It’s hard not to feel a little politically hopeless when you live in a right-wing mecca. Conservative supremacy reigned following the last federal election and every single seat in Alberta was handed to the Tories. While not surprising, it’s still disturbing--not on account of my political views, but because it seems dangerous that a dominant ideology is so pervasive that leaders don’t bother addressing the province and conservatives can take their seats for granted.
In view of that, today was a very good day in my riding. The incumbent was confident enough to give his victory speech before the final results were in. But shortly afterward, his supporters were forced to yank him off stage. A dramatic surge had brought his NDP rival within range. And by the end of an agonizing night, he became the only conservative in the province to lose his seat. By a mere 442 votes.
While I’m happy with the result, it's almost as satisfying to have witnessed a rare race rather than the typical landslide in Alberta's sea of blue.
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2 comments:
Yep, the NDP's win in Edmonton-Strathcona was a splotch of mustard on the blue pantsuit that is Alberta.
I thought it was hilarious that Jaffer had started his speech, but Globe and Mail and CBC had already marked the riding as "elected." Kind of fitting he had to eat crow given some of his tactics during the campaign.
I think you're right... It's not advantageous to be part of a stable voting bloc - I think also of Christians in America (with some notable exceptions).
I feel like some sort of proportional representation is needed with Canada's 5 party system. Maybe something like the New Zealand system. I think it has 1/2 of its parliament elected in first-past-the-post races, and the other 1/2 based on total voter breakdown. That would actually make it important to vote in an otherwise one party province.
Good point about Christians in America.
I didn't realize that's how it worked in NZ, but I'd definitely be a fan of a similar system. I think it'd restore a lot of hope in the democratic process.
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