While some observers attributed Redford’s 61-seat win to strategic voting by Liberals, Lougheed said he sees it differently — longtime, stay-at-home PCs finally decided to get out and vote because they found Redford’s party better represented their views.
“Many of our party supporters had been staying away from elections that occurred in the (Ralph) Klein years and (Ed) Stelmach as well,” said Lougheed.
“I think they were taken by the new leader with a vision for the future and they wanted to vote for their party again — it was that combination,” said Lougheed, adding he was “thrilled” with the results.
“This really renews the PC party in terms of its strength and it endorses Premier Redford’s plans for the future of the province.”
Redford’s decisive victory over the right-wing Wildrose (with 17 seats) also brings the PC party firmly to the centre — the same place on the political spectrum it occupied in 1971 when the Lougheed team defeated the Social Credit government, he added.
The voter turnout jumped to 57 per cent in Monday’s vote — a 16 percentage point increase over the 41-per-cent turnout in the 2008 election. More than 300,000 additional voters went to the polls for a total of 1.29 million (with all but a handful of polls counted). That compares with 906,0000 voters in 2008.
The 57-per-cent turnout is the highest level since 1993, when the Tories faced a strong challenge from Laurence Decore’s Liberals. In that election, the turnout was 60 per cent and the Liberals won 32 seats.
Lougheed also said he never bought into the notion the Wildrose was a serious threat to the Conservatives and always believed the election would produce a Tory victory.
“I always thought they were too narrow a group, more like old Social Credit groups and the Preston Manning group,” said Lougheed.
“They have a good communicator, a good leader, but I think their past caught up with them.”
Lougheed also noted when his new party was first elected in 1971, it did not carry any seats south of Calgary where Social Credit held on — much of the area where the Wildrose put in a strong showing Monday and won most of its seats.
Redford’s vision of a greater and constructive role for Alberta on the national stage — rather than building a firewall — and forging alliances with other provinces is exactly what is needed now, Lougheed added.
“We are leading the country with our economic strength and that gives us quite a bit of leverage,” said Lougheed.
“It sure helps her to have a strong election victory.”
The province needs co-operation, especially from British Columbia, to get the Northern Gateway pipeline approved to open up Asian markets for oilsands products, the former premier said.
Lougheed said it is unclear at this point whether Redford might pursue a strategy similar to the PCs in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In those years, the Alberta government gave low-interest loans to other provinces to ensure other parts of the country also benefited from Alberta’s oil wealth. It also built the grain terminal in Prince Rupert, B.C., to help get Western grain to export markets.
Before the election, Redford had encountered some resistance within her Conservative caucus for her message about bringing change to the province. That pre-election caucus did not support her leadership bid, but now about one-third of her MLAs are new.
Redford, with only seven months as leader under her belt, was also criticized for not consulting the caucus on important policy changes, such as her decision to lower to .05 the legal limit for drunk driving.
Lougheed said the election victory should consolidate her position and allow her to put her stamp on the party.
As well, Redford, who has just four years as a cabinet minister behind her, still has lots to learn about governing, he noted.
“We had four years in opposition and we learned a lot.”
Redford, at some point, will have to reach out to the alienated rural base in the south, but “she will have to consolidate her own support first,” Lougheed added.
The higher voter turnout benefited both Wildrose and the PCs. The Conservative vote went up to 567,053 votes from 501,000 votes in the 2008 election. The Wildrose polled a whopping 442,431 votes, (almost seven times its 2008 total) for 34 per cent of the popular vote.
The Liberals, who lost more than 100,000 voters, saw their total drop to 127,643, down from 251,158 in 2008.
Asked how the Harper federal government would react to the Redford victory and the Wildrose defeat, Lougheed said:”I think they’ll pay attention. They better pay attention.”
“It was a positive vote for the PCs and the new premier.”
Some Harper supporters were working for the Wildrose party.
Original Article
Source: edmonton journal
Author: Sheila Pratt
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