It appears Alison was right about one thing.....

Well folks, here in Alberta its the morning after. Yesterday was our provincial election and like a drunk sobering up the next day after a bender many of us are wondering what really happened the night before.

During the last few weeks, virtually every opinion poll agreed on one thing, after the election we would have a new party in power. After 40 some odd years of Progressive Conservative (PC) rule in our province the Wildrose Party of Alberta was set to usurp the reining government. Pollsters and political pundits alike pointed to poll results and history to claim that Alberta was due for a change. After all, four decades ago a little known Peter Lougheed and his PC party sent the then ruling Social Credit government packing, coincidentally after the So-Creds had ruled the province for about four decades themselves.

Political pollsters claimed that this election would result in a Wildrose majority, or possibly a PC or Wildrose  minority government, but no one was willing to give odds on a PC majority. There was even talk at times that the NDP or Liberals might swing the balance of power in a minority government ( I can just imagine Brian and Raj salivating over this thought).

So lets get back to reality.......
This morning when we woke up (or last night if you chose to stay up for the results) we found ourselves with another PC majority government, down 5 seats from last time but a strong majority none the less. Yes, the Wildrose gained some ground they now hold 19 seats to the PC's 61, so they will become the official opposition. But that's a long shot from the sweeping majority some predicted right up to election eve for Danielle Smith and her candidates.

So how could the pollsters be so wrong?

That's something I am sure that they are asking themselves, after all a pollster is only as reliable as his last call. I expect they will keep themselves busy for quite some time trying to figure this one our and prove to all that this was an anomaly of sorts. The excuses for their poor performance will be flying left, right, and center (no relation to political philosophies intended). However, their predictions on this one remind me of a stockbroker I had years ago, needless to say we parted company while I still had a roof over my head.

So what was Premier Alison Redford so right about?

Well leading up to the election as one poll after another stated that the PC's would go down in flames and the Wildrose party was slated to be the new kid in town, she held her composure and responded by simply stating;

"The only poll that counts is the one taken on election day"

Needless to say she called that one right on the money. I wonder if she would be willing to provide some stock investment advice?

And the winner? He who promises the most!

Well folks, here in Alberta the provincial election is in full swing with only 10 days until the big event. As expected all of the party leaders are busy making the rounds and trying to convince all of us why their way is the path to the happily hereafter. All ends of the political spectrum are covered, the left, the middle, the right, with some parties trying to hedge bets by being everything to everyone. At times it is difficult to knows who is on first, and who's on second.

Like a carrot on a stick

None the less they all share one thing in common, when it comes to spending " the sky's the limit". With every speech given by a party leader more taxpayer money is doled out, You name it they seem to have it covered, in fact some of them are are promising funding for problems most of us didn't know existed. It's gotten so bad that the Average Joe (not to be confused with Frustrated Joe) has lost track of all the promises of spending and who committed to what.

What's worse is that the leaders seem to be competing as to who can promise the most spending with the goal being to simply "buy" the voters. I have a bad feeling that as taxpayers we will be paying for this election for years, if not decades to come (so whats new, you ask).

So how bad is it?

Ladies and Gentleman, now we have a horse race!

It's official, April 23 is the date when Albertans will go to the polls to elect our next provincial government. Our current premier, Alison Redford met yesterday  with Lt.-Gov. Donald Ethell in his Alberta legislature office and the writ was issued at 10:00 am.

Immediately following her meeting with the Lt-Gov the Premier joined by members of her caucus spoke to the press on the steps of the legislature and had the following to say;

"This election will be a defining moment, where we will decide what we want the future to be and how we want to conduct ourselves, and I'm looking forward to talking to Albertans and letting them make those decisions over the next 28 days".

Pretty positive attitude for a politician who is facing what may be the battle of her political career up to this point. There's a lot riding on this election, Premier Redford who only late last year took the reins of the Conservative party via a leadership race, accepted with the role a lot of partisan responsibility. After all, the Conservative party has been running this province for 40 years and with just one more win will become Canada's longest serving government at 44 years, so needless to say the party will not look kindly on any sitting Premier that loses the throne. With Redford, seeking her first public mandate as premier she has a number of challenges to face going into this election, some of her creation, some not. So what makes this election so different from ones of the past? Let's face one reality, this is Alberta, a place where even a guy like Don Getty can hold the Premiers office, or an often times "not so sober" former Liberal turned Conservative, Premier Ralph Klein can be loved as a "man of the people" and referred to universally throughout the province as just "Ralph". The bottom line in the past was as long as you dressed an individual in Conservative Blue, chances were they would claim electoral victory. However I have a feeling it won't be quite that easy this time around. Why?

See you in the funny pages....

Alberta Politics - Busting with Enthusiasm

If your looking for a little humor be sure to check out the latest addition to our "Just Plain Funny" page. It's sure to "bust" you up ....lol
In fact it is the talk of the town here in the great white north, here's a hint......

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round, all day long.

Maybe it is time for a new face in Alberta politics?

Back in December of 2011 I started to write a piece about the political landscape in Alberta and what options were available to voters.Unfortunately at the time other things caught my interest and life in general was keeping me pretty busy, so I filed away what I had written with the intention of one day blowing the dust off and posting it. Well yesterday, the front page of the Edmonton Sun caught my eye, or more to the point the results of a recent poll in Alberta awakened me. In a nutshell the headline was a simple one, big bold letters, a picture of our current Premier, Alison Redford photoshopped to appear to be staring down Danielle Smith leader of the Wildrose Party of Alberta and the text.....

Conservatives - 34% vs Wildrose - 29%
Redford - 33% vs Smith 25%

So what's it mean? well on the surface it appears that the Conservatives have a 5 point lead, and that people in general have a fondness for Redford over Smith. However, one poll does not win an election, so here's my December piece with the dust blown off and a few more paragraphs added.