“I think that change has finally come to Alberta,” premier-elect Rachel Notley said Tuesday night, in her victory speech at the New Democratic Party election party in Edmonton.
It didn’t take long after the polls closed in Alberta for the CTV Election Desk to project the NDP would win the provincial election that projection came just over 30 minutes after voting stations closed.
A short time after that, officials projected the NDP would form a majority government.
The results were not necessarily a surprise; recent polls had shown the Progressive Conservatives, who had governed for more than four decades straight, faced a serious challenge from two different parties, the Wildrose and the New Democratic Party.
A victory for the PCs, with Jim Prentice at the helm, would have seen the party form their 13th consecutive majority government – a party that has been in control of the Alberta legislature since they swept the Social Credit party out of office 44 years ago. That dynasty had lasted 36 years.
In the end, the NDP ‘orange crush’ swept much of Alberta, with candidates for the party winning dozens of the 87 seats.
“I am deeply humbled, and I want to pledge to you the people of Alberta that we will work every day to earn your trust,” Notley said. “It’s been said before and it’s true you can’t go wrong if you stay with the values and common sense of Albertans.”
Notley went on to address the energy sector.
“To Alberta’s job creators great and small in the energy sector and every other sector, our government will be a good partner and we will work with you to grow our economy and to secure a more prosperous future for every Albertan in every community,” Notley said.
“We need finally to end the boom and bust rollercoaster we have been riding on.”
The loss for the PCs was devastating, while one of those PC seats was for Prentice, he announced in his concession speech Tuesday evening that he was stepping down as leader of the party and as MLA for Calgary-Foothills.
By 11:15 p.m., most of the votes were in, and 84 seats in the Alberta Legislature had been decided:
- The New Democrats were elected or led in 53 constituencies – a huge increase from the four seats the party had at dissolution
- The Wildrose Party had been elected, or was leading in 21 constituencies – an increase from the five seats the party had when the writ was dropped
- The PCs were elected or were leading in 11 constituencies – down from 70 seats at dissolution
- Liberal leader David Swann was the only MLA to be reelected for his party – the Liberals lost four seats
- Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark put his party on the seating chart, winning his Calgary-Elbow riding
It was a change from earlier Tuesday, when Prentice was upbeat as he and his wife Karen, cast their votes in his constituency of Calgary-Foothills. Prentice declined questions from reporters.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Rachel Notley voted in an advance poll – at a campaign stop at a home on Edmonton’s south side Tuesday, she fought back tears as she thanked a handful of volunteers.
Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean was greeted by supporters as he voted at his polling station in his Fort McMurray-Conklin riding.
Back in Calgary, Liberal Leader David Swann voted in his riding of Calgary-Mountain View with his four-year-old grandson. Swann said his party could play an important role in a minority government.
Tuesday marked the end of a 28 day election campaign that started when Prentice dropped the writ on April 7, a year earlier than necessary under provincial law – saying he needed a mandate for the tough budget brought forward in March.
That budget proposed sweeping increases in taxes and user fees, and cuts in government spending, with the goal of stopping the province’s reliance on fluctuating oil prices for its revenue.
At dissolution, the PCs held the majority – 70 out of 87 seats in the legislature. It was supposed to be a victory lap for Prentice – as all four major parties had first-time leaders, but the Wildrose and Liberals were both coming off of changes in leadership, and the NDP hadn’t won more than 16 seats in an election.
However, in the weeks that followed, the campaign didn’t turn out the way it was expected to.
The Wildrose had criticized Prentice for not cutting enough spending, and Jean had promised to not raise taxes. Other parts of the Wildrose platform included a promise to balance the budget by 2017 through cuts to management jobs, reprioritizing building projects and holding the line on taxes.
The NDP had criticized Prentice for cutting too much, while sparing corporations from tax increases. Notley said she would have a balanced budget by 2018 by increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy, while spending more on health and education.
Prentice was quick to ridicule both plans, calling them unrealistic.
The polls have suggested there is a surge in support for the NDP, with a strong showing Edmonton, and the party hoped to have a breakthrough in the traditionally Tory Calgary. Support in the polls for the Wildrose was concentrated in rural areas outside of Calgary and Edmonton.
For his part, Swann ran a low-key campaign promising to fix long wait times for health care and improve social services for all ages – he said his party would be able to work with the NDP in a minority government situation. In the end, Swann was the only Liberal MLA to be reelected.
In the past, voter turnout has been typically low in Alberta, but if numbers from advance polls are any indication that trend could change. Alberta’s chief electoral officer said advance voting was up 31 percent over the 2012 provincial election.
With files from The Canadian Press
