Talk:Chris Alexander (politician)

Untitled
I removed information in the "political life" section that does not pertain to the subject's political life. This content is pasted below and might be more appropriate in another section. I also removed a line stating that the candidate was running in a "battleground riding," since this term is subjective. It might be fair to cite the amount of resources political parties are devoting to this area, but simply calling it a "battleground riding" provides no context for the reader. All content I removed is pasted below.

"Alexander was married to Hedvig Christine Alexander, a former Project Manager of Peace Dividend Trust and Country Director of Turquoise Mountain in Afghanistan, on June 21, 2008 in Hellerup on the island of Funen in Denmark. In February 2009, they travelled together by car from Kabul to Moscow despite the fact that Hedvig was seven months pregnant.  Together with many other vehicles, they were stranded for a day in snowdrifts north of Aralsk.  Their daughter Selma was born in Sonderborg, Denmark in April.  Alexander left his position in UNAMA at the end of May 2009."

"In August 2009 Selma, Hedvig and Chris returned to Canada."

"He is completing a book entitled «The Long Way Back: Afghanistan's Quest for Peace» for HarperCollins, to be published in September 2011."

"As he authors a book on Afghanistan, he is also president of a small startup energy company."

"In the 2011 federal election, Alexander is running in one of the battleground ridings." Atswoyc (talk) 22:01, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

Background?
Where was he born? Despite his English-sounding name, he has a very slight accent, perhaps French Canadian. Many Canadian politicians had French as a first language growing up, but most MPs make an effort to be bilingual. Just curious, because these things are a factor in Canadian politics. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.130.17 (talk) 06:15, 17 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Article says Toronto, Ontario. Cmr08 (talk) 06:51, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

That doesn't explain his slight accent. If he grew up in Toronto with anglophone parents, maybe he doesn't have an accent, maybe just an idiosyncratic way of emphasizing some syllables. He seems like a nice fellow, whatever the case. His family is in politics. His father knew PM Joe Clark, and grandfather was a mayor. http://muskokaonline.com/Start/LocalNews/tabid/94/newsid458/5259/Son-of-Former-Huntsville-Mayor-Appointed-to-Cabinet/Default.aspx — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.130.17 (talk) 05:00, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

I would put the accent down to the fact he speaks so many languages, I beleive he spent a long time not speaking english at all, which would explain the slight accent — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.197.54.58 (talk) 19:27, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

He had a bad speech impediment as a kid for which he underwent years of speech therapy. He also suffers from Crohn's disease, which causes periodic bouts of chronic belching and gives him a distinct cadence that can give the incorrect impression that he is searching for words. I don't think that it is true that "he spent a long time not speaking English at all" - he was raised in Toronto, went to McGill, worked in Canadian and UN diplomatic offices where English would have been the primary day-to-day language. His Russian and French are good but he would never be mistaken for a native speaker of either. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:578:8513:200:99DF:5188:A30D:8FCA (talk) 07:17, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Star candidate
Since his ill-fated appearance on Power and Politics on Sep 2, 2015, numerous articles have appeared in national media noting that Alexander had been a star candidate but failed to live up to his promise, choosing instead to be a very partisan politician. I wonder what the best way to handle the lingering reference to his past "star candidate" status would be: delete as overtaken by events, or balance with an update reference to the fact that he is now widely regarded by Canadian political pundits as a failed politician? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Flashpanner (talk • contribs) 20:24, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
 * Just because he hasn't lived up to people's expectation after 4 years in office doesn't take away the fact that he was a star candidate in 2011. Newfoundlander&#38;Labradorian (talk) 21:10, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
 * The fact he was widely seen as a star candidate in 2011 given his prior diplomatic career is well sourced. His subsequent performance in the Commons doesn't change what he was perceived as in 2011. Patar knight - chat/contributions 21:25, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

Diplomat or politician?
I see that the redirect from "Chris Alexander (diplomat)" has reappeared. I wonder if this is worth deleting. His noteworthiness now rests virtually entirely on his time as a politician. He hasn't been a Canadian diplomat since resigning from the foreign service in 2005. At the time of his resignation, he was not a senior diplomat - he was an FS2, meaning he had only been promoted once, from entry level, in his 13 year career in the Canadian Foreign Service, and had not even achieved executive management level. What's the protocol here - does Bono get a redirect from (roadie), as he was before U2 got a recording contract? Is Peter Mansbridge also listed as (airport announcer), his job before the one he became famous for? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Flashpanner (talk • contribs) 19:22, 27 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Redirects are cheap and this one is both true (Alexander was a respected diplomat) and plausible. I don't see the need for action here. Patar knight - chat/contributions 23:18, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

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Post-2015 election loss activities?
It's been 3+ years now since he lost his seat, and 18 months since he lost his bid for the CPC leadership. Any information about what he has been doing since then? I'm only aware of some sporadic media appearances. SayLessHersh (talk) 00:27, 22 January 2019 (UTC)