Hello, my name is Jennie, and I’ll be your Edmonton-Strathcona blogger this election.  Feel free to kick off your shoes and rest your feet on the coffee table–I’ve never been much of one for formality.  There’s beer in the fridge and munchies on the table.

There are some things you might want to know about me before we begin.

As an immigrant from the U.S., I’m not a native Edmontonian, but it’s quite literally the only place I’ve ever called home.  I’ve lived here for more than eleven years now, longer than any other single place I’ve lived, and nearly ten of those have been in Edmonton-Strathcona.  I have the passion of a convert for this city, its people, and the things that make it unique.

I have been blogging as Idealistic Pragmatist since 2004, and like any blogger, I have my own little bugaboos and pet issues.  My U.S. background sometimes shows through when I complain about U.S. influences on Canadian politics.  I am an electoral reform activist, and I frequently use my other blog as a soapbox for my analysis of why our current system doesn’t work and what would work better.  I tend to prefer civility over raw anger, and rational argument over polemics.

I am also currently volunteering for the Linda Duncan campaign in Edmonton-Strathcona.

I’ve quite definitely chosen a side in this race, in other words, and I’m not going to hide that fact.  I am, however, going to do my very best to cover this race as a citizen journalist rather than as a shill for Linda Duncan.  I don’t promise to be non-partisan, but I do promise to be fair.  If at any point you don’t think I’m managing to hold myself to that standard, feel free to call me on it.

First, I’m going to write a piece about the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona, its demographics, its political history, and its current quirks.  After that, I will write one piece each on the four main parties competing in this race, their respective nomination processes, and, ultimately, their respective candidates.  I’ve been paying very close attention to what’s been going on in Edmonton-Strathcona since the day after the last election, and I think I’ve probably got some things to say that people in the riding might not be able to hear about in the mainstream media.  After that, I’ll assess the situation on the ground in the riding and take it from there.

I will do my best to make it worth your while to stick around and keep raiding my virtual fridge.