Nobody trusted the pollsters. They were the only ones who saw what would happen to the Alberta Conservative dynasty in Tuesday’s election. Babel-on-the-Bay failed to judge the extent of the anger. Everyone conceded that NDP Leader Rachel Notley was coming on strong. Who knew that Albertans were so mad at Jim Prentice and his Tories that the party would end up a poor third?
But there are only two lessons to be learned. Lesson one is that it is enormously stupid for a politician to tell the voters to look in the mirror if they want to know what has gone wrong. Lesson two is who will voters turn to when they are displeased with politicians?
Prentice can share lesson one with Prime minister Stephen Harper. He shares Prentice’s arrogance. Harper also shares the blame for the economy to have taken a dump. He shares the blame for the reliance on out-of-province pipelines that are not being built. He shares the blame for the economy being based on a volatile commodity such as oil. They both share the blame for a do-nothing approach to the environment.
Mr. Harper did not help Mr. Prentice. Now Mr. Prentice cannot help Mr. Harper.
But lesson two is the more complex of the two lessons. Remember NDP Leader Rachel Notley is the daughter of a once highly regarded politician. She is also the chosen leader of an established political party. Yet her advantage was that she was not perceived as being highly political. She is able to laugh at political missteps. She had a tendency to use simple logic to answer questions instead of giving a political answer.
Case in point: Rachel Notley was castigated by opponents for approving of two pipelines for Alberta bitumen but questioning two others. This was condemned as heresy by other parties because of the supposed economic costs to the province. While this was really just the stance of the federal New Democrats that she was raising but it was presumed to be apolitical by the voters. She might just be the better politician.
The person least likely to benefit much from Rachel Notley’s surprise win in Alberta is federal New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair. The one thing Tommy cannot deny is the fact that he is very much a politician. He looks the part. He acts the part. There is no point in his trying to hide it.
But what the Rachel Notley win in Alberta demonstrates is the need for political change. Alberta needs it. The country needs it. And the only two leaders of national parties who can benefit from that need are Elizabeth May of the Green Party and Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party. They both offer change. And that subject needs more discussion…
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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