Phendrana Drifts

I hate polls. They are horrible tools to creating political policy, making decisions to win elections, or even looking at launching a consumer product. What percentage of Canadians were looking for a broadband internet connection in 1997? If you went by the answer to that question, cable companies obviously screwed the pooch when pursuing the expansion of their services into offering high speed internet. Of course there were also snapshots in time when Nixon looked popular, Trudeau didn't and the Earth was flat. I call that period "Pre-Duncan".

BUT... interesting stuff in the Strategic Counsel's poll on Alberta voting intentions. 67% of Edmontonians approve of Ed Stelmach's job as Premier. Only 19% of Edmontonians would vote Liberal if the election were held today. 61% of Calgarians want to do a better job in preventing global warming - and note that Stelmach's government has, with little fanfare or even commentary, put in hard caps on major CO2 emitters with heavy fines for those who go above set emission levels.

Without drawing too many conclusions from the poll - anything is possible in politics so those who are breaking out the tissues or the champagne based on these results should instead be rolling up their sleeves - I would suggest it shows Alberta is not the place that many are saying it is.

Speaking of Alberta being misrepresented, it is important to note that the Alberta Federation of Labour is not speaking for all of us. They have hated how Alberta has been led from Lougheed to Klein and now by Stelmach. They thought Alberta lost its way in the thirties when we didn't go with the socialist CCF, not when Premier Klein retired.

Labels: alberta politics

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