[GT] Alberta Votes 2023.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Conservatives not wanting to vote NDP or UCP?

That almost described me, but I met Joan Chand'oiseau and liked her enough to vote for her.

That's pretty well me as well. Julia Hayter came to my door and was impressive enough to convince me to vote for her. I'm happy for her today. Plus my wife is a teacher voting NDP so it always seems kind of senseless for both of us to go to the polls and cancel each other out.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Honestly I think many could not bring themselves to vote either orange or blue and knew that any other vote was not going to matter, so they just didnt bother.

####ing appalling

[Ozy_Flame]

Based on the vote breakdown, this is well and truly a rural government that will be dictating Alberta policy for the next four years, even though over 80% of Albertans live in urban areas.

It also opens the door wide open to forgive anyone who says racist, bigoted, and hateful things to sail to victory.

I see personal transgressions that would have gotten a candidate turfed no longer matter. All decorum and integrity is out the window now and you'll get promptly rewarded for it.

Jennifer Johnson will be welcomed back with open arms by no later than the next 48 hours. I'd put money on it.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Based on the vote breakdown, this is well and truly a rural government that will be dictating Alberta policy for the next four years, even though over 80% of Albertans live in urban areas.

It also opens the door wide open to forgive anyone who says racist, bigoted, and hateful things to sail to victory.

I see personal transgressions that would have gotten a candidate turfed no longer matter. All decorum and integrity is out the window now and you'll get promptly rewarded for it.

Jennifer Johnson will be welcomed back with open arms by no later than the next 48 hours. I'd put money on it.

Ford and Smith got majority governments while promoting private health care and bending environmental rules… we live in a country that feels unfamiliar to me currently.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

####ing appalling

Especially with how close a lot of these ridings are, each vote really makes a difference

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Honestly I think many could not bring themselves to vote either orange or blue and knew that any other vote was not going to matter, so they just didnt bother.

Voting is like trying to decide which turd smells less horrible.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Voting is like trying to decide which turd smells less horrible.

If I'm going to get ####ed, I at least want lube. It's still an easy choice

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Based on the vote breakdown, this is well and truly a rural government that will be dictating Alberta policy for the next four years, even though over 80% of Albertans live in urban areas.

It also opens the door wide open to forgive anyone who says racist, bigoted, and hateful things to sail to victory.

I see personal transgressions that would have gotten a candidate turfed no longer matter. All decorum and integrity is out the window now and you'll get promptly rewarded for it.

Jennifer Johnson will be welcomed back with open arms by no later than the next 48 hours. I'd put money on it.

Yet the overall/popular vote wasn't even close. Which IMO is surprising.

Everyone is Albertan, no matter where they reside though.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Ford and Smith got majority governments while promoting private health care and bending environmental rules… we live in a country that feels unfamiliar to me currently.

29% turnout in Ontario last year. That's apathy. Not to mention that the progressive vote keeps splitting. Libs and NDP, if one party, could have beat Ford. And he's likely going to be slogging it out to stay in power in 2026 with his buffoonery in the Greenbelt.

In my heart of hearts, I still believe Canadians are generally progressive. If it helps any, I highly doubt the current version of the CPC will be able to win the big cities outside of Calgary. Toronto will not play ball with whatever that thing has become.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

29% turnout in Ontario last year. That's apathy. Not to mention that the progressive vote keeps splitting. Libs and NDP, if one party, could have beat Ford. And he's likely going to be slogging it out to stay in power in 2026 with his buffoonery in the Greenbelt.

In my heart of hearts, I still believe Canadians are generally progressive. If it helps any, I highly doubt the current version of the CPC will be able to win the big cities outside of Calgary. Toronto will not play ball with whatever that thing has become.

I think it'd be interesting to see who wins if everyone just ran independent. Even in Calgary we see how progressive people really are when it comes to voting for city councils, but as soon as parties are involved, that flies out the window

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Yeah, and they are crammed for visits too, even if you get one. My last physical took 5 minutes.

Like nurses and teachers, for many, this is going to be the last straw. Family Physicians and ER doctors are at the end of their ropes as well and it is only going to get worse with the prospect of 4 more years of outright hostility and policy that undermines the integrity of each profession.

The UCP wants to hire more teachers (finally) to address the disaster they've created with flat funding a system with exploding growth for 4 years.....good luck attracting new, young blood.

I'm glad he's gone but the fact that a guy like Shandro was actually receiving significant votes and in a tight race after the complete farce that he was says it all about this province in a nutshell. A huge majority of people in the province legitimately only care about themselves to the core and this riding hits that nail right on the head. You don't like the NDP - fine. But how do you bring yourself to vote for that?

I'm cautiously optimistic that this is the last boomer driven, rural dominated provincial election we will see now that the urban vote has almost fully flipped. Hopefully things haven't gotten so bad in 4 years that there's still a chance of salvaging the coming wave of cuts and terrible policy.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I think it'd be interesting to see who wins if everyone just ran independent. Even in Calgary we see how progressive people really are when it comes to voting for city councils, but as soon as parties are involved, that flies out the window

I know some other cities do it (like Vancouver), but keeping parties out of municipal politics is about the best thing I could hope for. Keep the individuals the focus. For example, I supported voting for Gondek in 2021, and couldn't stomach Jeromy Farkas. But since then I would definitely consider him now as it seems he has gone through some personal growth in the last two years that demonstrates growth, respect, maturity, and a sense of community he didn't appear to have before.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Like nurses and teachers, for many, this is going to be the last straw. Family Physicians and ER doctors are at the end of their ropes as well and it is only going to get worse with the prospect of 4 more years of outright hostility and policy that undermines the integrity of each profession.

The UCP wants to hire more teachers (finally) to address the disaster they've created with flat funding a system with exploding growth for 4 years.....good luck attracting new, young blood.

I'm glad he's gone but the fact that a guy like Shandro was actually receiving significant votes and in a tight race after the complete farce that he was says it all about this province in a nutshell. A huge majority of people in the province legitimately only care about themselves to the core and this riding hits that nail right on the head. You don't like the NDP - fine. But how do you bring yourself to vote for that?

I'm cautiously optimistic that this is the last boomer driven, rural dominated provincial election we will see now that the urban vote has almost fully flipped. Hopefully things haven't gotten so bad in 4 years that there's still a chance of salvaging the coming wave of cuts and terrible policy.

I would be very cautious celebrating that just yet.

7 votes are all that separate 1st and 2nd.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Conservatives not wanting to vote NDP or UCP?

That almost described me, but I met Joan Chand'oiseau and liked her enough to vote for her.

I think this is it to some extent. But also, this is a pretty typical turnout. many people just don’t participate, or even care. They just live their lives and don’t know why things get better or worse.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by transplant99

I would be very cautious celebrating that just yet.

7 votes are all that separate 1st and 2nd.

Given the pace of counting last night and fact that a significant portion of the vote was digital advanced polls, I don't imagine there are going to be any errors to report.

Stranger things have happened though.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I think this is it to some extent. But also, this is a pretty typical turnout. many people just don’t participate, or even care. They just live their lives and don’t know why things get better or worse.

Yep. Which is exactly why the issues plaguing Health Care and Education won't ever be solved under this government. When you see people actually voting for people like Shandro again, you know it would be be better if they actually did just stay out of voting altogether.

[Robbob]

Last night when I turned it in the Alberta elections site had it at 47% eligible voted. Now it looks like it had settled in at 62%. Would have thought that at closing time they would have had a much closer number of the amount of ballots cast. 62% is better, but still thought it would be a bit higher.

[dieHARDflameZ]

I like how everybody here acts like healthcare was all sunshine and rainbows under the last NDP provincial government.

If you want to fix healthcare in the province, I’d start by looking straight at AHS. There is so much low hanging fruit there it is unfit.

[Aleks]

Originally Posted by Yoho

I liked the significant decrease in response times with paramedics that no one seems to give her credit for.

Do you want me to speak to this one directly? And the "smoke and mirrors" that it actually is? The robbing peter to pay paul?

If its shallow optics you're after, you bet! Mission accomplished. I mean its the same amount of volume going into the hospitals as always, with the same amount of resources, the same amount of Nurses, Docs, beds, equipment. Guess where the wait ends up now? Oh yah, on the other side of the door....

As much as I selfishly like being able to just pick and drop off, its come at a cost to the rest of the system, which is now suffering worse than before, which is a cost to patients. Quicker forced discharges means higher rates of recidivism, poorer outcomes, no supports in the community for discharge. Continued overcrowding and understaffing of the acute care sites (and ours at EMS continues to be poor as well, again the facade of quick turnovers is what is holding it together like a frayed shoelace and some scotch tape).

She fixed nothing. She polished a very publicly contentious side of the system, and takes credit for fixing things.

I hate to tell you, but its going to require significantly more, in terms of recruitment, retention, and a renewed focus on public education.....but at that point how can you fault people for visiting emerg when family medicine has fallen apart and people can't get regular physicians or visits.

What a calamity, the balls on her for taking credit for that one

[CroFlames]

I voted NDP - first time in my life.

There was no way in this physical universe that I could vote for the party of Danielle Smith. She is a vile anti-science, anti-truth anti-democratic person who brings out the worst in our society. She's an extremist.

The NDP want to raise corporate tax rates? Good I say - Alberta's healthcare is in shambles. A dire need for ICU capacity.

I hate that Smith has been legitimized by this vote, but here we are. At least I didn't vote for her.

Where are the moderate conservatives within the UCP? How did they let this happen? Cowards.