Alberta Election Predictions

[TOM4CWB]

It will be a very interesting election!

PC Alison Redford was a reasonable facsimile of a socialist...last time

THis time around... ...Ms ND Notley is a much nicer and gentler socialist... than Slick Oilman PC Prentice! PC will lose big with previous left political support.

Rural Alberta; for good reason would be well served by Wildrose Jean... Brian in person is a wonderful smart astute Familybusiness man. Down to earth and motivated to build a better Alberta!

Will the Progressive vote transfer to ND and Conservative to Wildrose?

Still 11 sleeps to go. ND Ms Notley Holds this election in her hands!!!

Vvalk... your Debate 'shivering' assessment is bang on for many in rural Alberta.

Will the shift to Wildrose bring a Mulroney/Iggy (150 down to 3 type)style PC?Lib collapse? Only time will tell!!!

From day one of this campaign... the early illegal (2016 scheduled) election call... exposes Slick PC Prentice to a massive risk in this direction!

The musings of a Killam Hunger Striker... day 54!!!

[charliep]

Just curious what is getting the Alberta farm community excited/passionate in this election. 2012 was land use legislation. I don't have a strong sense of any issue other than those that would resonate in the general/urban population. What are the differnet parties saying relative to agriculture that is unique/a different policy direction from today?

[TOM4CWB]

Dear Charlie,

Premier Jim has put out press releases saying PC will reverse land bills and protect property rights. I don't see anyone trusting what he says... it does not match his direction as leader... (many see him as a slick political opportunist)which is unlikely to motivate past supporters.

Door knocking in rural towns has shown a massive surge for Wildrose from the 2012 election results. Time will tell!

For those looking for a snowy drive to a political event Saturday:

Dave Hanson, Wildrose candidate for Lac La Biche - St.Paul - Two Hills, would like to invite you to meet Wildrose Leader Brian Jean.

Where: Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park, Lac La Biche
When: Saturday, April 25 at 10:30am

If you don't know where Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park is, please meet us at Squirrley's Gas Bar (10303 101 Avenue, Lac La Biche) at 10:00am and we can drive out together.
....

We look forward to having you join us to share in the excitement. For more information, please call Kathleen at 780-404-3920

[bluefargo]

Predicting Alberta elections is so easy!
PC's with a strong majority

[northfarmer]

Alberta prov govt has a spending problem not a revenue problem. I support the party that will focus on the fiscal issue. I cannot predict the vagaries of the urban voters beyond the entrepreneurs and business owners like myself. It is always surprising who will manage to get the vote out and what segments of our population actually make the effort to cast the ballot.

I am hoping for major changes and a new WRP Premier, the polls suggest a possibility but a long way from reality. He will be the best choice for farmers in my mind.

Our local WRP candidate is by far the best one in the local race.

[Horse]

The only diference I see between Con/ND is the unions would be running the gov instead of corporate oil. And no I dont vote ND but I do like some of thier ideas in our constituancy we have a poor lot to pick from,and very intrenched Con party, so as usual I will hope for someone else to change things.
As for land Who but lease holders have anything to gain by intrenching property rights. They have 100s of millions at stake here because thats what they now collect that should be going into prov coffers.
I asked this gov how much increase to grazing lease fees and have not recieved an answer yet . When Ralph was slaying the dragon it was $1.39 / cow calf pair/month and here we are now and its the same,hunting lisnces went up , camping fees up gas tax up all kinds of user fees up, I guess some things are sacred. One would think with where cattle prices are cowboys wouldnt need the welfare anymore.

[cottonpicken]

Not 100% sure but it sounds like the budget has major structural problems that oil prices cant even fix. There needs to be real change in spending. At this point in time Alberta could maybe do it without raising taxes unlike other economies who need to raise taxes and cut spending. This is what austerity is. To bad it's the young people that have to pay the price for previous generations mis management.

[bucket]

Cotton

Why do you think parsley is so pissed at having to pay taxes. That generation started on this path thinking they could push it to the next generation.

Some won't outlive the mess they made and will pay dearly for electing the likes of Trudeau in the 70s.

[bucket]

And unfortunately, I have to accept responsibility for the people that gave governed here during my time and the bills that will be coming due by balancing budget but running an infrastructure deficit 10x higher.

Just think if the infrastructure in this country kept up with productivity. This country would be far better off. Probably have 60 million people living here.

[cottonpicken]

I should maybe take a little of that back. Multiple factors came into play after the fact when things like Medicare where introduced making the future harder to predict. Dont know how good tommy d was at math but if you explained to him healthcare costs would rise at a 3ish percent rate and take us to where we are today to twenty grand a year for a family of four he maybe would have checked his premise.

One common theme across all governments is that they are at the end of the rope. Sky high taxes and increasing needs and a public that is unwilling to accept the tough choices that need to be made.

[TOM4CWB]

Cotton,

AS with anything that gov. provides that is 'free' costs will grow and grow!

Prentice is simply wrong about health care not improving when folks have a choice. Wealthy folks in Alberta already have a choice... with NO help from Prentice... in effect according to Prentice we DO already have a 2 tier health system. Rich people can and do go out of country when put in a corner. A wait time assurance of reasonable service is only: fair, reasonable, and needed.

[cottonpicken]

There was a time when we had a more stable money supply and deflation was cheered.

I agree there is a 2 tier system which is good because it takes pressure off the system.

Must really suck to be a smart politician and not be able to say any truth because you know you wont get elected