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Alberta Provincial Politics

If an election was held today, who would you vote for?

  • UCP

    Votes: 8 13.3%
  • NDP

    Votes: 44 73.3%
  • Liberal

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Alberta Party

    Votes: 4 6.7%
  • Undecided

    Votes: 4 6.7%

  • Total voters
    60
Nenshi wins the NDP leadership race with 62,746 votes out of a total of 72,930 votes cast.

Ganley: 5,899 votes
Hoffman: 3,063 votes
Stonehouse: 1,222 votes
Love that Notley’s swan song was opposing a position endorsed by the top two leadership candidates. Bye bye Alberta NDP ‘brain trust’.
 
To the surprise of nobody, Nenshi wins, but what surprised me was the margin of victory with 86% of the vote in the first run.
Clearly a lot of NDPers who are also pragmatists. Nenshi might not fit the typical NDP mold, but he gives them a chance to win.
 
Lots of interesting politics ahead. Not just between the UCP and NDP, but politics within the NDP party will be interesting.
depends how big the win is. If large enough, the party comes to him. If Edmonton caucus members grumble well they don't have to run for a 4th term in their safe seats. I am sure there will be great, pragmatic people who will be happy to take their place.
Nenshi needed that clear victory for sure, otherwise it may have been a gong show within the party, but this tells me most have accepted Nashi as their best shot to win.
 
Now my question with Nenshi at the helm is, will the party re-brand to distance themselves from the federal party?
There is the political question, that's easy. An NDP'er in Ottawa says something, the leader distances and admonishes, and the tone is set.

Then there is the constitutional question.

Typically after a leadership change, a person taking over a party would want one general meeting to change over the party executive, then a subsequent one to change the constitution.

NDP conventions require 120 days notice. So let's say the leader wanted to take advantage of all the new memberships sold before they all lapse at the end of the year, they need to call a convention on July 10th for November 9th. But the leader doesn't control the board. And what if the board is full of old party people who don't like that they have 80,000 new members with potential influence. So the board goes meh, what's the rush, and calls one for February instead, which requires every riding association to hold meetings to select delegates with the limited membership list. And note I said select, not elect. So old party people of riding association boards then select themselves, who don't want any change, to go to the province wide meeting.

Instead, the new entrants need to: take over ridings at AGM meetings, then take over the party at the province wide AGM. Then after they have control over both, change the constitution.
 
I can't imagine there would be much of a civil war while Smith is still premier. Like Trump, she unites everyone who doesn't like her. As long as Smith keeps hacking away at AHS, banning renewable energy, spouting conspiracy theories, going after trans kids, etc., she'll be a strong unifying force for the NDP and all non-conservative Albertans.

The civil war might become more of an issue when it comes to governing. There will definitely be governance decisions that will pit the pro-business side of their base against the pro-labour side.
 
I can't imagine there would be much of a civil war while Smith is still premier. Like Trump, she unites everyone who doesn't like her. As long as Smith keeps hacking away at AHS, banning renewable energy, spouting conspiracy theories, going after trans kids, etc., she'll be a strong unifying force for the NDP and all non-conservative Albertans.

The civil war might become more of an issue when it comes to governing. There will definitely be governance decisions that will pit the pro-business side of their base against the pro-labour side.
The direction of the NDP will be interesting to watch. In the past they've always been mostly an Edmonton centric, pro-labour, pro-public sector type party, but now there's been a definite shift.
 
I can't imagine there would be much of a civil war while Smith is still premier. Like Trump, she unites everyone who doesn't like her. As long as Smith keeps hacking away at AHS, banning renewable energy, spouting conspiracy theories, going after trans kids, etc., she'll be a strong unifying force for the NDP and all non-conservative Albertans.

The civil war might become more of an issue when it comes to governing. There will definitely be governance decisions that will pit the pro-business side of their base against the pro-labour side.
Much of the opposition to the UCP is from public sector unions. How long will their marriage of convenience to Nenshi last?

Only in delusional unionland has AHS been "hacked"? It's budget is up 4.4%: https://www.alberta.ca/budget-highlights. That is lower than inflation plus population growth but that will be true of all budgets everywhere as inflation erodes living standards.

I suspect Nenshi's thin skin will get him before an NDP civil war takes root. Will the party be on the hook to cover his legal bills when he defames a real estate developer or ridesharing service or whomever doesn't bow down to his superior GPA?
 
The direction of the NDP will be interesting to watch. In the past they've always been mostly an Edmonton centric, pro-labour, pro-public sector type party, but now there's been a definite shift.
Just one poll of 801 people, but NDP support in Edmonton down to its lowest in a long time, only up 2 pts vs NDP. Alberta's economy is pretty strong, and Smith has been fairly restrained (budget definitely came in higher than expected). The gap will definitely narrow when an election nears

 

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