Orange is the new blue

By Trevor Busch and Greg Price
Southern Alberta Newspapers

It has only happened twice in Alberta’s long political history – in 1935 and again in 1971 – but Albertans woke up to a new and unprecedented political reality following Tuesday’s Provincial Election.
In a landslide majority victory, Rachel Notley and the NDP have decimated the ranks of the long-ruling PC government, even pushing Jim Prentice’s party out of the official opposition position, which will be taken by the Wildrose.
Notley’s NDP has secured 54 seats for a majority, while Brian Jean’s Wildrose has edged out Jim Prentice’s PCs from the official opposition with 21 seats. Bringing up the rear are the PCs with 10 seats, while the Liberals and the Alberta Party have squeezed in with one seat apiece.
In the Cardston-Taber-Warner riding, 12,262 votes were cast, with the Alberta Party taking in 3.07 (377 ballots cast) per cent of the vote, the PCs with 35.49 (4,352) per cent of the vote, the NDP with 19.63 (2,407 ballots cast) per cent of the vote, and the Wildrose with 41.80 (5,126 ballots cast) per cent of the vote. Overall voter turnout was close to 52 per cent compared to 47 per cent in 2012.
The Wildrose’s Grant Hunter secured the riding as an opposition MLA, while PC candidate Brian Brewin was defeated.
“We had a fantastic team, hard working – it’s not about me, it was about the team,” said Cardston-Taber-Warner’s new Wildrose MLA Grant Hunter. “Property rights were a huge issue here. We showed our resolve, and we will continue to do that. The second thing that I’ve seen is disgust over tax hikes. One thing I’d have to say is this: one thing I really saw a lot of is people saying is look, if you’re over on that side and you want to make sure you want good representation in all parts of this riding. I’m absolutely committed to making