Quote:
Originally Posted by Rerun
You can't blame the Liberal Party of Canada's lack of success in Alberta on the NEP which was enacted in 1980. Alberta has always been anti-Liberal. The last time the Liberal Party of Canada took the majority of seats in Alberta was in 1911 when Wilfred Laurier was elected Prime Minister. Ever since then, in every federal election, the Liberals have been soundly defeated by other parties here in Alberta. Alberta has been a virtual wasteland for the Libs since Laurier was defeated by Robert Borden in 1917.
And the last time the Liberal Party of Alberta was in power was from 1917-1921 under the leadership of Charles Stewart. Between 1971 and 1986 the Liberal Party of Alberta did not win a single seat in the povincial legislature and did not receive more than 6% of the vote.
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Its more then that, successive Lib leaders didn't help to heal the alienation that Albertan's felt especially after the Liberals ripped off the bandaid with the National Energy Program.
From Creitiens claim that he didn't understand Albertan's and basically didn't like dealing with them, to his refusal to campaign here seriously to the cynical move to shut down CFB Calgary.
To Dion's taking aim at the energy sector to feed his social programs.
To Paul Martin's indifference to Trudeau's scorn. The Liberal have themselves to blame for not getting any real voting traction here, they basically treated Alberta as a vassal state instead of a member of Canada.