Skip to main content

FM
Former Member

PPP is the government from 1992 -- 23 continuous years.

 

On May 11, 2015, PPP/C will again form the government after the elections.

 

Progressive Conservative of Alberta is in government from 1971 -- 44 continuous years.

 

On May 05, 2015 the Progressive Conservative of Alberta, most likely, will win another term in government.

 

Perhaps, PPP/C will be in government for a very long time.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Why is the Alberta election going to cost $23.5 million?

By Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal April 17, 2015, Source

 

Why is the Alberta election going to cost $23.5 million?

Poll clerks, supervisors, election mail-outs, temporary offices Β­β€” it seems everything is expensive running an election in a province like Alberta.

Photograph by: Larry Wong , Edmonton Journal, file

EDMONTON - Poll clerks, supervisors, election mail-outs, temporary offices Β­β€” it seems everything is expensive running an election in a province like Alberta.

 

When Premier Jim Prentice asked the lieutenant-governor to dissolve the assembly a full year earlier than the fix election date, opposition parties accused him of wasting taxpayer dollars. We dug deeper to find out why a provincial election costs $23.5 million.

 

Why is this election so expensive?

A major court battle following the 2011 federal election forced jurisdictions across the country to increase standards. The Supreme Court found several clerical errors after a tight race in the Etobicoke riding of Toronto.

 

β€œWe’ve all been impacted by that Supreme Court decision,” said Drew Westwater, spokesman for Elections Alberta. To increase supervision this time around, Elections Alberta is hiring 87 additional trainers, one for each returning office. It’s also looking for 1,200 additional information officers, one for each school gym or other location where there are multiple polling booths. Those new information officers greet voters and answer questions, freeing up on-site supervisors to pay more attention to what’s happening on the floor.

 

 

The new positions are part of the reason why Alberta’s costs jumped to $23.5 million this year from the $15 million it cost to run the election in 2012.

β€œRCMP  

What will the money be spent on?

β€œThere’s a huge human element. Forty-four per cent of our budget is spent on people,” said Westwater. They’ve budgeted $10.3 million for wages.Elections Alberta needs 18,000 people to work election day, manning the booths and counting ballots at 6,500 polls in 1,500 locations. In Calgary and Edmonton this year, staff are struggling to find enough people.

 

Alberta’s election law also requires Elections Alberta to find and rent 87 returning offices, one in each riding, on short notice. They compete with candidates for space and need those offices to be large enough for four staff members. Elections Alberta budgeted $1 million for those offices and another $1.6 million to rent voting locations on election day.

 

A further $4.3 million will be used to mail each elector a notice that an election is being held and a second notice to tell them where to vote.

Just printing election ballots and other materials for the big day costs $1.9 million.

 

β€œIt’s a lot of money, but there’s a simple explanation for it,” said Westwater.

 

How does Alberta compare to other jurisdictions?

β€œWe spend less per election than the two jurisdictions we’re comparable to in Canada. That hopefully puts it in perspective,” said Westwater.

 

If this election is on budget, Alberta will have spent $9.40 per elector, he said.

 

In comparison, British Columbia has a population of 3.2 million eligible voters. They recently spent $34.8 million on an election, which works out to about $10.88 apiece. Ontario, a province with 9.2 million eligible voters, spent $90.3 million on a recent election, he said. That works out to about $9.82 per elector.

 

Both of those elections took place after the Supreme Court ruling required additional supervision.

 

Will there be a political cost to the early election call?

That’s a question that can only be answered May 5 when the ballot counts roll in.

 

The early election call feeds into a narrative that the current government is willing to ignore its own laws for political advantage, said Michael DeMoor, political theory professor at The King’s University in Edmonton. β€œThis is potentially seen as one more piece of evidence that might drive people to support one of the alternative parties.”

 

But DeMoor said it’s also possible Alberta will see a repeat of last election, when an opposition party started to poll strongly and voters flocked to the Progressive Conservatives.

 

β€œThat actually seems fairly likely,” he said. β€œIn fact, that seems to be a trend in provincial elections in Canada in the five years or so, where during campaigns the polls suggest a big change is possible and when people actually get to the polls they go back to what’s familiar.”

 

estolte@edmontonjournal.com

twitter.com/estolte

FM

Alberta party leaders ramp up rhetoric ahead of Tuesday vote

By Karen Kleiss, Edmonton Journal May 3, 2015, Source

 

Alberta party leaders ramp up rhetoric ahead of Tuesday vote

PC leader Jim Prentice prepares for a hug during a rally for Edmonton-Meadowlark candidate Katherine O'Neill at the Cha for Tea Palace Restaurant on May 3, 2015, in Edmonton.

Photograph by: Greg Southam , Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - On the last weekend of the 2015 provincial election campaign, party leaders pulled out all the stops, amping up the rhetoric and traversing the province to win voters’ hearts.

 

More than 1,000 NDP supporters turned out for a political rally Sunday in Edmonton where leader Rachel Notley responded directly to the five Tory-connected businessmen who attacked her party Friday.

 

The men, who together donated $95,000 to Jim Prentice’s long-governing Progressive Conservative party over five years and received millions in government contracts and appointments, urged Albertans to β€œthink straight” and vote Tory in the May 5 election.

 

β€œRight here in this city on Friday, the PC party made ... their final case to Albertans,” Notley said.

 

β€œIt was delivered by five conservative businessmen. They lined up in front of the media in a luxury penthouse boardroom, in a tower not too far from here, and they asked this: Why? Why should we have to pay anything?”

 

The packed Ramada Hotel ballroom erupted in boos. Notley listed the reasons she has pledged to raise Alberta’s corporate tax rate to 12 per cent from 10 per cent: To help pay for education, health care, seniors’ care and child care.

 

β€œJim Prentice said Alberta is not an NDP province,” Notley said. β€œHe’s right, because Alberta doesn’t belong to any political party. Alberta is not a PC province, it’s not a Wildrose province, Alberta belongs to Albertans.

 

β€œAnd Albertans β€” Albertans β€” are going to decide who the government is. Not Jim Prentice. And not his five friends.”

 

Also campaigning in Edmonton on Sunday, Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice cautioned voters against experimenting with β€œa different approach.”

 

Speaking to hundreds of worshippers at a Sikh gurdwara in Mill Woods, Prentice said his party will maintain the economic strength of the province.

β€œThat is what is at stake in this election. This is not the time for us to depart and take a different approach,” Prentice said.

 

Afterward, Prentice said voters have a choice between the Tory β€œfree enterprise vision” and the NDP, which would raise corporate taxes and initiate a royalty review.

 

β€œWe don’t need a royalty review. We shouldn’t be increasing taxes and costing ourselves jobs at the very moment that it’s going to damage the economy,” Prentice said.

 

Over the weekend, both Notley and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean pledged to reform Alberta’s election financing laws, banning union and corporate donations. Jean continued the theme Sunday, releasing his party’s donor list and calling on his opponents to do the same.

 

β€œBluntly, it does look like Jim (Prentice) is in the pocket of big business and Rachel (Notley) looks like she’s in the pocket of big unions,” Jean said in Calgary on Sunday.

 

β€œThe Wildrose, however, is funded by everyday Albertans from right across the province, from every city and every town and right across rural Alberta.”

 

The Wildrose list shows the party received $735,567 in total contributions over $250 from 442 donors, and more than $1 million in total. Tories and Liberals released no figures. A spokeswoman for the NDP said the party has raised $1.2 million during the election from 10,000 donors, but had not yet compiled a list for release.

 

In an open letter to Notley released Sunday, interim Liberal leader David Swann proposed to work with the NDP if a minority government is elected Tuesday, but then attacked NDP policies.

 

β€œWhile we agree on many social issues, Alberta Liberals have serious questions about the NDP’s economic plan and budget,” Swann wrote.

 

β€œHow much will you be increasing royalties by and how many job losses do you expect,” he asked, though Notley has pledged only to review royalty rates, not to raise them. β€œDoes the NDP anticipate that Albertans, under your leadership, will be losing jobs, making less money, or both?”

 

The final poll of the campaign by Mainstreet Technologies showed the NDP with 44 per cent support among decided voters, compared to 26 per cent for the Wildrose and 21 per cent for the Progressive Conservatives.

 

The NDP support, however, is heavily concentrated in Edmonton and the numbers may not translate into seats in Calgary and rural Alberta, pollsters have said.

 

kkleiss@edmontonjournal.com

twitter.com/ablegreporter

FM
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:

PPP is the government from 1992 -- 23 continuous years.

 

On May 11, 2015, PPP/C will again form the government after the elections.

 

Progressive Conservative of Alberta is in government from 1971 -- 44 continuous years.

 

On May 05, 2015 the Progressive Conservative of Alberta, most likely, will win another term in government.

 

Perhaps, PPP/C will be in government for a very long time.

GNI's Ms. Cleo falters once again. This is great news for the APNU+AFC Coalition.

 

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics...of-pc-rule-1.2359035

 

Alberta election: NDP wins majority, ending 44 years of PC rule

Mars

NDP sweep Edmonton ridings

 

By Sheila Pratt, Edmonton Journal, May 6, 2015 5:23 AM, Source

 

In a historic moment, the NDP’s massive orange wave washed over the capital city sweeping all 19 city seats, giving Rachel Notley a solid contingent of her majority government.

 

In a stunning shutout, the Tories lost all 14 seats they held here. The two Liberal seats in the city also went NDP, as did all of six metro seats outside the city. 

 

Many high-profile Tories fell to the unstoppable NDP wave, including former health minister Stephen Mandel; Heather Klimchuk, the former culture minister; former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk; David Dorward, associate cabinet minister; and Speaker Gene Zwozdesky. 

 

The strong NDP majority β€” 54 seats β€” signals voters were impressed with Notley’s leadership in the campaign and moves the premier’s seat back to Edmonton after two Tory premiers from Calgary.

 

Notley more than doubled the party’s support across the province, winning 40 per cent of the popular vote, compared to 28 per cent for the Tories and 25 per cent for the Wildrose.

 

The NDP, which held just four seats in Edmonton after the 2012 election, elected Dr. Bob Turner, who defeated former Edmonton mayor Mandel, while former public school board chairwoman Sarah Hoffman defeated Klimchuk in Edmonton-Centre.

 

Turner gave Notley much of the credit for the party’s success.

β€œWe created a good team in Edmonton-Whitemud but Rachel carried us through,” he said.

 

A disappointed Mandel, who was recruited by Tory Leader Jim Prentice last fall, told supporters the future is uncertain for the shattered Tory ranks.

 

β€œIt’s a challenge for all of us to the see the PC party have such a defeat, especially in the City of Edmonton, our home, and where it’s a great future,” Mandel said. β€œI don’t know what will happen now.” 

 

Notley, whose riding includes the University of Alberta, staged a massive personal victory on the scale that Tory leaders used to boast about. With more than 6,000 votes at press time, Notley was ahead of her closest rival by six to one.

 

Two social worker professors, Lori Sigurdson and Kevin Feehan, won seats in south Edmonton ridings, defeating Tory Steve Young in Riverview and high-profile Tory candidate Chris Labossier in Edmonton Rutherford. 

Former NDP leader Brian Mason also held his seat.

 

Many of the victorious NDP candidates are in their 20s and 30s, signalling a generational change in the governing caucus that will run the province.

 

Tory candidate Rus Matichuk in St. Albert-Spruce Grove, lost to NDP Trevor Horne, 24, a student at MacEwan University, and said his party made mistakes.

 

β€œClearly people were not voting for a candidate, it’s clear it’s a Rachel Notley vote,” Matichuk said.

 

β€œThere were a few missteps the party made early on and some of those were interpreted as the party not being willing to listen,” he added.

 

β€œForming government is very daunting business and something we take very seriously,” Mason said.

 

NDP Marlin Schmidt in Edmonton-Goldbar, a water specialist who works for Alberta Environment, defeated Dorward, former associate minister for native affairs.

 

It was also a bad night for city councillor Tony Caterina, another high-profile candidate appointed by Prentice. Caterina lost to incumbent Deron Bilous, a former high school teacher, who won a second term.

 

The massive victory for NDP is partly due to a strong campaign and Notley’s personal leadership style, said political scientist Michael DeMoor from King’s University. But more importantly, voters were looking for change from 44 years of PC rule and voted for it massively, he said.

 

Notley made only one mistake in her campaign when she miscalculated the cost of her promises and when she would balance the budget. She quickly made it public and said it will take a year longer to balance the budget.

 

But mostly the New Democrats focused on health and education, issues voters care about, and their promise of some corporate tax increases was popular, DeMoor said. 

 

Wildrose support dropped in Edmonton. 

 

Until this election, the highest number of elected NDP was 16 MLAs in Edmonton in 1986 and again in 1989. In 1993 election, the party was wiped out and managed to win two seats in two subsequent elections.

 

spratt@edmontonjournal.com

FM

Progressive Conservative party of Alberta - PC - had the majority of seats prior to, but lost miserably to the surging force of the New Democratic Party - NDP -  on Tuesday, May 05, 2015.

 

Similarly, on May 11, 2015, the PPP/C will win the elections in Guyana with a resounding victory to again form the government, leaving the PNC cum AFC which currently has the majority of votes, to again be in the opposition benches; this time with a reduced number of PNC/AFC MPs.

FM
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:

PPP is the government from 1992 -- 23 continuous years.

 

On May 11, 2015, PPP/C will again form the government after the elections.

 

Progressive Conservative of Alberta is in government from 1971 -- 44 continuous years.

 

On May 05, 2015 the Progressive Conservative of Alberta, most likely, will win another term in government.

 

Perhaps, PPP/C will be in government for a very long time.

WAH HAPPEN DG?  BUCKET A GO WELL ONE DAY BADDAP..BOTTOM AH FALL OUT.

cain
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:

Progressive Conservative party of Alberta - PC - had the majority of seats prior to, but lost miserably to the surging force of the New Democratic Party - NDP -  on Tuesday, May 05, 2015.

 

Similarly, on May 11, 2015, the PPP/C will win the elections in Guyana with a resounding victory to again form the government, leaving the PNC cum AFC which currently has the majority of votes, to again be in the opposition benches; this time with a reduced number of PNC/AFC MPs.

 

Ho boy you really scarping the bottom here DG.

How did you come up with SIMILARLY and stated something much different to similar.. you are a duncified goat.

 

Now here is how it is done. Follow me closely.

 

The Alberta government was in power for 44 years they got kicked out, they had the lowest of votes ever.

SIMILARILY the PPP government will receive the same treatment.

cain
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
Originally Posted by cain:
.. you are a duncified goat.

A statement about yourself, while looking in the mirror.

Who is the duncified goat that said the Conservatives who held onto power for 44 years got tossed out. Similarly the PPP who has been in power for over 20 years will again win this election?

 

Where the rass is the similarity there? 

DuncifiedGoat...even the initials says it all.

cain
Originally Posted by cain:
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
Originally Posted by cain:
.. you are a duncified goat.

A statement about yourself, while looking in the mirror.

Who is the duncified goat that said the Conservatives who held onto power for 44 years got tossed out. Similarly the PPP who has been in power for over 20 years will again win this election?

 

Where the rass is the similarity there? 

DuncifiedGoat...even the initials says it all.

Cain, as usual, struggling to make sense.

FM
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
Originally Posted by cain:
Originally Posted by Demerara_Guy:
Originally Posted by cain:
.. you are a duncified goat.

A statement about yourself, while looking in the mirror.

Who is the duncified goat that said the Conservatives who held onto power for 44 years got tossed out. Similarly the PPP who has been in power for over 20 years will again win this election?

 

Where the rass is the similarity there? 

DuncifiedGoat...even the initials says it all.

Cain, as usual, struggling to make sense.

That you are a DuncifiedGoat. Case closed.

Mitwah

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×