There has been plenty of speculation about a provincial election in the new year, furthering a crazy time in Alberta politics. One that has seen the unprecedented implosion of Alison Redford’s tenure as premier and the coronation of current Premier Jim Prentice.
The Wildrose Party rose from the ashes of a disappointing election it was widely expected to win to become the first actually effective Official Opposition this province has seen in some time. Even opponents have to respect the way Danielle Smith and her party held Redford to account.
Then things fell apart for them. In a time-honoured political strategy, Prentice made some Wildrose policies his own – namely over rural property rights – and the Wildrose was clobbered in four byelections, effectively signalling the end of the line. Joe Anglin, a Wildrose MLA, who made his name defending landowners from big utility companies, left to sit as an independent. He was soon followed by two others who crossed the floor to the Progressive Conservatives. If this wasn’t enough for any small party to endure, the mass exodus of the Wildrose leader and eight more MLAs to the Tories even put its Opposition status in question.
All this time, as politicians schemed and the Tories shored up its ranks with the likes of former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel, the bottom fell from world oil prices, effectively creating a new economic reality for the province for years to come. We’ve been warned the next year will not be pretty with cuts in many areas likely coming, but Albertans will not know the details until the Prentice government tables its first budget likely in February or March.
So in the midst of all this, should an election be Prentice’s first priority? What we really need is new schools, better health care, more room in seniors homes, a better environmental image in the world, and more sustainable funding for municipalities among other things.
Certainly, an election might prove to be a political reset, but what would it actually prove? While an election may ease the feelings of voters who feel they have been betrayed at the hands of the Wildrose, the entire province does not need to come to a halt for another month of politics.
Realistically, does Prentice need a bigger majority or a stronger mandate? Or is he afraid that whatever cuts he institutes will drive voters in droves to the arms of the Raj Sherman-led Liberals or the Rachel Notley-led NDP in the next normally expected election in 2016? In Alberta? Get serious.
After this last year, Albertans have had enough promises. Instead, we need stable governance and we need action without constant distraction.
