“Albertans have spoken”
Those are the words Ed Stelmach, Alberta’s premier said after his party won 73 of the available 83 seats.
They sure have spoken. Half of Alberta voters chose someone other than PC on their ballots.
Steady Eddie will overlook that fact, however, as he pushes through his agenda unhindered.
You know, if it had been an even remotely close election I might be able to understand your post. You can hardly call it anything but a landslide.
I’ve tried to do some thinking about why it is that Albertans are so heavily Conservative. I think the federal Liberals weigh too strongly on everyone’s minds….and they just can’t go there.
Of course, then there’s the issue of the fact that less than half the population actually votes. I thought with all the immigration into Alberta we might see a bit of a change this time. Not so. I don’t think we can ignore the fact that our economy here is good and the majority of the population just doesn’t even worry about politics. Things seem to be humming along just fine and so no one questions anything.
Of course we can call it anything other than a landslide. The PC candiates received just under 53% support at the polls. Over 47% of those who came out to vote chose someone other than PC. THAT is hardly a landslide.
The PC government received as many seats as they did because half of the voters couldn’t agree on an alternative. They didn’t take all but 10 seats because they were popular.
Keep in mind that just because 60% of eligible voters didn’t vote doesn’t mean they don’t care about politics. For example, PC supporters generally stay home if they disagree with party policies rather than vote for another party.
So low voter turnout and a low popular vote says a lot about PC support in this province.
PC’s = Good news for Oil and Gas = Good economy in Alberta = I have a job.
PCs = Bad news for universities outside Calgary and Edmonton = I may not have a job.
Move to Calgary?? We’d love to have you here! :-)
Well, looking at the seats, I’d call it a landslide.
Progressive Conservative 72 seats
Liberal 9 seats
New Democratic Party 2 seats
Wildrose Alliance 0 seats
I was sorry the Wildrose Alliance didn’t make a little more headway.
As for your job – I suppose that’s how people usually look at politics – what is best for me, not for the good of the whole. That being said, is U of L cutting back? I thought school’s funding was being increased.
Re #5
Then I’d have to triple my $500 mortgage payment and increase my 10-minute commute. :)
Re: 6
That’s the problem. It isn’t just about the seats. Sure they won 10 or so more seats. But the number of seats is irrelevant to voter opinion. They won those seats because the other half who voted couldn’t agree on who to pick as an alternative.
It’d be interesting to see what the results would have been if we had an MMP system.
So Kim,
If your employment was in an industry where the current government meant more job stability instead of less, would you have a different outlook?
No. Job stability isn’t the only issue important to me. My narrow-focused comment was in response to yours. :)
I don’t think job stability should come at a cost of housing and infrastructure, for example. I certainly don’t think a government should focus on job stability in only one sector.
Many of the problems plaguing Alberta today are a direct result of uncontrolled growth in the oil sands driven by greed to fill provincial coffers. Had the growth been controlled so it was sustainable, we’d have fewer housing issues, fewer commercial space issues in Calgary, fewer infrastructure issues, and less of a worker shortage. We’d also have more long-term funding from royalties, and we would have been able to focus on diversifying the economy. The oil’s not going to be there forever.
“The oil’s not going to be there forever.”
I don’t know about that Kim, I was told yesterday by an evangelical Christian that the Rapture is due soon – within the next 50 years, he claims.
Think we have 50 years worth of oil in that sand?
If we don’t let production keep growing? Sure. If we let it keep growing? That depends.
Truly the most over-used and uninspired response he could have made. As if I needed to be reminded about how very ordinary Ed is.
The problem is there was no one else dynamic enough to take people away from a safe Eddie.
People do view the Tories as a part of Alberta and even those who dislike them said to themselves on Monday, “Aw they will win anyways.”
The reality is no one knows because the vote total was atrocious. The hard fact is unless you install an Australian style of mandidatory voting people in good times just do not care about politics.
As two different political people from different sides of the fence told me.
“You cannot kill Santa Claus.”
“If I have a job, an SUV/Truck parked in my garage and I am not suffering any real set back why would I care?”
The reality is Kevin Taft was too eggheaded and was not going to connect with people in Alberta that like their leaders a little down home.
The only way anyone is going to take the Tories out is to have a Charismatic leader, be just about the same in policy and have coalessed the majority of the opposition behind them.
The Liberals could do that as long as they change their name and get a leader who is like Lawrence Decore or Peter Lougheed, dynamic, fresh but safe.
not knowing who’s who in the Alberta political system I can’t make out if this new Premier was a good thing or bad thing?
He’s not new. He was the previous premier, but this is the first time he’s been elected in by Albertans.