Next Monday Albertans go to the polls for a provincial election. There was a time in Alberta when the election was a foregone conclusion before the writ was dropped, the PC's would win and it would be with a huge majority. In fact between 1971 and 2008 the elections in Alberta ranged between 49 seats and 72 seats. The PC party in Alberta is probably one of the most succesful provincial political parties in the history of this country.
This year though things are different and it looks as if when the polls close in Alberta in next Monday's provincial election we will see a change in government in Alberta for the first time in many years.
A lot of reason is behind this sudden shift in Alberta politics. Their new premier wants to make Alberta more of a Liberal province which is a virtual no no in that province (Though the Liberals are currently the offiicial opposition in the province) also the fact remains that after 40 years the people of Alberta are ready for a change and the party that is favoured to take the government in Alberta's election next week is still a fairly Conservative party.
As for my own predictions on the election based upon the latest polls I have the Wildrose Party winning 46 seats, the PC's winning 36, the NDP winning 4 and the Alberta Party winning 1 so not as big a loss as we have seen occuring when a governing party loses but still 1 that will shake the province of Alberta to the core and re-shape it's political identity.
Still what does next week's election in Alberta have to do with ours? Well besides of the link between our 2 provinces given our similar economies and the fact that so many of our people have gone to Alberta to live and work but there's another reason the election in Alberta next week has a lot to do with ours in 2015:
It's to do with the fact that if you listen in certain circles much like Premier Allison Redford in Alberta, Premier Kathy Dunderdale here in Newfoundland and Labrador is not as popular as her predecessor Danny Williams and while she did rather well in last fall's provincial election there is a thought out there that if things go a certain way in 2015 we could see a change in government similar to the 1 that is widely expected in Alberta next Monday.
While I can't, personally, see the PC's in this province losing the 2015 election not when you have the prospective leader of the Liberals in 2015, Dean Mcdonald and the Liberal caucus disagreeing over the development of Muskrat Falls and the NDP is still largely a St.John's party but there are people out there who are starting to think the winds of change are blowing in this province politically and we could see a new government in St.John's after the 2015 election.
So what must we do to prevent a similar collapse of our own PC party in 2015? There are a few things:
1) Advertise the Lower Churchill as the most effective power method in the province for development: I think a lot of the angst about the provincial PC's has to do with the Lower Churchill development. What all 37 PC MHA's should be doing is travelling their districts and for the senior cabinet ministers travelling the province to advertise this deal, advocate for it, say why the development is needed and mention the creation of jobs which always goes over well in this province.
2) Have the House of Assembly open more often: Another point of criticism towards the premier was her decision last fall to keep the House of Assembly closed until the spring. While I disagreed with the public criticism over it (Remember Premier Williams never opened the house either in the fall of 2003 and 2007 when he won election) there was criticism out there. To alleviate that criticism introduce a bill in which the house opens on the first Tuesday of March every year, has a 2 week Easter break then stays open until the first Thursday of June. Also have it re-opened on the first Monday of November every year and close on the Thursday before Christmas (Unless Christmas Eve is on a Thursday in which case the House would then close on a Thursday). Under that system the house would be open for 20 weeks of the year.
3) Be more assertive with the federal government: If there's anything us Newfoundlanders love it's confrontations with the federal government. While many of these conforntations are justified you have to have a working relationship with the feds. I think that when Premier Dunderdale stood on stage with Prime Minister Harper during the last federal election she raised a lot of eyebrows given the previous discourse between the province and Ottawa. While I think that you need to have a good working relationship with the feds you have to get along with them as well, while people down here don't like PM Harper the guy is the country's leader and I agree with the stance our premier and the province is now taking with Ottawa.
4) Be more like Danny Williams: That may be impossible given the fact that Danny Williams may have been a once in a lifetime type premier and all he did for this province makes him irreplaceable. Still Premier Williams was so well liked by the people of this province that if this current Premier even did half of what Premier Williams did then she would be considered a success.
In closing these are 4 small steps I think the Premier can do to assure victory in 2015. She's no Danny Williams, of course, but I for one think she's done a good job. It's just telling the non PC's of this province that she's doing a good job, do that and we will continue to see PC governnance in this province going into 2019.
The writer thanks everyone for reading his blog, he can be reached via email at tducey1@gmail.com.
