Wow, this last month or so has gone by so fast and has produced a lot of surprises on  the political front.  Our Conservatives were voted out in a landslide victory by the NDP and no one saw it coming.

Let’s back track a bit now.  I moved to this province almost 20 years ago.  As excited as I was to live in Alberta, I certainly wasn’t ready for the slap in the face I received here after moving.  Without going into detail, it was at that point I became interested in provincial politics and started to really do research before every election that was called.  Here is how Alberta has been handled since 1971:

PETER LOUGHEED (1971-1985):  Lougheed himself wasn’t a bad leader, if anything he was able to put Alberta on the map by brining in the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Heritage Fund.

DON GETTY (1985/86-1993):  He was very unpopular due to his heavy spending and large deficit.  He refused to leave as Premier even though he lost his seat in his riding in 1989 and sat in the gallery as an unelected premier for a short time.  He resigned and was replaced with Ralph Klein.

RALPH KLEIN (1993-2006):  He promised debt reduction and fiscal accountability.  If I remember correctly he did balance the budget in 1995/96 I believe.  The price of oil went up and the government was showing a surplus of $3 billion every year. He was involved in a few scandals such as getting his picture taken with the Hells Angels while out drinking, getting injured in a hot tub accident (while drinking) and being allowed to jump the line in the ER, and being a little to verbal when it came to voicing personal opinions. In 2004 he told all Albertans the debt was paid in full.  That being said, there were still very low tax rates on the wealthy and large corporations.  He was forced to retire in 2006.

ED STELMAC (2006-2011): Nothing to report here except that he started making large cuts to education and healthcare and retired in 2011 due to in fighting within the Conservative Party.

ALISON REDFORD (2011-2014):  Although she put money back in to healthcare and education she got caught up in spending disputes such as:  $45,000 worth of costs to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral, allowing her daughter and her friends to use the government jet for personal use, secretly trying to build an apartment in a government owned building in Edmonton using tax payers money.  All of this was surmounted by her sense of entitlement and opportunistic attitude when forced to tell the truth.

JIM PRENTICE (2014-2015):  An ex cabinet minister in the Harper Government, he left Federal politics in 2010 and gave up his seat in his Calgary riding.  He came back with avengence to win the leadership of the PC party in September of 2014.  He released a new budget in April of 2015 which forced health care and education to take major cuts while allowing the wealthy and large corporations to remain virtually tax free.  He blamed the taxpayers for the provincial debt and called an election by bypassing Alberta’s election laws.  Leading up to the election he showed his true colours during the debates by showing his chauvinistic side to Rachel Notley to say the least.

It was about time for a change and this last election proved that the PCs were on their way out.  This was proven not only by the overall voter turn out, 55%, but by the number of students, people my age, and other people who came out to vote.

I for one am ready for this recent change.  I am ready to pay a 3-5% increase in taxes.  I am ready to pay a health care levy.  I am ready to see what the NDP will do to keep the large corporations in Alberta.  I am ready to welcome new businesses into the province.  I am ready for whatever this government brings my way.

Losing this election puts Albertans in a very vulnerable position.  We need to learn to trust again.  We have to toss aside all we have heard about them and let them do their job.  It won’t take a few days, weeks, or months, it is going to take a long time.  We need to learn to trust them and they need to prove themselves worthy of that trust.