If there's one thing I think we can take away from the Alberta election, it's that Alberta is a lot more centrist than most people, including Albertans themselves, realize. The Wildrose arguably got derailed when people began to suspect that it was a lot farther to the right than they said they were, in no small part due the controversy over "conscience rights" and how a Wildrose government would handle things like gay marriage and abortion. Smith herself said she was pro-gay marriage and pro-choice, but when you consider the way she downplayed the comments made by Hunsperger, you have to wonder how she would have actually handled the issue if the Wildrose had formed the government.

And then there was the talk about setting up a provincial police force or pension plan-the Wildrose had to clarify that they had nothing against the RCMP, and would only review the "feasibility" of a provincial pension plan. Similarly, you could see it in the emphasis the Wildrose put on their healthcare proposals, which talked about reducing wait times rather than privatizing the system. Just look at what Smith herself had to say about how some of the Wildrose's policies might need to be reviewed.

If you ask me, a lot of the Wildrose's support in the rural areas came from people angry over the Tories' handling of things like the Heartland transmission powerlines, the provincial deficit, and things like that. Property rights are a big issue in rural Alberta, especially in relation to energy and land planning. Even in my neck of the woods, where the Tory candidates won by comfortable majorities, I still recall reading numerous letters to the editor in my local paper from irate landowners in rural areas like Sturgeon County and stories about how they raked PC members over the coals at townhall meetings in regards to the new bills affecting the Heartland transmission line.

Conversely, Alison Redford's support for a national energy strategy didn't seem to hurt her politically, and neither did her support for a pipeline heading east to ship more of our oil and bitumen to be refined in Canada, rather than the U.S. Redford has been disparaginly called a "Red Tory" by some of her critics on the right, which again didn't really hurt her all that much politically.

But like I said, we're a lot more centrist than we think. I've noticed just how much support there is in Alberta for upgrading more of our bitumen locally instead of shipping it to another country, as well as the calls in some circles for more economic diversification so we're not so reliant on the oil and gas industry. Even the Wildrose alluded to these things in its platform, although how that would mesh with the laissez-faire statements it was making would have been interesting to see.

I could list half a dozen other examples, like:

* The fact that Ralph Klein's refusal to use the notwithstanding clause to overturn the Vriend case ordering us to include gay rights in our human rights codes didn't hurt him politically;

* The fact that Klein convened the royalty review, which he never would have done if the Liberals, the NDP and their supporters were the only ones calling for it;

* The calls for a national energy strategy first being raised by think tanks like the Canada West Foundation and noted business leaders in the oilpatch;

* The negative reaction that forced Klein to abandon his "Third Way" healthcare proposals, and Smith's promise to respect the Canada Health Act;

* Specific tax breaks and rebates for the oilpatch to create more jobs than the free market would on its own, along with subsidies to smaller family farms to help maintain their viability and ensure a safe food supply;

* The fact that every long gun registry-hating Albertan that I've asked about the subject has no issue at all with keeping the handgun registry in place;

* Alberta conservative icons like Preston Manning now advocating for environmentalism, supporting prices on carbon and saying that Albertans need a "wake up call" on the environment (in the May 22, 2009 edition of the Calgary Herald);

* Rural folks that I've met in places like Cochrane, who could be big Stephen Harper fans but also dead set against further integration with the U.S., or who thought that Obama was doing a decent job but were shocked at how vehemently their Texan friends disagreed;

When you combine all these things, they suggest to me that Alberta's much more nuanced and centrist than many people realize, including many Albertans themselves. It also suggests that we have more in common with the rest of Canada than we sometimes realize, including recognizing the positive role the government can play in developing society and the economy (within limitations, of course), a broader support for the social safety net than you'd find in the U.S., and generally not being bothered very much by things like gay marriage, especially compared to the fervor with which these issues are debated in the U.S.

Thoughts?

   

I always liked the way you write Jared. Can't wait till we find a topic where you and Khar have opposite views.

But I only dissagree with one point you made. Wildrose didn't want to respect the Canada Health Act. They already know that all Doctor's clinics are private, and there are many private operating rooms throughout Alberta that the public system pays to use. By letting Patients 'choose' to pay for services in private clinics that are covered under Alberta Healthcare, they would intentionally break the basic tenet of the CHA.