Well its election time again, here in Alberta. And for the first time in 40 years, it looks like the Progressive Conservative party has real competition. Only its from a new and even more conservative party, the Wild Rose Alliance. I'm not exactly sure who this is an alliance between, but at this stage it looks like they could well unseat this province's long sitting governing party.
I have to admit that it concerns me to see provincial politics seeming to shift even further to the right here in Alberta. Yet I must also be honest and admit that I've not spent enough time reading the Wild Rose position documents. I really must do more of that but I know that I DO find myself appreciating what I understand of their stance on property rights, in the face of a government that has been establishing imminent domain rules which include no compensation whatsoever. Yet it seems that this alliance has a comfy relationship with the oil patch that suggests this stance on property rights might be little more than hot air.
The latest campaign promise from the Alliance is resurrecting an old PC trick from the Ralph Klein government. Dividends cheques ($300 per year starting in 2015) we're supposed to be receiving from the province's oil industry are likely to solidify a large amount of votes for the Alliance. This seems painfully short sighted and small minded to me, but at the same time it is true that the government wastes a great deal of our money. Still, it seems sad that a vote can be bought for any amount, never say a possible $300 3 years into an increasingly uncertain future.
Worst of all, I have a nagging feeling that this party is going to introduce the backdrop for a real secessionist movement here in Alberta. Canada is facing some real troubles and definite imbalances between the east and west, but I cannot help but dislike secessionist talk...inevitable as it may be.
It should be an interesting month.
3 years ago
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