Change? What Change?
Change…that’s been the buzzword for this election campaign. Apparently, it’s not going to be the outcome, though. We’re in for a few more years of Tory rule. The Progressive Conservative will, as a result of this election, likely reach at least 40 years of power before we have another election.
I’m really pissed off by this. No party should be in power for 4 decades. Apparently, though, Alberta doesn’t agree, as the PCs have won a very large majority government. Not only have they won more seats that during the last election (at least according to the projected results that I’m currently seeing), they’ve also won more of the popular vote.
In my own riding of Edmonton-Centre, it looks as thought incumbent Laurie Blakeman has won again. I was hoping NDP candidate Deron Bilous would win the seat, but I’ll take Laurie if I have to. I’d much rather a Liberal represent my riding than a PC.
But…no change for Alberta.
I don’t think the election results speak to the strength of the PC party but rather to the weakness of the opposition parties. When was the last time that either the Liberals or the NDP had strong leadership?
I think another big contributing factor is simply voter apathy as a result of the good economy. Even though we know there are big issues that need to be tackled, the general feeling is that things are going well in the province and the motivation to change is pretty low. I think that if the unemployment rate was high, the economy was struggling, and teachers and nurses were losing jobs that you would see greater change happening. That would also be dependent upon there being a decent opposition party that had their “you know what” together.
Bruce
7 Mar 08 at 9:20 am
I definitely have to agree with you, Bruce, especially regarding the weakness of the opposition parties.
On top of that, too many people in this province refuse to vote for anything called “Liberal” because of the National Energy Program. The irony of this, of course, is that a lot of these people weren’t even born when the NEP happened. They’ve simply heard enough bitching from the old timers that they, too, have become stubbornly opposed to the Liberal party (despite the fact that the provincial and federal parties are NOT the same thing).
I almost wonder if the Liberal party could simply change its name and do some other “re-branding” efforst over the next couple of years and, as a result of these changes, win more votes. I mean, it wouldn’t fool everyone, but a lot of people have surprisingly short memories, and would have no problem voting for the “new” party, even though they’d be the same party with new packaging.
As for the NDP, well, it’s unlikely that they’ll ever win an election in Alberta, especially with Brian Mason on the helm. At least to me, Mason seems to do nothing more than spout party rhetoric. It’s very easy to tell the government that a 10-year plan to end homelessness is 9 years too long. It’s quite another to actually offer suggestions on how to eliminate homelessness in just 1 year (something which I have never heard Mason offer, possibly because even he realizes the impossibleness of eliminating a problem as complex as homelessness in just 12 months).
Adam Snider
7 Mar 08 at 9:30 am
[...] all the talk of change, election day in Alberta turned out to be more of the same. Ed Stelmach and the Progressive [...]
Progressive Conservatives win a landslide in Alberta at MasterMaq’s Blog
28 May 08 at 3:17 pm