Random Thoughts on the Events of Yesterday


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• The size of the Tory majority was greater than I'd thought it would be.
• The size of the voter turnout was smaller than expected. These two points may be related.
• The Wildrose Alliance Party got deservedly shut out.
• Craig Chandler did not get elected.
• Rachel Notley did, so virtue, in that small regard, triumphed.
• The Tories may now hold the majority in Edmonton, but they're going to have to work to keep it. Edmonton voters get pissed off fairly easily.
• As Alison has pointed out at Creekside, many Alberta voters will now be represented by very few MLAs. This election was among other things, a scream for some nod to proportional representation.
• The Green Party did very well, doubling their vote from last time out.
• Our riding saw the Liberal incumbent defeated by a Tory newcomer. This isn't too surprising, as our riding has gone back and forth between the two parties over the last few provincial elections.
• Ed Stelmach has been, and will be, a far better premier than Ralph Klein. This does not mean that he has been, or will be, a good premier.
• Alberta is once again the political laughing stock of Canada. This time out, Alberta earned it.
• Oddly enought, Calgary has now has more Liberals in the legislature than Edmonton. That didn't used to happen...
• Edmonton, however, has the only two NDPers.
• Despite having one quarter the number of seats that the Liberals do, the NDP is actually in better shape for the next election. The Liberals have got to pretty much start over, while the NDP already has (and don't underestimate the Notley name being back in their ranks).
• The Wildrose Alliance may go away, but the people involved with it will put something else together to try to lure the lunatic right vote away from the Tories.
• Even with a small number of seats, the opposition should still be able to hold Ed Stelmach's feet to the fire, at least a certain amount of the time.

R.I.P.

So, we lost a good one last week:

Ex-Alberta NDP leader dies
By Jim Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON - Pam Barrett was a firecracker of Alberta politics who fought for the little guy, never backed away from a scrap and became a respected opponent of her political foes.

The former leader of the Alberta New Democrats died in hospital Monday night after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 54.

I had the great priviledge of meeting Pam Barrett socially, at a party one evening, and she was a most impressive individual. Probably my favourite moment of her career was her forcing Ralph Klein to back away from legislation which would have prevented those mentally handicapped people who were sterilized without their consent or knowledge during the 1960s from suing for compensation. Barrett and the NDP backed the provincial Conservatives down despite being outnumbered, seat-wise, about 20-to-1 (she was actually pretty good friends with Klein, despite their political differences - I wonder what she would have done with Ed Stelmach?).

Pam Barrett will be missed!