Yours truly on Bridge City News this afternoon:
Where’s Ryan
Alexandra Noad writing for the Lethbridge Herald:
Nearly two weeks after a recall petition for Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf was approved by Elections Alberta, speculation is swirling about the campaign and a total lack of action by its organizer.
Many residents in the riding, along with other Albertans, are concerned about the legitimacy of the petition since many have offered their support and assistance, only to receive radio silence from Ryan Tanner, the person whose name is on the Notice of Recall Petition.
Achieving this level of media coverage for a legitimate petition might have been a tall order but thanks to Tanner it’s all over the news. Furthermore, despite protecting him from recall, I suspect the fake petition is actually catastrophic for Neudorf’s re-election prospects.
Today’s editorial by Scott Sakatch about Tanner, the invisible man, is also worth reading.
Recall Petition has Us Frustrated
Stephen Tipper writing for the Calgary Herald:
Operation Total Recall told Postmedia Monday there have been “extremely widespread complaints” of Lethbridge-East residents being unable to sign up to canvass for the recall campaign team, and numerous people have expressed frustration in social media posts at their inability to reach applicant Ryan Tanner or his team.
The approval of that recall petition last month surprised another group who had already submitted one to Elections Alberta, said Lethbridge-East resident Jeff Milner on Monday. With Elections Alberta approving applicant Ryan Tanner’s petition, the group’s own petition was rejected.
I’m glad to see this issue getting a bit of light but I’m most interested for the verification of rumours that Tanner’s recall is taking direction from Neudorf’s office.
Stalled Recall
The Lethbridge Herald ran a front page story about the Nathan Neudorf recall petition on Saturday.
By Alexandra Noad:
A lot of local residents are expressing frustration over not being able to get involved in the recall campaign for Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf.
A recall petition for Neudorf, submitted by someone identifying themself as Ryan Tanner, has been approved by Elections Alberta, but there is very little information available on how to become part of it. A number of social media posts have been making the rounds on the topic on Facebook, Instagram and Reddit.
It’s doubly frustrating for Lethbridge East resident Jeff Milner, who is part of a group of concerned citizens who were trying to create their own recall campaign before Tanner’s petition was approved.
Milner says the group had appointed a chief financial officer and opened a bank account before filing their request for a recall with Elections Alberta. But Tanner beat them to the punch.
I would just add that there have been extensive rumors about a direct connection with Neudorf’s office coordinating this sham petition. I expect that part of the story to be breaking in bigger media outlets soon.
Someone is Worried
Choosing the Right
The petitioner to recall Nathan Neudorf is Ryan Tanner. I’ve never met him but I’ve heard he’s an elders’ quorum president at the church I used to go to.
As such, one might expect him to be a truthful sort of fellow. That doesn’t appear to be the case.
Here is a copy1 of his reasons for requesting Nathan Neudorf be recalled:
An acquaintance of mine messaged him to see if he was the same Ryan Tanner behind the recall. He confirmed that he was running the petition. When she let him know that we had also been organizing to recall Neudorf and would he like help, he said he already had a campaign manager and would check with them. She followed up with an offer to meet with us on zoom, but he didn’t respond, left her message as “read”, and then blocked her.2
Very concerning and frankly appears dishonest.
I received the following email from someone3 residing in Lethbridge-East:
I sent an email to recallneudorf@gmail.com and on Friday afternoon I received an email from Ryan Tanner stating that they were in the process of getting organized and that they would be in touch shortly to let me know how I could help.
Yesterday morning (Monday, Dec 1st), I received a second email stating that there would be a meeting for the volunteers to have us sign the forms in order to get our canvasser badges and packages. We were given the name Mike as a contact for that meeting and the meeting was today (Dec 2nd) at 8am at Tim Hortons in South Lethbridge. I was there early and right at 8am Mike shows up. A few minutes later, another woman […] came and it was just the three of us. No one else! And I know there are MANY people wanting to get involved, so this was the first suspicious thing to me. [The other woman] had some concerns about the whole thing and wasn’t willing to sign the application form until she met Ryan Tanner – who never actually came to this meeting. She was upset about this and quickly left. I then asked Mike if he had met Ryan and he said no, he didn’t know who Ryan was. And Mike didn’t even understand the recall process at all, so I explained what I knew about it to him. This was also very suspicious to me as you would think that someone volunteering to get involved would have a basic understanding of things. Then I asked him why he was involved and who asked him to come give us the forms to sign seeing has he’d never met Ryan, and he mentioned that he got a call from Sariah Seaborn of Nathan Neudorf’s office to come to this meeting to hand out papers. This completely shocked me! He then mentioned that he lived on the West Side of the city and isn’t even part of our riding.
I am 100% convinced now that there is something nefarious going on here and this recall is very likely being stalled by Nathan Neudorf’s own office members!
I understand there is someone by the name of Cheryl Seaborn who works in Nathan Neudorf’s office. I’m told she has a daughter named Sariah Seaborn. It’s awfully hard not to assume it’s the same Sariah Seaborn.
Elections Alberta called me back today about my concerns reaching Ryan via email if he was just sending back form letters but not working on actually trying to get signatures for his recall petition. She was trying to be helpful but ultimately I was left with few options besides using the contact information that was on his application and hoping he will open up communications.
- Recall applicant statement (Notice of Recall Petition) [↩]
- I actually can’t confirm she was blocked, just that she was no longer getting read receipts with further messages.[↩]
- I’m not sure they want their identity disclosed so I’m keeping them anonymous[↩]
Recall Nathan Neudorf
A lot has happened in the last week. A petition to recall Nathan Neudorf has been approved but it was not my petition.
It’s been a busy week and unfortunately I’m not prepared to say much at this time but hopefully I’ll have a substantial update soon.
Recall
Yesterday I submitted an application for recall petition from the Government of Alberta and once they receive it a seven day review period will commence. There is also a seven day period for my MLA to respond to the petition.1
I’ve been getting a tremendous response from people that want to help and we are going to need a lot of help but first we must all wait until the application has been approved and then the flood gates will open. Then the constituents of Lethbridge-East will have a chance to profess their righteous indignation at the “Honourable” Nathan Neudorf.
Thank you so much for everyone who has expressed interest in helping.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
–Labor leader Nicholas Klein in 19142
- It wasn’t clear to me if these seven days overlap.[↩]
- Not Mahatma Gandhi[↩]
A Meeting with Lethbridge East MLA Nathan Neudorf
A friend’s wife recently met with the MLA for Lethbridge East, the so-called honourable Nathan Neudorf. Here are the notes she shared on Facebook about the meeting:
Reflections from my recent Meeting with Nathan Neudorf
On November 10, I sat down with MLA Nathan Neudorf to discuss my concerns about Public Education and his vote in favour of legislating teachers back to work using the Notwithstanding Clause.
I’ll be honest—I wasn’t sure how the meeting would go. But I was grateful for the chance to speak directly with him.
During the meeting, I shared many concerns (which I will list below), but the main concern regarded the use of the Notwithstanding Clause.
Nathan’s explanation: He told me he wasn’t personally in favour of the clause, but said that “due to the Democratic Process” he had to vote yes with his party. When I pressed him, he admitted that if he voted against, he would be removed from the UCP.
My response: That’s not the Democratic Process—that’s Party Policy/Solidarity. Democracy means representing the people who not only elected you, but who are in your constituency, not simply following party orders. If Neudorf had stood up for what was right, he could have remained as an independent MLA and kept his integrity intact.
As someone who teaches about democracy and Canada’s government systems, I find it deeply troubling when elected officials confuse party loyalty with democratic responsibility.
A Quick Refresher on Democracy (for anyone who needs it. Maybe some MLA’s out there?):
• Democracy = power of the people (Greek “demos” + “kratia”).
-which Nicolaides should be aware of. Just saying.• In Canada, we use representative democracy: citizens elect MLAs to represent them, not their party bosses.
True democratic participation includes:
- Voting
- Paying taxes & jury duty
- Petitioning & protesting
- Staying informed
The Charter of Rights protects our right to protest, freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly—unless a government invokes the Notwithstanding Clause to override those rights.
Why this matters: Democracy only works if citizens are informed and engaged. Without proper funding for Public Education, we risk raising generations of voters who don’t understand their rights—or how easily those rights can be taken away.
Democracy isn’t perfect, but it gives us the power to demand change. That power is lost when elected officials put party loyalty above the people they represent.
My takeaway: I want MLAs who understand democracy, have the courage to stand up for what’s right, and who put integrity above party politics. Albertans deserve nothing less.
The Gist of My Concerns Raised with MLA Nathan Neudorf
- Government tried to strip away teachers’ pensions.
- Removed ATA’s disciplinary measures that were working.
- Rolled out a flawed curriculum with zero resources—teachers left to buy/create their own.
- Cut PUF funding for children with severe needs in public schools, but kept it for private schools.
- Changed funding models so schools aren’t funded based on actual students in classrooms.
- Forced mandatory assessments (Bill 6)
- For Kindergarten–Grade 5:
- Not designed by experts
- No diagnosis or supports provided
- 30–90 minutes per child, no funding for subs
- Kindergarten assessments required, even though KG isn’t mandatory
- Used the Notwithstanding Clause to legislate teachers back instead of bargaining in good faith.
- Undermining teachers by lowering education requirements, risking quality and salaries.
- Ignored class sizes and complexity until now, after excluding them from negotiations.
- Alberta = highest funding for private schools + lowest funding for public schools in Canada.
Bottom line: Alberta’s government is undermining teachers, underfunding public schools, and misrepresenting democracy. OUR KIDS DESERVE BETTER!
I tried to get a meeting with Nathan Neudorf myself but was told he was too booked up to meet at this time.
Rules of the Recall
The Edmonton Journal has a story by Michele Taylor called, “What you need to know about Alberta’s recall law“.
From the article:
Under the law, any eligible voter who has lived in a constituency for at least three months can apply to start a recall petition. The applicant must pay a $500 fee, show identification, and submit a statement of no more than 100 words explaining why the MLA should be recalled. The chief electoral officer, who oversees Elections Alberta, has seven days to approve or reject the application.
If approved, organizers have 90 days to gather signatures from registered voters in that constituency. Only registered local canvassers can collect signatures, and each must swear an affidavit confirming that they personally witnessed every signature. To succeed, the petition must collect valid signatures from at least 60 per cent of the voters who cast ballots in the most recent provincial election, which was changed from 40 per cent of total registered voters.
If that enormous threshold is met, Elections Alberta verifies the petition and publishes the results. The Lieutenant Governor in Council — effectively, the provincial cabinet — must then declare a recall vote within four months. If a simple majority of voters say “yes” to removing the MLA, the seat is declared vacant, and a byelection follows.
I’ve been talking with other concerned residents of Lethbridge East and learning how to enact a recall for our representative that voted to strip teachers’ charter rights away with Bill 2 when there were many other options to get teachers back in the classroom. Stay tuned.