Canada's most conservative province just turned out the Tories for the first time in 40 years. To elect a far left party. With a majority.

The current party must've really screwed the pooch somehow for that to happen. That'd be like Bernie Sanders winning Oklahoma.

(05-05-2015 10:08 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  The current party must've really screwed the pooch somehow for that to happen. That'd be like Bernie Sanders winning Oklahoma.

Yep.. Its absolutely stunning. The NDP won pretty much everywhere in Alberta. NDP won in Lethbridge and the Mormon South. How does that happen...They won in Red Deer (!). The NDP ran on a platform of raising corporate and income tax. They ran against Keystone.

Man, Keystone is doubly dead.

I'll be honest, I don't know a thing about Alberta's politics. But I'm curious as to what happened.

Either there was a huge scandal in the conservative government that created a "throw the bums out" situation, or the NDP really crafted a class warfare/eat-the-rich message that resonated.

They ran against sending oil to the US (Texas) and made promises to refine more in Alberta.

That's basically it in a nutshell.

(05-05-2015 10:50 PM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  I'll be honest, I don't know a thing about Alberta's politics. But I'm curious as to what happened.

Either there was a huge scandal in the conservative government that created a "throw the bums out" situation, or the NDP really crafted a class warfare/eat-the-rich message that resonated.

I've spent much of the last 2 years in Calgary. A lot of Albertans are livid over cost of living inflation and the fact that the PC's have been too ready to subrogate quality of life issues for everyday Albertans to the concerns of (by Canadian standards) plutocrats in Calgary. A lot of those gains didn't filter down to people outside of Calgary's Core.

Alberta has reaped a 30 year windfall from energy revenues. And saved....nothing.

But its not all seashells and balloons for the NDP. Wildrose (basically a Canadian tea party) did well. And PC + Wildrose got more votes (but very few seats) than the NDP.

Downturn in oil prices helped a lot too.

(05-05-2015 11:01 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Downturn in oil prices helped a lot too.

Yea, because it reminded Albertans that the PC squandered its benefits. Something that might play out in certain US states.

(05-05-2015 11:07 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(05-05-2015 11:01 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Downturn in oil prices helped a lot too.

Yea, because it reminded Albertans that the PC squandered its benefits. Something that might play out in certain US states.

I guess it all depends on your view on the gov'ts role in people's lives. Kind of a perfect political storm hitting Alberta (I lived in Edmonton from Spring 2011 - Summer 2014) over the past few years.

1. Several political scandals with "old boy network" leadership.
2. The emergence of the Wild Rose Party rocked the boat. Tea Party is a terrible comparison BTW. The Wild Rose is a legitimate party, not a movement.
3. Obama repeatedly cockblocking the KXL pipeline.
4. Oil prices dropping.

Step in the NDP who "promises" to refine at home and increase the surface rights "royalty" for land owners.... Yeah, pretty much a common sense way to win. It will be interesting to see what happens with their promise to raise the corporate tax rate.

(05-05-2015 11:16 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  

(05-05-2015 11:07 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  

(05-05-2015 11:01 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Downturn in oil prices helped a lot too.

Yea, because it reminded Albertans that the PC squandered its benefits. Something that might play out in certain US states.

I guess it all depends on your view on the gov'ts role in people's lives. Kind of a perfect political storm hitting Alberta (I lived in Edmonton from Spring 2011 - Summer 2014) over the past few years.

1. Several political scandals with "old boy network" leadership.
2. The emergence of the Wild Rose Party rocked the boat. Tea Party is a terrible comparison BTW. The Wild Rose is a legitimate party, not a movement.
3. Obama repeatedly cockblocking the KXL pipeline.
4. Oil prices dropping.

Step in the NDP who "promises" to refine at home and increase the surface rights "royalty" for land owners.... Yeah, pretty much a common sense way to win. It will be interesting to see what happens with their promise to raise the corporate tax rate.

Wildrose isnt the Tea Party, but it seems to be somewhat analagous to the right wing in the GOP (except that Wild Rose doesn't hate public education). But its hard to shoehorn US politics onto Canadian politics.

(05-05-2015 11:23 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  Wildrose isnt the Tea Party, but it seems to be somewhat analagous to the right wing in the GOP (except that Wild Rose doesn't hate public education).

Not exactly. They're a little right of the middle for the most part. on "hate public education".

(05-05-2015 11:23 PM)Tom in Lazybrook Wrote:  But its hard to shoehorn US politics onto Canadian politics.

I agree with this. It's very similar to UK Parliament. In Canada a 3rd, 4th or even 5th party can rise up and have a legitimate shot at making some real noise, especially within an individual province. Parties over time can completely break down into multiple smaller parties, change names, etc. That would almost never happen in the USA now.

It's pretty interesting actually but I didn't know a whole lot of the history of how and why the parties evolved while I was there. I just know it's pretty fluid compared to us. The Wildrose is unique to Alberta but pretty influential. The PC and NDP are still the big 2 but other parties can actually have some real influence.

IMO, it basically boils down to Canada's ongoing struggle at a "national identity". They're a relatively new nation, still tied to the UK, with 2 official languages, a little more like the US culturally, demographically VERY different from coast to coast with France in the middle. They also treated their natives like ****, just like us.

We hate FAILING public education.

Paul you hate public Ed. How many times have I read govt. is always the problem?

You think the board has gotten considerably better so live with it. You like it, abide by it's rules. Stay on topic.

Myself, it's gotten worse and piss on the rules.