No doubt you have seen the ads put out by Elections Alberta in the past couple weeks to encourage participation in the upcoming election.
In trying to bring up voter numbers, Elections Alberta is taking a comedic tact. The ads all depict people forcefully making choices for others, like swapping out a man’s cute puppy for a not-so-cuddly turtle.
The theme of the ads is “Don’t let others decide for you.” The idea is that if you don’t vote, then you also don’t have a say in this province’s future.
And while it’s true that all provincial elections are important, this one feels particularly meaningful.
Barring a surprise victory by the Alberta Party of the Alberta Liberals that comes completely out of left field, this election will come down to either the NDP or the UCP. You could not have two parties that are so diametrically opposed in their ideals and election promises.
Oh, certainly, they both have the general goal of Alberta’s wellbeing, and both certainly advocate for the construction of pipelines.
But the NDP’s promises involve using carbon levy funds to help farmers, eliminating drug co-pay programs for seniors, creating 13,000 new child care spaces and bringing high-speed Internet for rural Alberta. In other words, their platform is centred on addressing social needs.
Meanwhile, the UCP stand for cutting corporate taxes, funding new technology to cut carbon emissions, establishing a new minimum wage for youth, scrapping the carbon levy and undoing the legislation that mandated WCB coverage for paid farm workers. Theirs is a platform focused almost entirely on economic growth.
And while this poll or that may point a certain way, who can forget that the 2015 election was once “in the bag” for either the PCs or the Wildrose?
Even our own newly-formed riding is a bit of a toss-up. Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock may have been safe territory for the UCP once, but the addition of Athabasca introduces an element of uncertainty. After all, Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater went to the NDP last election
And who knows? While we spoke somewhat dismissively earlier about the chance of another party winning, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
So this province could look very different depending on who takes this province in a week’s time. It’s fair to say that we stand at a major crossroads.
But whether or not Alberta stays on the left or veers to the right depends entirely on the collective will of all Albertans, including you. So please, on April 16, get out and vote.
