Wildrose Alliance "gaining" on Progressive Conservatives?

Smoky Lake Signal Article No. 179
(June 29, 2011)

Alberta politics is starting to get interesting:  the Wildrose Alliance Party held their convention last weekend with leader Danielle Smith getting strong support from the Wildrose faithful; the PC party released more information on where and when the leadership forums will be held; there is more speculation on who might enter the PC leadership race; and of course, the leadership candidates are traveling around Alberta in an effort to distinguish themselves from the others.


The Wildrose Alliance Party assembled about 500 party faithful last weekend and among the first order of business, a name change to simply the Wildrose Party.  Other issues that passed the assembly included: the Wildrose Party would establish not for profit healthcare facilities; scrap the Alberta Human Rights Commission (keep the legislation and let the courts deal with complaints); address the contentious "property rights" issue by repealing current legislation; and establish a firearms authority.  In my view, one of the more interesting political announcements made was a recent poll undertaken on behalf of the Party.  The poll suggested that the Wildrose Party was, in their words, "gaining" on the PC party standings and that Wildrose Party leader, Danielle Smith has a much higher "net approval" rating compared to the six PC party leadership candidates.  According to the poll undertaken in late May by Abingdon Research the Wildrose Party has about 26 percent support from those surveyed; the Progressive Conservatives have 30 percent support; the Liberals and NDP each have 13 percent support; the new Alberta Party has about 5 percent with about 10 percent undecided.  The poll goes further and indicates that Danielle Smith has a "net approval" rating of + 14; Mar's rating, +8; Redford, +4; Horner, 0; Griffiths, -3; Orman, -3; Morton, -18.  There is some question as to the veracity of this "on-line" poll and the strong connection Abingdon Research has with the Wildrose Party - after all, which polling group doesn't maintain political connections?  In my view, if the Abingdon Research poll has got any amount of substance then the PC Party and its leadership have got some major problems that will have to be addressed prior to the next provincial election.  

PC Leadership Forums, Dates to Remember -
Key dates and locations for the Eight Leadership Forums have been announced:

Thursday    July 21, 2011        Vermilion
Thursday    July 28, 2011        Grande Prairie
Thursday    August 11, 2011        Fort McMurray
Thursday    August 18, 2011        Medicine Hat
Thursday    August 25, 2011        Lethbridge
Thursday     September 1, 2011        Red Deer
Wednesday    September 7, 2011        Calgary
Thursday    September 15, 2011    Edmonton