A Provincial Election. We Haz It.

Alberta premier calls election
Jason Markusoff and Archie McLean, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Monday, February 04

EDMONTON - And they're off - and they're all in favour of ending health-care premiums.

Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach formally announced a March 3 election this afternoon, hours after his government's throne speech said the Tories would eliminate health care premiums by 2012.

Safe to say, this is not a surprise election call... The Tory candidate in our riding actually showed up on my doorstep on Sunday morning, waving campaign literature (politely accepted) and asking permission to put up a sign (politely declined). He seemed an pleasant chap, but I'm still not voting for him.

Conventional wisdom on this one is that the Conservatives will probably lose some seats, but I don't think anybody really expects them to lose the election. There is the outside possibility that we'll end up with a minority government, but I think even that's a long-shot. Part of the problem is that none of the opposition parties really show much sign of having the ability to make a run at ousting the Tories. Parallels have been drawn between Ed Stelmach and Harry Strom, but I think they overlook the fact that, when the Socreds were finally ousted from government, the man doing the ousting was Peter freakin' Lougheed. Kevin Taft and Brian Mason, while excellent fellows both, are a bit lacking in the charisma department compared to Lougheed.

Much more importantly, though, is that the upcoming provincial election means that it's time for another Oi! Thump! Election Guide! It will begin as soon as I've figured out what form the snark will take this time around!