Alberta Politics Thread

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Imagine if the legislature reflected the proportions in that sample, though. Just for fun.

Anyway, re: 9% turnout, I don't live there but I wasn't even aware there was a by-election until this morning and I doubt many of the eligible voters there were either.

[Fuzz]

From what I read about the riding, it is more about the person running, and not the party. That's how the Liberals could do so well. I'm not sure you can use this by-election as an indication of general Alberta voter sentiment.

[Resolute 14]

It was actually a 29% turn out. Down from 41% in the provincial election.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

From what I read about the riding, it is more about the person running, and not the party. That's how the Liberals could do so well. I'm not sure you can use this by-election as an indication of general Alberta voter sentiment.

While that's the case in any election and specifically a by-election, this can't be considered good news for the NDP in any possible way. Whatever honeymoon they enjoyed is completely over, and a fourth place finish isn't just voters selecting a different person, it's a rejection of their policies. If they had been a close second or third, then you could say that it's a right leaning riding and things like that. Fourth though, behind the ALP is just pure bad news.

[Fuzz]

That wasn't the point of the article I had read. It was that in this riding specifically, voters tended to vote for the person, caring less about their part affiliation. If the person was active and popular in the riding, they would be more likely to get elected, regardless of the party. This clearly isn't true in a lot of elections, as people tend to vote for the party, or the leader they want, often barely knowing who the person is.

I'm not trying to defend the NDP here, just suggesting that this riding isn't much of a indication of party preferences.

[Bobblehead]

I do live in the riding.

I think there were as many signs out for this election as any other, and I had more door knocking, fliers and phone calls (candidate and polling) then any election to date.

That said, actual election day kind of snuck up on me. The local campaigning becomes so incessant that mid-afternoon yesterday I remember it was election day. And not that a by-election is ever high on the news cycle, but with Brussels and the Federal Budget out yesterday, it was buried even further.

This riding voted in a Liberal MP, and a lot of people seem to carry those allegiances. But if I was simply going by lawn signage, I would have guessed WRP followed closely by NDP.

Manmeet Bhullar was very popular here - previous MLAs were essentially invisible; back-benchers who, outside of elections or Stampede breakfasts you would never see or hear about. Bhullar was different - he was a minister and still seemed to be more visible in the riding. So that may be where the "vote for the person" impression may come from. He was personally very popular.

[Resolute 14]

According to Rachel Notley, her party finished fourth in Calgary-Greenway because people are concerned about the economy, but not at all because people are concerned about her policies. IOW, it's not her fault. At all. Again.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ndp-s...r&_gsc=8SOAtXM

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

According to Rachel Notley, her party finished fourth in Calgary-Greenway because people are concerned about the economy, but not at all because people are concerned about her policies. IOW, it's not her fault. At all. Again.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ndp-s...r&_gsc=8SOAtXM

Yup, kind of what I have come to expect.
More cries of "It's not our fault, it's the economy and the previous government" while doing absolutely nothing to change any of it.

[Jacks]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle29374634/

Alberta’s Finance Minister says he has no idea when the province’s budget will be balanced, months after promising the deficit would be eliminated before the end of the decade.

Well that's progress, at least he admits he has no clue.

[RougeUnderoos]

I am surprised that Notley didn't come out and say "people don't like our policies".

What is politics coming to? Just tell the truth lady.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jacks

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle29374634/

Well that's progress, at least he admits he has no clue.

I feel so bad for Joe Ceci. That guy is so far in over his head its terrible.

I do like the fact that they've basically announced that their 'budget' was garbage in what, 6 months?

Its not like it set a high bar to begin with, promising a balanced per annum budget 'sometime in the next decade' wasnt exactly promising the moon.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Locke

I feel so bad for Joe Ceci. That guy is so far in over his head its terrible.

Now that he has come out and admitted that he doesn't know what he is doing he can stop pretending that he ever had any intention of balancing the budget.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Jacks

Now that he has come out and admitted that he doesn't know what he is doing he can stop pretending that he ever had any intention of balancing the budget.

"Its my first day!"

[Senator Clay Davis]

So basically the NDP will be a four year speed bump, and assuming they can get it together for 2019, the PCs will go right back into power. Good thing Prentice wasted everyone's time calling that needless election that temporarily destroyed them.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

So basically the NDP will be a four year speed bump, and assuming they can get it together for 2019, the PCs will go right back into power. Good thing Prentice wasted everyone's time calling that needless election that temporarily destroyed them.

I wouldnt call them a speed-bump. I shudder to think what our Provincial deficit is going to look like when they're done.

The thing that gets me the most is that the NDP seem to believe that this is their one shot, their 4 year mandate to do what they want and get what they want and they're absolutely going to take it.

And they're doing this because all of their actions indicate that they genuinely dont give a rat's ass about Albertans.

This 4-year term feels like a smash and grab because these are people acting in the belief that they arent going to be around to suffer the consequences.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

“And I just feel that’s the reality we’re in as governments right now and we need to have a long-term vision on how to get back to some sense of balance."

Oh Joe....you need a long term vision which at this point is....."I have no idea"?
Good work!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

“And I just feel that’s the reality we’re in as governments right now and we need to have a long-term vision on how to get back to some sense of balance."

Oh Joe....you need a long term vision which at this point is....."I have no idea"?
Good work!

Why would he have a long-term vision though?

The only reason Joe Ceci is the Finance Minister is because its the most important Ministerial position and he was the only one that had any semblance of political experience.

He has no Financial acumen, experience, education or qualifications and he was the best candidate they had.

[Resolute 14]

It is very easy to forgive Ceci if he just stands up and says "the depth of the economic situation means we cannot achieve our goal of balancing the budget by x". That is a simple, honest, and understandable statement.

But, yeah. Don't start talking about the need for vision when it is clear that (a) you don't have one, and (b) your boss's vision is going to sell us up the river.

[Resolute 14]

It is interesting though that Ceci waited until both the last day before a long weekend and until the feds promised indefinite deficits before he made his statement. I'll give Joe that much credit - he's got a keen eye for the best time to bury bad press.

[KevanGuy]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

It is interesting though that Ceci waited until both the last day before a long weekend .

This is something I've noticed with this government. We seem to be getting fairly big news on Fridays and weekends.