So, what have we learned after the ugliest, closest election campaign in Alberta history? As always, there are winners and losers outside of the polling stations. Here are a few…
WINNER/LOSER: The UCP.
Sure, they won. But with Alberta’s economy awash in oil money, and with a premier handing it out like candy at Halloween, it should have been an easy victory. But thanks entirely to Danielle Smith and her radical, far-right ramblings, the election was in the balance. There were certainly thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of voters who parked their vote with the NDP, or didn’t vote at all, rather than vote for a UCP party run by Smith.
In her victory speech, Smith compared the result to Ralph Klein’s ‘Miracle on the Prairie’ 1993 win. No, Danielle, it’s not a miracle when you win an election that you should have won in a walk. The miracle is that a party with a demonstrably unfit leader won. Now the question is, will Smith shift to the centre, or will the Take Back Alberta gang call the shots?
WINNER: Rural Alberta
The UCP didn’t just win in rural ridings, they swept through them like a harvester mowing down crops. (That’s a farm reference, right?) While most ridings in Edmonton and Calgary were close, many rural ridings were won by UCP candidates with 10,000 vote pluralities. Even Jennifer Johnson, who compared trans kids to “poop in the cookie pouch” (what the hell is a cookie pouch?) won by almost 10,000. Clearly, rural Alberta holds a grudge against the NDP that may never heal. Welcome to running Alberta, farm folk.
LOSER: Edmonton.
There was a time when Edmonton voted so heavily for the Alberta Liberals it was known as ‘Redmonton’. And it paid the price. Now, with Edmonton once again oranger than, well, an orange (what else is orange?), the capital finds itself on the outside again, like a kid with its nose pressed against a candy shop window. To paraphrase Seinfeld’s ‘Soup Nazi’ character, “No candy for you.”
WINNER: Calgary.
A good mix of both parties was elected, and they got themselves the promise of a new arena with $300 million of our money, thanks to Danielle Smith’s blatant vote grabbing. Smart move, Calgary voters.
LOSER/WINNER: The Rachel Notley Party.
Biggest opposition in history. Beachhead in Calgary. But massacred in the rural areas. And they lost an election they could have won. Unless the UCP implodes for some reason, I think Notley must, in time, step aside.
LOSER: Elections Alberta.
An hour in, some results were showing 1-1 ties. Two hours past poll closing, many constituencies were still showing only one or two polls counted. Clearly, something at Elections Alberta went seriously wrong, and needs to be investigated. They have ONE job to do every four years, and they fouled it up.
LOSER: Democracy.
In 2008, the Alberta Liberal Party got 28% of the vote. In 2023, they got 0.24%, behind something called the Solidarity Movement of Alberta. The Alberta Party, despite quality candidates and a solid, centrist platform, garnered 0.72%.
Alberta, sadly, has become a two-party state. The NDP and UPC might as well change their names to Democrats and Republicans.
Welcome to Texas North.
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