(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Wildrose Alliance Party remains the most popular provincial party in Alberta, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 42 per cent of respondents in the Canadian province would support the Wildrose Alliance in the next provincial election, up three points since November.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Wildrose Alliance Party remains the most popular provincial party in Alberta, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 42 per cent of respondents in the Canadian province would support the Wildrose Alliance in the next provincial election, up three points since November.
The governing Progressive Conservative Party is second with 27 per cent, followed by the Liberal party with 19 per cent, and the New Democratic Party (NDP) with nine per cent.
In December 2006, former Alberta international and intergovernmental relations minister Ed Stelmach became the new leader of the Progressive Conservatives and Alberta’s premier. In March 2008, the Progressive Conservatives won the provincial election with 52.66 per cent of the vote and 72 of the Legislative Assembly’s 83 seats. The party has governed the Canadian province since 1971, with 11 consecutive majorities.
In October 2009, the Wildrose Alliance chose journalist Danielle Smith as its new leader. The party currently has just three members in the Legislative Assembly: former leader Paul Hinman—who won a by-election in the Calgary-Glenmore district in September—and former Progressive Conservatives Rob Anderson and Heather Forsyth.
Earlier this month, Stelmach expressed dismay at recent media stories that have criticized Alberta’s oil sands, saying, "Let’s just put all the apples on the table and compare everything. We’re going to solve these environmental issues through technology, because the markets will demand energy. Nobody is going to tell Asia or China and India that ‘Sorry, this is the end of the energy supply. You will have to live without new sources of oil.’ It just won’t happen."
The next Alberta provincial election must be held on or before Mar. 2, 2013. Sitting premiers can dissolve the Legislative Assembly and call an early ballot at their discretion.
Polling Data
If a provincial election were held tomorrow in Alberta, which one of the following parties would you be most likely to support in your constituency?
|
Feb. 2010
|
Nov. 2009
|
|
|
Wildrose Alliance Party
|
42%
|
39%
|
|
Progressive Conservative Party
|
27%
|
25%
|
|
Liberal Party
|
19%
|
25%
|
|
New Democratic Party (NDP)
|
9%
|
9%
|
|
Other party
|
3%
|
2%
|
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,000 Albertan adults, conducted from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23, 2010. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
