Alberta Liberation

Congratulations must be offered to Alberta's new Premier Designate Rachel Notley and her NDP colleagues for their astonishing landslide victory in my birth province.

For the first time in over 4 decades someone other than an Alberta Progressive Conservative politician is going to be able to see the books. Hhhhmmmmmmm....

Call me cynical but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if there aren't more than a few politicians, former as well as current, along with some technocrats and bureaucrats who are thoughtfully fingering their passports this morning and wondering...wondering...wondering...

It will be fascinating to observe the coming months as we learn more about her and her caucus.

It will be equally fascinating to watch the corporate backlash begin. It will probably be very subtle, at least to begin with, because the mandate is so overwhelmingly clear. I expect the discussions about what the backlash would be and how it would be rolled out began several weeks ago and continued late into last night while the scotch flowed and the flop sweat stank.

Former Premier and Harper cabinet minister Jim Prentice resigned his leadership and his just won seat before the night was even over. His days in the public eye are now over for ever.

It isn't likely that this surge presages a similar phenomenon come the next federal election. Provincial results and federal results are almost never reflections of one another - they're mirror images more often.

But then again a month ago no one would have believed the NDP would be elected to an overwhelming majority in Alberta while reducing the party of Lougheed and Klein to a third place rump.

All bets may be off. We'll just have to wait and see.

On a related note - I'm sure the pollsters are relieved they're not throwing up in the bathroom again.