Fewer than half of Alberta’s eligible voters even bothered to cast ballots in the last provincial election. The apathy back in the spring of 2008 could be partly understood since there was no challenge to the ruling Conservatives.
Such is not the case on Monday. For probably the first time since Peter Lougheed swept the PCs to power back in 1971, the party appears in serious jeopardy of not forming the next government.
Which means, for the first time in 41 years – if you discount Laurence Decore and the brief Liberal challenge in 1993 – Albertans have a real decision to make about who they want running the province.
Will it be the Conservatives under Alison Redford, the Wildrose under Daniele Smith or, for the first time ever in Alberta, perhaps a minority government with either the NDP, Liberals or Alberta Party holding the balance of power?
Having a minority government at this point in time would not necessarily be a bad thing. There are some major issues to be settled that could have huge impacts on the future of the province and its people. And while a minority government might lead to more indecisiveness at times, maybe it is time to have a balance in the discussions.
Two of the key issues:
– How do we control health-care costs while improving the system? Do we continue moving towards private health care, where both the PCs and Wildrose would take us? Or, as the NDs, Liberals and Alberta Party suggest, continue to tweak the status quo?
– How do we develop the oilsands in a manner that is both environmentally safe to the world and economically beneficial to Albertans? Would any of the parties dare stand up to the oil companies, like Newfoundland and Labrador did, to earn more royalties and control over the development of our natural resources?
Certainly a minority government would make for interesting debates in the legislature, where opposition members might be honestly listened to for the first time.
And voters have to make some tough decisions, starting with; do they vote for the party, the leader or their local candidate?
If it’s the party, the lines in the sand are fairly definitive on many of the main issues. The question voters have to ask themselves is, are all the pronouncements made over the last four weeks merely words designed to get your vote, or can the party leaders and candidates be trusted to actually follow through in the legislature?
Poll indications are that if there is a minority government, the NDs would hold the balance of power, meaning Albertans would learn just how married the party is to its expensive social policies and programs.
Much has been made in the media about the split in the PC party that led to the surge of the Wildrose, with the PCs being painted as the old boys’ club and the Wildrose as the new fresh face with exciting ideas.
But is that really the case? When Redford became the first female to lead the Alberta PCs last fall, she beat the old boys in the voting and then took several steps to modernize the aging party. Her actions led to several long-serving MLAs either retiring or fleeing to the Wildrose, where they would now push their same old tired ideas.
Is some ways the choice between the Wildrose and PCs is like choosing between Ralph Klein and his fiscal conservatism that eliminated the debt on the backs of Albertans and Lougheed’s “people-first” philosophy.
Whichever way you lean, if ever there was a time to vote, this is it. No one can say his or her vote doesn’t count because on Monday every vote will matter.
