We’ll all head to the polls April 16 in what’s shaping up to be one of the most interesting provincial elections in history. No one, we repeat, no one expected the NDP to form government in the weeks and days leading up to the May 5, 2015 election.
Sure, most were fed up with the Progressive Conservative’s smug attitude of entitlement, but really who could blame them considering they had been in power for 44 years.
In fact leading up that election there had only ever been four parties to lead the province since its formation in 1905 — the Liberals, from 1905 to 1921, the United Farmers of Alberta, 1921 to 1935, the 1935 to 1971 reign of the Social Credit Party of Alberta and the PCs, 1971 to 2015.
But with Rachel Notley at the helm, the NDP went from a paltry four seats to dominating the Legislature with 54, while the once mighty PCs went from 70 to nine.
Politics in Alberta hasn’t been the same since.
The PCs have been relegated to the history books and merged with the Wildrose Party in 2017 to form the United Conservative Party, which currently counts 25 seats.
Now depending on which political pundit you read, or which poll you follow, it appears this election will witness the province shifting back to the right. The latest numbers we’ve seen says 52 per cent of Albertans believe the UCP will form the next government.
Conversely only 21 per cent expect the NDP to retain power — eight per cent believe they’ll form a majority government, while 12 per cent think they’ll form a minority.
And then there’s the prevailing theory that the NDP didn’t really win the 2015 election and it was the PCs who squandered it.
To be honest there’s probably some truth to that.
Throw in the fact that 35 of Alberta’s 87 riding could be classified as rural and traditionally right-wing and some would opine the UCP are only nine ridings short of hitting the magic 44-seat number to form a majority. Mind you the polling from 2012, and even 2015, had the Wildrose pegged as winners.
So we’ll offer no prediction, yet, except to advise you to buckle up because these next three weeks are going to offer some intense political drama.
