Alberta election results: PCs return with majority to confound Wildrose Party

Edmonton - Albertans went to the polls in a historic election Monday that preserved the 41-year-old Progressive Conservative political dynasty after a divisive 28-day campaign.

Public opinion polls on the eve of the election suggested Danielle Smith and the Wildrose Party would win but from the early results it was evident that Premier Alison Redford and the Progressive Conservatives would remain in power.

By shortly after 9 p.m. local time, TV networks were declaring a Tory majority.

Although not final, the Edmonton Journal was reporting late Monday night that Tories were elected in 61 ridings with 44 per cent of the popular vote, Wildrose candidates were elected or leading in 19 ridings on 34.5 per cent of the vote; the NDP had four members and the Liberals three.

"I guess the polls played jokes on us," said Wildrose candidate Rob Anderson in Airdrie, a bedroom community north of Calgary. "The people of Alberta have spoken but maybe the fearmongering worked better than we thought."

The 41-year-run in government for the Tories is one of the longest provincial dynasties in Canadian political history behind the 43 years of the Nova Scotia Liberals (1882-1925) and the 42-years of Conservative rule (1943-1985) in Ontario.

The election has implications well beyond the borders of the resource-rich province given Alberta's growing clout in Canadian politics and the globally contentious issue of oilsands development.

When Redford called the election in March, the Conservatives held 66 seats in the legislature, the Liberals eight, Wildrose four, New Democrats two, Alberta Party one, one independent and there was one seat vacant. Four more seats were added in the fast-growing province before the election.

During the campaign, NDP leader Brian Mason and Liberal leader Raj Sherman largely took a back seat to the two women leading a party into an election for the first time.

"It's tough to describe what we have seen here," said Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary. "The interest, the excitement — all of that sort of stuff — is unprecedented in Alberta."

The weather was ideal on election day in much of Alberta with sunshine and temperatures reaching 30 C in several places. The weather was expected help voter turnout that reached a historic low of only 40.6 per cent in the March 2008 election.

Addressing cheering supporters, Smith acknowledged that she was disappointed and had been hoping for a better result. But she took what many will see as a defeat in stride, promising that Wildrose would continue vying to become the province's government.

"Am I discouraged? Not a chance," she said. "Albertans have decided that Wildrose might need some time. Might need some time to prove ourselves, some time to establish ourselves, and I relish the opportunity."

In her victory speech to supporters, Redford said Albertans chose to build upon "the shoulders of our great history" in choosing the Progressive Conservatives to return to government.

At the same time, in an allusion to the fact the campaign was historic and engaged Albertans in a way few such elections had in recent memory, Redford recognized that a record number of voters had turned out to have their voices heard.

"Something very exciting happened in Alberta tonight," Redford said. "Everyone got engaged in the future of this province again."

And she said she had heard the complaints from Albertans who were tired of the status quo, and that she intended to act upon their concerns.

"Today, Alberta, you spoke, and you spoke loudly. And I want you to know that I heard you," she said.

"Albertans want change. They want positive change and they want change that moves Alberta forward."

After voting in her Calgary-Elbow riding, Redford said she was impressed by the long lines at advance polls and again Monday as she cast her ballot before embarking on a whirlwind tour of Calgary, Red Deer, Alta., and Edmonton.

Asked about the nastiness that emerged during the campaign, Redford said "it's probably not the most comfortable thing for families to see those types of comments, but that's OK. We move through it."

At one point Redford apologized to Smith after one of her campaign workers tweeted questioning why Smith doesn't have children.

The Wildrose faced a backlash over issues concerning racial identity and gay rights, when a Calgary candidate said religious minorities couldn't represent the whole community as well as Caucasians, and an Edmonton candidate who had blogged homosexuals would end up in a "lake of fire."

Smith was challenged about her position on oilsands development when she said she doubted the science on climate change.

Smith campaigned on a need for change citing the discontent over government budget deficits for five years in a province with the most vibrant economy in the country. She offered $300 cheques -— dubbed "Dani Dollars" — to Albertans after the province balances the budget adds to the Heritage Savings Fund.

The Tories came to power in 1971.

The province has a history of political dynasties. Before the four-decade Tory reign, the Social Credit Party governed for 36 years, the United Farmers of Alberta formed the government for 14 years up to 1935 following 16 years under the Alberta Liberals.

The Conservatives became a juggernaut. They won 11 consecutive majorities and eight of every 10 seats in the legislature during that time. Tory premiers Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein are among the most celebrated figures in Canadian political history.

Redford, an international human rights lawyer, won a party leadership race to replace out-going premier Ed Stelmach last fall. She talked about the need for Alberta to have an articulate and respected voice for the oilsands in Canada and internationally.

Peter McCormick, a political scientist at the University of Lethbridge, said regardless of which of the two front runners form the government, Alberta will remain in conservative hands.

"This is just a civil war inside the conservative party. I don't believe the conservatives can be defeated tonight because they're running against themselves."

In winning the election Redford will be pressured to win back disaffected Progressive Conservatives who supported Wildrose while at the same time adopting policies that reward the centrist voters supported the Tories in this election.

Another item to watch will be how Redford and the PCs interact with the federal Conservatives, many of whom were vocally supportive of Wildrose.

The last time an incumbent Alberta government was defeated was in 1971 when the upstart Progressive Conservatives under Lougheed displaced the Alberta Social Credit Party after 36 years in power, and many had seen Wildrose as following the same path.

Mason, ecstatic after his party made important inroads, said his party would focus on public health care, education and the environment.

"I can tell you we're going to have a renewed NDP opposition in that legislature," he said. "We've shown that we will not forget about a clean environment. Nobody else talks about it, but we will stand up for a clean Alberta."

"Democracy is sometimes a messy process, but there is no better way for the will of the people to be expressed," Sherman told supporters in conceding victory to Redford. "Tonight, the people of Alberta have made a decision."

Norway gives custody of NRI kids to their uncle

New Delhi, April 23
The Norwegian Court in Stavanger today announced its verdict to handover the two Indian children in foster care to their uncle, bringing to an end the prolonged battle fought by their parents over their custody.
The two kids, three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya, will return to India tomorrow along with their uncle Arunabhash. The External Affairs Ministry is making all necessary arrangements in this regard.
The two children were in the custody of the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) since last May. The court was fully satisfied with the steps taken by the Indian government and agreed to hand over the children to their uncle, saying it was better for them to grow up in India due to cultural differences.
During the last hearing in the case, the CWS and the children’s parents had submitted a joint claim to the court, stating that there was an agreement that the conditions for the kids being taken into care have been met.
A hearing on the children’s custody on March 23 did not take place after a physical argument between the parents of the children, Sagarika and Anurup Bhattacharya, in which the latter accused his wife of physical violence and hiding a psychological condition.
Following reports of discord between the couple, the CWS had said that the grounds for signing the earlier agreement did not exist any longer that it would not hand over the custody of the children to their uncle.
The parents had on March 21 jointly gave an undertaking in the presence of an Indian official that the custody of the kids could be handed over to their uncle. Thereafter, the CWS agreed to hand over the kids to the uncle.
The case witnessed a series of twists and turns with the Indian Government sending a special envoy to negotiate with the Norwegian authorities on behalf of the parents for the first time in such a row. However, the government became watchful after reports of a marital discord between the parents of the kids.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also taken up the matter with his Norwegian counterpart during the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul last month.

Alberta election: After a divisive campaign, voters cast their ballot

HIGH RIVER, ALTA.—In Premier Alison Redford’s Calgary riding on election day, Karen Crosby wouldn’t reveal who she voted for but made clear who she voted against.
“Let’s just say I voted for change,” Crosby said as she walked out of the polling station in the Southwest Calgary riding. “I don’t care if it’s a minority government as long as our present government isn’t in power anymore.”

Alberta elections are rarely this divisive. The province’s political history has followed a similar pattern since the 1930s — parties stay in power for decades until a grassroots opposition party emerges; that party takes over and rules for decades until the next grassroots opposition party emerges.
The Progressive Conservatives was the grassroots party in 1971 when it took over from the Social Credit, ending its 36-year reign. Now the Wildrose Party, the new grassroots party, wants to end the Conservatives’ 41-year record in government.
Last fall, when Redford, an international lawyer who was seen as a moderate, became the elected leader after former premier Ed Stelmach resigned because of internal dissent within his caucus, the party had a slight bounce back in the polls. But the Wildrose, which has been steadily gaining in popularity, continued its rise and ran a mostly error-free campaign.
“The Conservatives didn’t think we could mount the campaign we did and we didn’t know we would get the support we would get from the public,” said one Wildrose strategist. The fledgling party received $2.3 million in donations for the campaign compared with $1.5 million for the Conservatives. “We were able to run the campaign we did because many of our staffers were former Conservatives with experience provincially and federally.”
What has hurt the Conservatives in this campaign has been the typical issues that plague a party that has long been in power, including a dormant political machine that had little reason to fire up over the past four decades.
A Conservative strategist said moving to the progressive side of the spectrum has made the party more representative of the views of Albertans and better able to convince NDP and Liberal voters in the province that a Wildrose majority is not in their interest.
“Alison already knows that she’s not going to get the soft vote on her right flank to support her and her gains are going to be on her left flank,” said the strategist. “The Wildrose only has the right but we know that this province is not just made up of those on the right.”
The Wildrose Party became a factor after former Fraser Institute researcher and Calgary Herald columnist Danielle Smith took over as a leader in 2009, a year after the Alliance and Wildrose provincial parties merged. The new Wildrose grew rapidly in membership as some former Conservative supporters, Conservative MLAs and members fled the party over concerns it was moving to the progressive side.
“So what we ended up with is an Americanization of our Alberta politics,” said Conservative supporter Anita Loowell of Edmonton. “What we’ve got at that end, the Wildrose, is people who believe that private health care is okay, that people should look after themselves, that public education doesn’t matter and we’re all on our own. That’s not what I want.”
Wildrose supporter Alan Weenink, who voted for Smith in her riding of High River, an hour’s drive south of Calgary, sees nothing wrong with that. The Conservatives’ shift to the middle, partly in response to internal politics and partly to distinguish itself after the rise of the Wildrose, made it impossible for him to support the party he once backed.
“The people who were too conservative for the Conservatives left but look at where we’re at? We’re going to have real conservatives like Danielle Smith become the premier and a real conservative like Stephen Harper as prime minister,” he said. “The rest of the country won’t like it but that can’t be helped. We got to do what’s right for us here.”

Alberta prepares for hotly contested election

Edmonton - After a hotly contested four-week campaign, Alberta voters are expected to turn out in force Monday for the conclusion of the provincial election. 

The last time Albertans went to the polls in 2008 to choose their provincial government, voter turnout sank to a record low of 40.6 per cent.

But after a hard-fought race in 2012 that has received national — even international — attention over the past month, experts are predicting a more robust display at the polls.

“By every theory you can think of, turnout should be up,” said Harold Jansen, a political scientist at the University of Lethbridge and an expert in Canadian voter turnout. 

“Voter turnout is also supposed to go up when it’s more competitive — and we haven’t seen a competitive election like this since 1993. 

“I can’t recall the last election when I’ve seen so many people talking about it and interested in it.”

A spokesman with Elections Alberta said the office would not be able to provide a tally of voters at advance polls until all the ballots are counted Monday evening. 

But anecdotal accounts from party officials and political observers suggest big crowds have already turned out to vote in Calgary.

One of the key factors will be how well the various parties are able to get out their vote — whether it’s simply reminding people to cast a ballot or having volunteers provide rides to polling stations, Jansen said.

“Those things are important,” Jansen said. “Even if it only makes a couple-hundred votes difference, that can be the difference between a seat and not a seat.”

On Sunday, political leaders of all stripes were rallying supporters for the last big push before Monday’s election, in which Albertans will decide whether to re-elect the long-ruling Progressive Conservatives or opt for a new government in the front-running Wildrose party.

On Sunday, both parties released a tally and names of campaign contributors. Wildrose said it has collected nearly $2.4 million in donations during the four-week race, while the PCs reported a total of $1.8 million over the first 3 1/2 weeks.

In Edmonton, Liberal leader Raj Sherman wouldn’t predict how many seats his party will end up with after the election, but argued a vote split between the Tories and Wildrose will benefit his members.
Speaking in the same city on Sunday, NDP leader Brian Mason said his party has concentrated its campaigning in key ridings, and feels they are in a “very good” position.

Alberta Election will have National impact

Edmonton - The Alberta provincial election campaign heads into its final sprint this weekend, leading up to Monday's vote, in a race that is as exciting as it is important for the rest of the country.

Danielle Smith's upstart Wildrose party is ahead in the polls and appears on the verge of defeating Alison Redford's ruling Progressive Conservatives and toppling the 41-year Tory dynasty.

At stake are the keys to the premier's office and control over one of the richest jurisdictions in North America, as two conservative parties battle it out in what's a messy political civil war.

Yet, all Canadians arguably have an enormous amount riding on the results of the election - both politically and economically.

"It matters (to Canadians), given that the population centre and the economic centre of gravity is starting to move West," said Duane Bratt, political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

"The premier of Alberta should be playing a larger role on the national stage."

Indeed, resource-rich Alberta has become an economic juggernaut in Confederation.

The northern Alberta oilsands contribute tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs across the country and billions of dollars to the national economy.

Moreover, the federal Conservative government's environmental policies and regulatory reforms for oil and gas projects are influenced by Alberta's petroleum-powered economy.

The province also remains a lightning rod within Canada - and around the world - for the environmental footprint of carbon-intensive oilsands developments on land, air and water.

Also, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has complained the high "petro-dollar" is hobbling Central Canada's manufacturing sector.

The oilsands are the third-largest proven oil reserves in the world next to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

Certainly, Wild Rose Country remains a polarizing province. Alberta's role in Confederation and how Canadians view the province could be heavily shaped by the results of Monday's vote.

"Twenty years ago, people wouldn't have cared because Alberta was not the economic powerhouse that it now is," said David Taras, a political analyst at Mount Royal University.

Courtesy: Edmonton Journal