Three Time’s a Charm

Would it be safe to say that  Alberta will always be right?  The polls have always showed that any left thinking politician is pounding an upward climb in this province.  Until the last year, I would never have even given a second thought to a provincial Liberal governing body in Alberta.  But since Stelmach and his Tory cabinet have entered the slippery slope of popular opinion polls, it makes one ponder.

But then again we Albertans are not completely in love with any party based solely on the Conservative name.
The world is changing, and with it so does the political landscape.  For almost 36 years the Social Credit Party ran this province until Peter Lougheed displaced then Premier Harry Strom in 1971.  Nobody would have predicted that the Social Credit Dynasty would have crumbled under the pressure of the Progressive Conservative campaign.

History has a way of repeating itself, and now in light of the fact that the Wildrose Alliance Party has finally showed some life and voted in the new party leader, Danielle Smith, the next election will indeed be a must see.  So once again Alberta has two right-wing parties to choose from.

History records that the undoing of the Social Credit Party was their inability to adapt to the changing social climate of the day.   The rural based Social Credit Party was slow to adapt to the changes brought about as a result of the urban influences of Edmonton and Calgary.  The province was beginning to shift its economic center from agriculture to oil, and the Social Credit was still on the rural fence.  So much so that Strom timed the election to ensure that the farming community was not out working the fields.  With 36 years under the Social Credit power-belt, they became complacent.  This was demonstrated when Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservative party promised free health care for all Albertans over 65.  Strom countered that offer with “almost-free” health care.  Strom was only going to charge the seniors one dollar a month.  Yes, the Socreds were completely out-of-touch with Albertans.

So today, we have Ed Stelmach running a huge deficit budget, after they had voted themselves a 35% pay increase.  When the people began to voice their displeasure with the deficit, the out-of-touch Tory government decided to offer a voluntary freeze of “new” wage increases.  The 'big' move was to rolled back the Premiers income by 15% and the cabinets by 10%.  Naturally this really didn't do anything for the confidence of the people because it will not touch the bonuses and allowances and still leaves them with a huge raise.  It sure smells like a one-dollar a month out-of-touch political gesture to me.

A recent poll has shown that Ed Stemach's approval rating has fallen.  Sixty-one percent of Albertans believe that Stelmach is moving in the wrong direction.  Twenty-two percent of Albertans strongly disapprove of Stelmach's performance.  In the same poll the upstart Wildrose Alliance Party received 22 percent of Albertans support.  Interesting since the Wildrose Alliance has yet to do anything.  It speaks volumes of what can be seen as impending doom for the Progressive Conservatives.

Stelmach had a great opportunity in his recent address last Wednesday to show Albertans that the Tory government had a plan.  But instead of outlining a detailed fiscal strategy to offer some economic hope to Albertans over the next few years, he offered up a weak four point plan.  They were; Freeze wages, spend savings to cover off revenue shortfalls, invest in public infrastructure and ensure the energy sector remains competitive.  There it is in a nutshell.

Albertans are voicing their displeasure for this weak response in the media.  The Edmonton Journal quotes a Paul Ferguson of Edmonton as saying, “We started out with Peter Lougheed being the cream of the crop.  Now, we have the dregs of the Conservative barrel in power.  For the past 20 years, I have watched with dismay the disintegration of democracy in Alberta.”

Ferguson is just one working stiff that has tossed in his two-cents worth. Stelmach may not be fully responsible for the recent displeasure of the masses.  Both Ralph Klein and Don Getty have had their hand in the weakening of the Progressive Conservative’s armour. However, he certainly has done nothing to turn opinion around.

But what Ferguson did say is revealing  when he referred to Lougheed as the “Cream of the Crop.”  More than anything the young lawyer from Edmonton, Peter Lougheed represented change, and he had a flair for innovative thinking.  Lougheed may not have been a knight in shining armour, but he represented the change that Alberta wanted and today the rumblings of the Alberta electorate of late are screaming for change.

The social and economic climate in this province is ripe for a change of the guard.  Once again we are seeing a shift in economic realities with the pressures for change in the energy sector, environmental issues and the aging voter population.  Could it be that with 38 years of holding power in Alberta a political upset is in the making?  Yes, history does have a way of repeating itself.  

We have had two different right-wing parties holding power since 1921.  Maybe three times is a charm.