Smoky Lake Signal Article No. 218 (April 25, 2012) Whispering in the Wind Redford Wins Big! Alison Redford and her Alberta Progressive Conservative Party won a resounding victory in last Monday’s election – while I write this article it appears that the PCs will have 60 plus seats in Alberta’s 87 seat legislature; Danielle Smith and the Wildrose Party will form the Official Opposition with about 18 or 20 seats; the Liberals and the NDP will share about 8 seats. I did predict that the PCs would win with a small but comfortable majority (know where near the 60 seats they won); that the Wildrose party would win more seats that they did; and the Libs and NDs would garner around 7 seats – nevertheless I did win a few consolation prizes; I won a bottle of “good” wine from a dear friend, but I have to travel to B.C. to drink it. Also I won a lunch in one of Smoky Lake’s most expensive restaurants. On a more serious note, the final results of the election have yet to be confirmed so I offer a few observations on what led up to what happened last Monday: Bad News for Pollsters – The pollsters got it all wrong and they got it all wrong in spades. As I mentioned in previous articles; polling is suppose to be a statistical science based on good random sampling – and as all pollsters say, their results are correct within a range of 2 or 3 percent, 19 times out of 20. Pollsters in Alberta will have to change dramatically – pollsters should now qualify their results by saying that their results are correct within a range of 20 or 30 percent, 5 out 10 times. As I have also written, people are being over polled – our household was being contacted by various pollsters two and three times a day in the last month or so (and I’ve heard many times, we were not alone) – for my wife and I, we would just hang up the phone – pollsters should now indicate their sample size and how many times respondents are slamming down their telephones. No matter how you look at it, pollsters have lost all credibility. Albertans are Strategic Thinkers – Having said that pollsters are “false” prophets and their polls are crap, these same “false” polls helped to put the Alberta Progressive Conservatives into a firm majority position. In my view, Danielle Smith and the Wildrose candidates are simply not qualified to be the government – as demonstrated by the ridiculous gaffs and extreme positions taken by individual Wildrose candidates (and actually defended by Wildrose leader Danielle Smith). Nevertheless the pollsters suggested a Wildrose majority government by “false” sampling, suggesting a 7 to 10 point lead over the PCs. The Wildrose scenario painted by the prophets caused many voters in Alberta to panic in the last 10 days of the campaign and “strategic” voting became the realistic option – in my view a Wildrose government would have caused Alberta to regress back not 20 years, but 50 years – back to the good old Social Credit days. Jeff Wins Big – I cannot leave this column without offering congratulation to Jeff Johnson and his win in the Athabasca – Sturgeon – Redwater constituency. Travis Olson and Mandy Melnyk were formidable candidates and offered their candidacy with honor and integrity. Nevertheless Jeff Johnson has been a good for the Smoky Lake region since 2008 and I think with the right support he will keep up the good work for Smoky Lake.