focusing on government affairs and legislation related to housing at all levels of government.Sabrina’s work focused on developing policies that protect and support home owners, and effectively considered land-use, and created an enabling environment along the housing continuum. 

Sabrina has also worked extensively in provincial politics in Alberta prior to the dissolution of the PC Party of Alberta, where she focused on campaigns, youth engagement, and media relations. Sabrina’s media experience has been primarily focused on political engagement. Sabrina served as the communications and media lead as part of her role on the Board of Directors for a provincial political party in Alberta between 2015 and 2017, including leading on media engagement for the party leadership convention. Sabrina also served as the media and communications lead as a part of a local campaign in Calgary in the 2017 municipal elections. 

Sabrina participated in electoral missions in Zimbabwe in 2018 and in Sri Lanka in 2019 as part of the Commonwealth Observer Group. Sabrina’s work included meeting with members of civil society organisations, women’s groups, youth groups, and political representatives. Sabrina contributed extensively to the Electoral Observation Mission reports and lead authorship on the sections on participation and inclusion. These included detailing the barriers to electoral participation for women and youth, as well as making recommendations to the government on changes to make participation more inclusive, socially cohesive and accessible. 

Sabrina has also served as the co-chair of the Youth 7 (Y7) summit, which serves as the formal side engagement to the G7 as part of Canada's 2018 G7 presidency. Sabrina spent over 10 years working in developing programs for youth academic conferences focused on the United Nations in Calgary, Seattle, Portland and New York. 

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Content Warning - This episode contains discussions of sexual assault.

In Ellected Ep. 52 host Sarah Elder-Chamanara talks with victim advocate Kristin Raworth about her article in The Line titled Sexual Violence Survivors Are Still Being Let Down.

Kristin and Sarah talk about what it means for Prime Minister Trudeau to call himself and his government "feminist", what the #MeToo movement meant to Kristin, Hockey Canada, the Canadian military, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, toxic masculinity and more but most of all, the lack of action in all ways in ending violence against women.

More about Kristin Raworth:

Kristin Raworth is a sexual violence survivor, an advocate for survivors in Alberta, and a civil servant.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Welcome to a special Alberta provincial election edition of Ellected with your host Sarah Elder-Chamanara and special guest to the podcast Sarah Biggs.

In what will be a weekly podcast leading up to Election Day on May 29th, Sarah and Sarah talk through their thoughts on the first week, Danielle Smith being MIA, the Calgary arena deal, Danielle S mith's newly unearthed comments equating vaccinated Albertans with followers of Hitler during World War 2, the ongoing fire situation and more.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

More about Sarah Biggs:

Since 2004, Sarah Biggs has been working on a multitude of campaigns. Party Leaderships, federal, provincial and municipal campaigns. From Parliament Hill to Alberta, Sarah has gained a wealth of knowledge 

Sarah was campaign manager for 2022 UCP leadership candidate Leela Aheer, and recently worked as a key organizer on Jyoti Gondek’s successful 2021 mayoral bid.

Having extensive experience in lobbying, policy, community engagement, oil and gas industry, Sarah is able to provide services in french and english. Having an accounting background, she also has experience in merger and acquisition, capital projects and campaign finances.

Educated at Universite de l’Outaouais and the University of Lethbridge, Sarah brings a fresh and bold approach to campaigns. Viability, sustainability and understanding the electorate/clientele is key to her approach. Sarah is a regular contributor to the podcast The Breakdown, and has appeared on Radio Canada and CBC News Network.

Welcome to a the second special Alberta provincial election edition of Ellected with your host Sarah Elder-Chamanara and special guest to the podcast Sarah Biggs.

In this halfway point recap of the Alberta election campaign, Sarah and Sarah go over the debate, polling, the ongoing issue that is Artur Pawlowski, they do a check-in on where the NDP and UCP are going into the last week (hurrah!), advance voting and more.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

More about Sarah Biggs:

Since 2004, Sarah Biggs has been working on a multitude of campaigns. Party Leaderships, federal, provincial and municipal campaigns. From Parliament Hill to Alberta, Sarah has gained a wealth of knowledge 

Sarah was campaign manager for 2022 UCP leadership candidate Leela Aheer, and recently worked as a key organizer on Jyoti Gondek’s successful 2021 mayoral bid.

Having extensive experience in lobbying, policy, community engagement, oil and gas industry, Sarah is able to provide services in french and english. Having an accounting background, she also has experience in merger and acquisition, capital projects and campaign finances.

Educated at Universite de l’Outaouais and the University of Lethbridge, Sarah brings a fresh and bold approach to campaigns. Viability, sustainability and understanding the electorate/clientele is key to her approach. Sarah is a regular contributor to the podcast The Breakdown, and has appeared on Radio Canada and CBC News Network.

In this episode of Ellected, Sarah chats with Julia Anderson, the CEO of Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health (CanWaCH), a membership organization of more than 100 Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOS), academic institutions, health professional associations and individuals partnering to improve health outcomes for women and children in more than 1,000 communities worldwide.

Julia and Sarah discuss the work of CanWaCH, how the organization came to be under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the current government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, why the work of international investment in the areas of women's and children's health is critically important and what Julia sees as the top ongoing global threat to the health of women and children globally.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

More about Julia Anderson:

Julia Anderson is the CEO of Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health (CanWaCH), a membership organization of more than 100 Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOS), academic institutions, health professional associations and individuals partnering to improve health outcomes for women and children in more than 1,000 communities worldwide.

In this episode of Ellected, your Host Sarah Elder-Chamanara speaks with Kate McKenzie, the co-director of the film The Secret Marathon, the true story of women training and running a marathon in Afghanistan.

The majority of the women's world take running for granted. Why? Because we run when we want, in whatever dress we want and where we want for the most part. Women in Afghanistan? Running is something that wasn't allowed for a very long time  and the short window in which it was allowed has closed yet again. Hear Sarah and Kate speak about how The Secret Marathon came to be from an idea in Calgary to filming during one of the few public marathons that women were allowed to take part in Afghanistan before the return of the Taliban last year.

You can watch The Secret Marathon here.

Find out more about The Secret 3K here.

More about Kate McKenzie:

Kate McKenzie is Director & Founder of Worldviews Productions, a digital media production company specializing in stories of hope and innovation through a constructive journalism approach. Her most recent project is the feature length documentary film The Secret Marathon which premiered at Cinéfest Sudbury to a sold our crowd, followed by the Edmonton International Film Festival, also to a sold out crowd, where it won the Audience Choice Award for best documentary. The film has also inspired The Secret 3K, an annual run/walk in more than 27 locations across Canada and around the world to promote gender equality and safe and inclusive spaces. Kate is also the Manager of ATB X a business accelerator  where Kate helps businesses achieve growth. As a published author, exhibiting fine artist and professional public speaker, Kate is passionate about sharing meaningful stories across a variety of mediums. Her TEDx talk about the Power of Positive News has had over 11,000 views. Kate has a Masters in Digital Media from Ryerson University and a Bachelors in Education with a specialization in experiential learning from the University of Lethbridge. 

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In episode 57 of Ellected, learn about Campaign University, a new initiative for anyone discontent with the current state of politics and interested in running or getting involved.  Created and run by three political veterans, former Vancouver city councillor George Affleck and veteran campaigners Mike Wilson and Emile Scheffel, they are disrupting the status quo of politics by telling you exactly how things work.

More about George Affleck:

George Affleck won his first election by doing his own marketing and was able to secure his seat despite a poor performance by his  party. In his 20 years in public office, media, and marketing, he learned what it takes to handle pressure. He's focused on helping you win, having walked through the challenges of being a candidate and public servant firsthand, and come out on the other side with a passion to help others do the same.

George was elected into public office in 2011 and served two terms as a city councillor in Vancouver and is the president and CEO of Curve Communications.

More about Mike Wilson:

Mike is the CEO of In Language Advertising, a full service campaign and public policy advertising agency. He is an expert at building and driving large-scale campaigns and narratives that move public opinion. Mike is also the Principal at Dampier Consulting - A strategic communications consultancy. Mike brings high level strategic thinking to his work.

Recently, Mike has been involved in working to get good people in to politics and restoring needed public policy victories for clients throughout North America. Mike worked on Christy Clark’s leadership campaign in 2011 and then moved in to the BC government where he managed polling and advertising leading up to the 2013 election. During the 2013 election Mike helped manage the multicultural advertising for the campaign. From 2013-2107, in addition to his corporate work, Mike managed polling and advertising within the BC Government bringing systems, financial controls and campaign measurement in to the bureaucracy.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In episode 58 of Ellected Sarah speaks with Independent Senator Kim Pate on the trip she made along with three other Canadian representatives as part of a civil society delegation that visited north eastern Syria in the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to meet with Canadian men, women and children in detention camps and prisons for suspected members of ISIS.

Senator Pate and Sarah discuss the senator's trip as well as the complicated human and political aspects around the administration of justice, due process, citizenship, the ongoing threats of radicalization in the camps and prisons but also here at home.

More about Senator Kim Pate:

Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost, the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent nearly 40 years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized — particularly imprisoned youth, men and women.

Senator Pate graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 with honours in the Clinical Law Programme and has completed post graduate work in the area of forensic mental health. She was the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) from January 1992 until her appointment to the Senate in November 2016. CAEFS is a federation of local societies who provide services and work in coalition with Aboriginal women, women with mental health issues and other disabling conditions, young women, visible minority and immigrant women, poor women and those isolated and otherwise deprived of potential sources of support. Prior to her work with CAEFS, she worked with youth and men in a number of capacities with the local John Howard Society in Calgary, as well as the national office. She has developed and taught Prison Law, Human Rights and Social Justice and Defending Battered Women on Trial courses at the Faculties of Law at the University of Ottawa, Dalhousie University and the University of Saskatchewan. She also occupied the Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2014 and 2015.

Kim Pate is widely credited as the driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. During the Inquiry, she supported women as they aired their experiences and was a critical resource and witness in the Inquiry itself. She also persuaded the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to initiate the Self-Defence Review and appoint the Honourable Madam Justice Lynn Ratushny to review the convictions and sentences of women jailed for using lethal force to defend themselves and/or their children against abusive men. She then worked tirelessly in pursuit of the implementation of the many positive recommendations from both. Senator Pate has been instrumental in building coalitions across the country with other equality-seeking women’s, anti-racism, anti-poverty and human rights groups and organizations; and, in this capacity, has worked with feminist legal scholars, lawyers, other professionals and front-line advocates and activists — from Indigenous communities to transition house and rape crisis centre workers.

Senator Pate strongly believes that the contributions of women who have experienced marginalization, discrimination and oppression should be recognized and respected and she seeks to credit and empower women. She maintains contact with women in prison through her numerous visits to Canada’s federal prisons and strongly encourages other advocates, scholars, service providers, judges and parliamentarians to ground their efforts in a similar way.

Read the report on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Alberta Post- Secondary Education here.

More about the Council of Alberta University Students:

Represents over 114,000 undergraduate students from the University of Alberta, the University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal University, MacEwan University, and Athabasca University to the public, government and other post-secondary education stakeholders. Based in Edmonton, CAUS is a non-partisan and active advocacy group driven by their members looking to ensure a fully accessible and high quality system of education in Alberta.

The board is comprised of representatives from of our member Student association/Student unions. Each institution provides two delegates to our board; most often this is the Vice-President External and the President.

More about Chris Beasley:

Chris Beasley (He/They) is the Chair of the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS) as well as the Vice President External of the University of Alberta Students Union. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and was the former President of the University of Alberta's Arts Undergraduate Society, OASIS. He has previously worked as the Communications Coordinator for CAUS, as a Page in the Legislature, and as a Legislature Tour Guide. His passions include Get Out The Vote initiatives, the student voice, and caring about communities.

More about Rachele Preston:

Rachele Preston (she/her) is the Vice President External for the University of Lethbridge Students' Union. She is currently completing a combined degree in General Science and Mathematics Education. She has been involved in student leadership in various ways for most of her undergraduate studies, including being the Vice President Internal for the University of Lethbridge's Education Undergraduate Society, as well as previously serving as the Faculty of Education Student Representative on the ULSU General Assembly. She is passionate about teaching, creating safe and accessible education, icebreaker questions, as well as Robert's Rules of Order.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Housing, housing, housing. It’s a hot topic across Canada as we struggle with affordability, inflation and access to housing. This week Calgary City Council will chose between action on housing or the status quo and in episode 59 of Ellected, Calgary city councillor Kourtney Penner joins the podcast to talk about the decision she and her colleagues face in accepting or rejecting an 80 point plan to address the housing crisis. It’s one of the 80 recommended points in the report to update a type of zoning in certain areas to allow for more types of housing and instead of being widely applauded as innovative, some of council are rejecting the change in favour of small tweaks that won’t result in broad change. Councillor Penner walks you through what’s coming this week as well as the why and the what happens next.

More about Kourtney Penner:

Kourtney Penner was elected councillor for Ward 11 in the Calgary General Election on Oct. 18, 2021.

Kourtney Penner has roots and chose to live in Ward 11 with her family. As a community-minded leader she believes it is important to support community-building initiatives. With a strong value in relationship building, she knows projects succeed when we choose a mindset of working together, approaching challenges to find balanced, positive outcomes, and by using data to support decision making.

As a mom with school aged children and parents and grandparents in the city, Kourtney knows neighbourhoods need to balance the needs of residents across the stages of their lives. As a leader in the technology sector, she knows a thriving economy is vital to the city and creating a sustainable future is important to our global position.

As part of Kourtney’s practice with all the organizations she has served – she has brought this mindset to the table and continually asks these questions:

How can we positively affect (or least harm) the most amount of people?

What opportunities exist for different groups to come together to create the most desirable outcome which may involve compromise?

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

Allie Blades of Mash Strategies and Political Capital  panelist joins host Sarah Elder-Chamanara to recap the federal Conservative Party convention in  Quebec City with breakout discussions on the pop-up appearances by two Liberal government ministers and some of the policies passed by those in attendance.

In Ellected Ep. 62 join Sarah in conversation with Orit Sulitzeanu, the exectuvite director of The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, about the sexual violence committed on October 7th in Israel.

Hear about what happened on October 7th from a leader committed to combating sexual violence on a daily basis in Israel who now educates the world on what took place that day.

To learn more about The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, please click here.

More about Orit Sulitzeanu:
Orit has served as executive director of the ARCCI since 2013. She has more than twenty years of experience in the fields of communications, public relations and managing public campaigns mainly concerning the status of women and the struggle to end violence against women. For over a decade she served as the Spokeswoman and director of the public relations department of Hebrew University, and before that she served as the Spokeswoman for the Israel Women's Network. Orit has a rich record of activities for the advancement of women in a variety of issues: the advancement of women in politics, the struggle against trafficking women, advancing the rights of Agunot and delayed divorce, the struggle to end violence against women, and the advancement of women in academia. Orit has a BA with honors from Hebrew University in East Asian Studies. She has two masters' degrees which she finished with honors in Non-Profit Administration and Communications from Hebrew University. Orit's thesis examined the influence of non-profits on the struggle against the trafficking of women in Israel. She is on the executive board of the non-profit "Kol HaIsha". She volunteered in a women's shelter in Jerusalem as part of the project "Noam", at the hotline for foreign workers, and at the Jerusalem rape crisis center in the education department and the hotline.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In Ep. 63 of Ellected join host and founder of Madame Premier Sarah Elder-Chamanara in discussion with Calgary City Councillor, former Olympian and mom Jasmine Mian in a discussion on the city's remote work policy for council members in response to a staff recommendation to change council’s code of conduct and procedure bylaws to limit councillors’ ability to tune in to meetings virtually because of how some members of council abused the policy. Mian introduced an amendment to make sure councillors are able to continue to work remotely as protected grounds of the Alberta Human Rights Act.

Also up for discussion in this episode with Mian and Elder-Chamanara are how we need more women, parents and diversity in politics and how we can better prepare women for the job of elected office knowing that the environment is highly toxic.

"I am the first woman to have a baby while in office here and that's for a reason: because the job hasn't largely been accessible, and so I think it's thinking about how do we make it so that city hall actually looks like the people we represent," Calgary City Councillor Jasmine Mian

More about Jasmine Mian:
Jasmine Mian was elected Councillor for Ward 3 in the Calgary General Election on Oct. 18, 2021. She is the youngest woman ever elected to Calgary City Council.

A second-generation Canadian, Councillor Mian holds Masters degrees in Public Policy and Psychology and has worked in both the private and public sectors. She represented Canada in the sport of wrestling at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

Councillor Mian is passionate about pedestrian and road safety due to being struck by a driver when she was only four years old. She completed her Master's thesis on pedestrian safety and continues to advocate for safer streets.  

Her other priorities include addressing the climate emergency, downtown revitalization/economy, and improving transportation in Ward 3. She' s remained active in her community through volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters. 

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In the first ever episode of Ellected recorded in-front of a live  audience,  host Sarah Elder-Chamanara sits down with NDP MLA and leadership candidate Rakhi Pancholi for the first in a series of podcasts with all of the candidates running to be the next leader of the Alberta NDP.

Hear from Rakhi about why she's running, her thoughts on "lending" votes to the Alberta NDP in the 2023 provincial election campaign, the return of hope and optimism in Alberta politics, her plans for all day kindergarten, the upcoming launch of her climate policies and so much more. 

This episode was recorded in-front of a live audience at Madame Premier in Calgary on Sunday, March 3, 2024.

More about Rakhi Pancholi:
Rakhi Pancholi is a two-term MLA, lawyer and mom who’s committed to building a future full of opportunity for Alberta.

She began her legal career at a prestigious Bay Street firm, leading to almost a decade of experience in senior advisory roles for the Government of Alberta in the ministries of Education and Justice. Before running for office she also worked in private practice as a senior lawyer at a major Alberta law firm, where she specialized in labour and employment law.

Her passion for building a brighter future and better world led her to the University of Alberta, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a law degree from the University of Toronto.

Rakhi lives in South Edmonton with her husband, Owen, her two school-aged children, and her rescue dog Duke.

To learn more about Rakhi's campaign, visit https://www.voterakhi.ca/

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

In the second live episode of Ellected in this special series of conversations with the Alberta NDP leadership candidates, host Sarah Elder-Chamanara sits down with MLA Kathleen Ganley. 

*Please note that due to a very unfortunate internet issue when recording, the recording cuts off abruptly.*

Hear Kathleen discuss the entry of Nenshi into the race, her focus on the economy and how that the economy is what will win the Alberta NDP the next election in 2027, what the membership tent would like under her leadership, caucus management and much, much more.

More about Kathleen Ganley:

Kathleen Ganley is the MLA for Calgary-Mountain View. She served as Alberta's Minister of Justice and Solicitor General from 2015 to 2019, where she focused on progressive reforms. Before her political career, she worked in law, specializing in labour, employment and human rights.

Kathleen holds a doctor of law (JD) from the University of Calgary and degrees in Philosophy and Psychology. Kathleen lives in Calgary with her daughter.

To learn more about Kathleen's campaign, click here.

More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:

Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.

The third in Ellected's series of live podcasts with the candidates running to replace Rachel Notley as the leader of the Alberta NDP. This episode features MLA Sarah Hoffman in her unabashed quest to win the race to take on Danielle Smith and the UCP in the 2027 provincial election.

Listen to Sarah Hoffman share her very transparent to run on a campaign of being authentically herself to get a mandate to lead the Alberta NDP. Sarah shares her three campaign policy priorities of healthcare, climate and housing and why each is important.

We talk about who will have her phone number (it won't be David Parker of Take Back Alberta), her record of winning elections against incumbents, where she is on the political spectrum and more in this episode.

More about MLA Sarah Hoffman:

Sarah Hoffman grew up in Kinuso, a small rural community, where her dad was the school principal and her mom was a teacher.

Sarah earned bachelor degrees in Mathematics, Religion and Education, and a master’s degree in Education Policy. While studying, Sarah got involved in the NDP. In 2010, Rachel Notley encouraged her to run for the Edmonton Public School Board. Sarah earned 70 per cent of the vote, defeating a well-known incumbent trustee. This was the first of Sarah’s five consecutive election victories.

In 2015, Sarah defeated a Conservative cabinet minister, and won Edmonton-Glenora for the Alberta NDP for the first time. Premier Rachel Notley named her Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Sarah was re-elected in 2019 and 2023, and served as Deputy Leader of the Alberta NDP throughout that time.

To learn more about Sarah Hoffman and her campaign, click here.

The latest and most in-demand podcast yet in Ellected's series of sitting down with all of the candidates in the leadership race to replace Rachel Notley as leader of Alberta's NDP, this conversation with Naheed Nenshi goes in a lot of directions.

From joining the race, his "outsider" status, why he isn't making policy announcements, having a seat in the legislature if he wins and so much, much more.

More about Naheed Nenshi:

Naheed served as Calgary’s mayor for three terms between 2010 and 2021. During his time as mayor, Calgary was named the third best city to live in globally.

Naheed was recognized as “the best mayor in the world” in 2014 by The City Mayors Foundation. He also received the President’s Award from the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Humanitarian Award from the Canadian Psychological Association for his contribution to community mental health.

Prior to his election, Naheed served as Canada’s first tenured professor of nonprofit management at the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University. He was also a management consultant for McKinsey & Company. Headquartered in Alberta, Naheed ran his own firm: Ascend Group. His clients included the United Nations and he advised on how corporations can help the world’s poorest people.

Naheed is a graduate of the University of Calgary where he served as President of the Students’ Union. He also earned a Master of Public Policy Degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he studied as a Kennedy Fellow.

It's live episode #5 with each of the candidates running to be the next leader of the Alberta NDP and this week MLA Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse joined Sarah Elder in-store at Madame Premier to talk about her campaign.

Jodi shares why her campaign is focused on water and climate change and contextualizes it in how it relates to Alberta's economy. Hear her thoughts on what the rural strategy should be for the party going into the next election, oil and gas and renewables, attracting investment to Alberta and how she thinks Danielle Smith and the UCP can be beaten in 2027.

More about Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse:
Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Rutherford and a proud member of Michel First Nation – Treaty 6, seeks to lead the Alberta NDP and become the next Premier, emphasizing unity in facing challenges like climate change and economic security.

Her leadership approach is grounded in hard work, collaboration, and community connection, demonstrating a commitment to listen and provide decisive leadership. Jodi’s journey involves learning from elders, earning an undergraduate degree in Native Studies, and pursuing a Master’s Degree with a focus on water security.

To find out more about Jodi's campaign, click here.

In episode 70 of Ellected Sarah sits down for an in-person chat with Alberta MLA Rhiannon Hoyle for a frank conversation about her entry into politics, making the decision to jump into provincial politics, how women need to be prepared for political life to succeed and much more. Listen until the end for a very moving story about Rhiannon's encounter with a group of school kids as she walked in the legislature for the first time as an MLA.

More about Rhiannon Hoyle:

Rhiannon Hoyle is a dedicated community advocate and entrepreneur, spending the last 20 years working with nonprofits, community leagues, and in leadership roles for the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues enhancing recreational facilities for the neighbourhoods.

Before being elected as the MLA for Edmonton-South, Rhiannon spent her time partnering with local businesses and residents to understand what they need from their representative.

Rhiannon is dedicated to continue listening to her community to serve them as their MLA, and Official Opposition Critic for Advanced Education.

Rhiannon sat as a publicly elected U of A Senator, and focused on making sure schools from kindergarten to post-secondary have better resources to provide the best education possible to our young people.

Rhiannon lives with her family in one of the fastest-growing communities in Edmonton.

Edmonton City Councillor Andrew Knack and Ellected’s Sarah Elder chat about the very controversial Bill 20 which among many things introduces political parties into municipal politics, removes electronic voting in favour of paper, gives cabinet the power to remove councillors and overturn bylaws, changes what you need to vote and more. It’s a lot and it’s been done with no consultation and is being introduced by a minister who by his own admission, knows that an overwhelming majority of Albertans don’t want these changes.

Did you know that approximately half of all infertility is male infertility? I had no idea until this conversation with Ovry co-founder Jackie Rhind of Revelstoke, British Columbia.

Rhind is disrupting the sedate baby-on-the-box pregnancy test market in drug and grocery stores across Canada with the most sustainable pregnancy tests on the market not just for women who want to get a positive result but also for women who want a negative result.

Rhind is frank, passionate and committed to her vision and you will likely be just as enthralled with her as me.

More about Jackie Rhind:

Jackie Rhind is an ambitious entrepreneur looking to redefine reproductive health products in Canada. In 2020, Rhind launched Ovry with hopes of offering Canadians a better alternative to traditional pregnancy tests. Ovry is a brand of pregnancy and ovulation test strips that are just as accurate as leading brands, are tiny, discreet, much more affordable and use 90% less single-use plastic. In addition to winning Small Business BC’s Best Youth Entrepreneur award in 2023, Jackie was also recently featured on CBC’s popular TV show Dragons’ Den. Jackie is passionate about building a business that simplifies the lived experience of women and people with ovaries.

Watch Ovry on Dragons Den.

This week I’m chatting with Wraychel Gilmore, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and advocate for children and youth about her research in engaging youth in political consultation. We chat about how youth come to be consulted, a real-world example with Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae and the level of global interest in Wraychel’s work.

Learn more about Wraychel Gilmore:

Wraychel Gilmore has twenty-five years of experience in community development and strategic change. Her career spans across executive, non-profit, government, and consulting roles. Wraychel's ability to employ critical thinking and analytic skills, specifically in identifying legislative barriers and solutions in the political and systemic spheres, has been instrumental in enabling her clients and organizations to generate the social impact they aim for. 
 
Throughout her impressive career, Wraychel has worked alongside colleagues across the globe, from Jamaica to Austria, advocating politically and building strengths in community programming. Her notable contributions include piloting programs for both the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities in Ontario. Wraychel has also served in a sworn oversight capacity for the independent Office of the Child and Youth Advocate for the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. 

Wraychel's impact resonates profoundly in the realm of community development. She has overseen services and high-risk management for over 6000 youth in grass-roots programming and founded a private Montessori pre-K through secondary school. Within the public education system, Wraychel pioneered the first paid co-op program outside of the Armed Services in Canada. CBC’s Peter Mansbridge has recognized her innovative youth political engagement strategies, featuring them on his podcast, The Bridge. 

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Wraychel is currently finishing her PhD dissertation with the University of Toronto in Adult Education and Community Development. Her original research on youth political consultations is being featured in 2024 at international conferences in Miami, Sweden, Greece, and in the USA at Cornell University. She holds a Master of Arts in Religion and Culture, and multiple post-secondary certifications in social work, board governance and organizational capacity building, having trained 60+ boards. Her academic pursuits underline her commitment to continuous learning and professional development, making her an invaluable social justice advocate, strategic planner and community builder.

In episode 77 Sarah chats with Jenna Sudds, Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and MP for Kanata—Carleton. Hear Minister Sudds on dental care nationally, how it’s not rolling out in Alberta, her take on not winning the by-election in Toronto-St.Pauls, the dilemmas all parents face of teenagers on social media and misinformation from a mom herself who also sits at the cabinet table and more.

More about Jenna Sudds:

The Honourable Jenna Sudds was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Kanata—Carleton in 2021. She has previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth.

Minister Sudds has worked as an economist, a municipal councillor, and a community advocate.

From 2018 to 2021, Minister Sudds served on the Ottawa City Council. During this time, she chaired the City’s Community and Protective Services Committee and held the role of Deputy Mayor starting in 2020. She also sat on the boards of Hydro Ottawa and Invest Ottawa. As city councillor, she worked to protect green spaces, improve local infrastructure and transit, and support the community’s economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before entering politics, Minister Sudds was the Executive Director of the CIO Strategy Council, a national technology forum, and the President and Executive Director of the Kanata North Business Association. She also worked as a senior economist for the Government of Canada for over 10 years, focusing her expertise on the taxation of multi-national corporations and tax avoidance.

Minister Sudds has been an active member of her community for many years, volunteering with the Kanata Food Cupboard and Ottawa Network for Education. She has received a Special Recognition Award from the Kanata Food Cupboard for her leadership and service to those in need in the community. She received a 40 under 40 Award from the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce in 2015, and was named one of Development Counsellors International’s Top 40 under 40 working in economic development in 2017.

Minister Sudds holds a Bachelor in Economics from Brock University and a Master of Arts in Economics from Carleton University. She is a long-time resident of Ottawa, where she lives with her husband and their three daughters.

Her 19 year old sister Karina was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th and Sasha and her family are desperate for her safe return along with every other hostage taken that day.

This episode isn’t about the explicit politics of Hamas and Israel. It’s about Karina texting her sister the morning of October 7th asking her sister to look after her parents because she knew she might die.

Hear from Sasha on what individual Canadians can do to ask our government to help get Karina released safely so she can be with her family once again after almost 10 months in captivity.

In a very special episode, Ellected's host Sarah Elder sits down with Her Excellency Mary Simon, Canada's Governor General, on the 95th anniversary of Persons Day in Canada.

On October 18, 1929, Canada's highest court of appeal recognized women as 'persons' and granted them the right to be appointed to the Senate. The Governor General and Sarah discuss the day, the awards presented today in honour of Persons Day, what the day means to the Governor General, a discussion about where and what Canadian women must still accomplish as well as a frank conversation about the online abuse Her Excellency has received and how both she and Sarah deal with it. The episode ends with some advice from the Governor General for any woman considering public service.

To learn more about Governor General Mary Simon, please click here.

We've heard so much about Tim and Gwen Walz but do the stories match the reality? Incredibly, they are even more amazing than what we hear. Amanda Hinkle was taught by both Tim Walz and Gwen Walz at Mankato West High School in Minnesota and shares what it was like being in the classroom with each of them in the newest episode of Ellected.

The Briefing Note is the new name of what used to be known as Ellected. 

What to expect? Lots more shorter podcasts on politics and culture and the intersection of politics on culture and vice versa. But don't worry, the longer conversations that you know and love aren't going anywhere. They are going to be interspersed with the shorter podcasts.

You can now find The Briefing Note in the same places as before under its new name and on Instagram, Facebook and X as @TheBriefingNotePodcast.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond. 

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond. 

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond. 

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond. 

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond. 

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond.

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond.

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.

The Briefing Note with Sarah Elder from Madame Premier on politics, culture in Canada and beyond.

Thanks for listening! I'd be so appreciative if you could leave a rating and review here or wherever you get your podcasts. And join the community and conversation on Madame Premier's Instagram.