Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Maybe that is why Alberta is stuck with a crap government that is falling apart? Because people can't hold them accountable for anything they do because they are even more scared of the government they don't even have?
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Accountability in government requires a threat. Something that people are comfortable with. You're still voting the party you think is best when you're in a party system, and neither option seems completely in tune with the average Albertan.
The act of accountability in federal politics is often made by Ontario because they carry many key votes and have historically flopped between Liberal and PC, forcing the hand of the party who needs to appease them. In Alberta, the WR was shown to be a possible act of accountability against the PC until the PC panic button flipped over some social comments (whether fairly done or not) which gave big city voters cold feet.
It seems Alberta (well, at least main city Alberta) is willing to forgo their issues with the PC party on the economics side more than they are willing to reconcile some of the awkward associations that they'd have if they elected a WR government. In this sense, they definitely are scared of this association of members which don't reflect their social values more than they are scared of the PC running the economy. Some of it was mudslinging from a desperate PC party which dug up anything it could, yes, but ultimately shows the province wants to move away from the socially conservative label (again, given voting patterns, this pertains to big cities in the province). It also shows that they want a leader who's stance on the issue is stronger than being that she "won't legislate on that", even if the economics are more in tune with the province's attitude.