Six Alberta Political Myths Debunked

The past few years in Alberta have been unstable, to say the least. The political landscape has changed so much that most Albertans are confused and anxious. They're confused about where their own political affiliations will take them and they're anxious about the future of the province's economy. Everything Albertans thought they knew about Alberta has been upended. To make it worse, political myths have been swirling through communities across the province and deepening the divides. Most of those myths have been perpetuated by NDP supporters, but some of them come from various conservative factions across Alberta. To cut through the fog, it's important to separate fact from fiction as we get closer to 2019.
FALSE: “There Are No Conservatives Left In The PC Party”
This is one of the most factually incorrect statements you've probably heard, or will eventually hear if you haven't already. Most of those responsible for this myth are Wildrose supporters. Inside the claustrophobic Wildrose bubble there's an idea that every single true conservative fled the Progressive Conservative Party during the Redford era. If that were actually the case, there would be no right in Alberta to unite. If that were true, it would mean that the 400,000 Albertans who voted for Prentice's PCs in 2015 were all liberals and progressives. It would mean that Alberta has only 360,000 conservative voters.
FALSE: “Kenney And Prentice Have The Same Fate”
This is one of the favourite talking points among NDP supporters on social media. Immediately after his announcement to lead the Progressive Conservatives, leftists took to Twitter and Facebook to stage fake celebrations of Jason Kenney's leadership bid. Most progressives have been fearing Jason Kenney's moment for months, so their pretend glee on social media was nothing more than an attempt to downplay Kenney's effective entrance into Alberta politics. They want nothing more than to believe that Kenney's efforts to unite the right will fail, when deep down inside they know it's just wishful thinking on their part.
Jason Kenney is not Jim Prentice and their situations couldn't be more different. Before and during Jim Prentice, an NDP majority was almost inconceivable. Today, NDP Alberta is a much different place than it was just a year ago. Albertans are determined to cure the socialist disease they accidentally acquired after a night of drunken, angry sex. A part of the healing process also involves making amends with an ex. Albertans have never been more ready to let bygones be bygones, now that the NDP has poured salt into all of their wounds.
FALSE: “Kenney's Social Conservativism Is A Problem”
Jason Kenney may very well be a social conservative in his personal life, but so is Stephen Harper. Under Stephen Harper's majority, same-sex marriage was strengthened by closing a Liberal loophole that failed to recognize same-sex marriages from outside Canada, and the abortion debate was never re-opened.
FALSE: “The Wildrose Can Win”
If the Wildrose could win, they would have won already. The party had ample opportunity in 2015 to bury both the PCs and the NDP. The PCs under Jim Prentice were destined to collapse due to his poor leadership decisions (including calling an early election), but the Wildrose blew it and let the NDP capitalize on Prentice's faults. To be more precise, it was Brian Jean who blew it. Just like Jim Prentice, Brian Jean parachuted into Alberta politics and failed.
“Then there was new Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, the sharpest contrast to Notley imaginable. He was blunt and highly scripted, repeating the same point again and again – 'Wildrose will not raise your taxes.' He called all the other parties 'a coalition of tax-raisers.'”
That same Mainstreet poll showed a jump in NDP support from 31% on April 20 to 44% on April 29. In under a week, the NDP was able to gain 13% and win the election. The saddest thing is that the Wildrose hasn't been able to recover, even under the NDP's current regime of high taxes.
FALSE: “Kenney's Job Will Be Extremely Difficult”
Under no circumstances should conservatives or Progressive Conservatives get cocky. There will still be a lot of work required to unite Alberta's warring conservative factions, but it won't be as steep of a climb as pundits suggest.
FALSE: “Alberta Has Become Progressive”
Ever since Notley won her majority, fringe progressives and leftists in Edmonton have been declaring that Alberta has “evolved” or changed into a non-conservative, progressive province. As most conservatives know, the word progressive is an inaccurate label that was hijacked by socialists to falsely brand their regressive policies. Alberta is still as conservative and free-market oriented as it was last year and false progressivism is still on the fringes of what Albertans view as normal. It was only due to the divisions on the right that the NDP was able to win a majority government. Recent polls confirm how conservative Albertans really are. Not only were the NDP accidentally elected with less than 50%, if an election were held today, they'd barely win 27% of the popular vote.