The NDP win in Alberta has exactly nothing to do with federal politics. In fact, had Mulcair (the federal NDP leader) endorsed the Alberta NDP party it probably would have cost them a lot of votes. He is remembered for demonizing Alberta to cozy up to Quebec voters in the last federal election and remains wildly unpopular in Alberta.
Prentice and the Alberta PC's made a litany of key mistakes in rapid succession. Perhaps foremost was flouting their own legislation that "guaranteed" fixed election dates... again. Why was it too much this time? The PC's had just cut the head off the official opposition party by luring their leader (along with half it's MLA's) across the floor. While Prentice claimed he needed a new mandate for his budget, the true reason for this election's timing was obvious. They thought it would be a cakewalk because their opposition was in complete disarray. This is exactly the kind of election manipulation their own law was supposed to discourage.
The reason the NDP won the election is because voters had decided on "anyone but the PC's" and Rachel Notley was the only leader who didn't look like a clown in the leader's debate. Alberta isn't afraid of big-spending governments because that's precisely what the PC's were. They also expect the NDP to become a much more centrist, business friendly party now that they're in power. Mulcair might be walking with a bounce in his step right now, but he's going to be choking down a lot of sour news about what passes for NDP policy in the West soon enough.
As for federal politics... Harper has now been in power long enough that the West has gotten over feeling giddy about actually mattering in federal politics. A different party with a sound policy and a good leader could easily win a lot of ridings here if they took the province seriously. That means no nepotism, especially regarding the son of a leader famous for flipping the province the bird while riding right on through to the next province on the train. That means no parties that are too afraid to announce their platform. That means no parties that run garbage candidates. (In the last federal election, the NDP ran a grocery clerk from the other end of the province in my riding. She had never been to my city and refused to speak to media. She was nothing more than a name on a ballot.) No federal party that demonizes Alberta as a way of attacking Harper's background (even though he's from Toronto) is going to get a lot of votes here.
Finally, I'd just like to add that the liberals voted with the PC's to pass this bill. The NDP get no credit for opposing the bill because they'd oppose practically anything the other two parties were for.
You're right that the provincial NDP and federal NDP have very little to do with each other.
However, the winds of change are here in Alberta. Not saying we'll vote overwhelmingly NDP in the federal election, but you could see some change. Country-wide, support for the Cons is wavering. They lose a few here, in BC, lose a bunch in Ontario (this is pretty much a given), and they could be in trouble.
The NDP win in Alberta has exactly nothing to do with federal politics. In fact, had Mulcair (the federal NDP leader) endorsed the Alberta NDP party it probably would have cost them a lot of votes. He is remembered for demonizing Alberta to cozy up to Quebec voters in the last federal election and remains wildly unpopular in Alberta.
Prentice and the Alberta PC's made a litany of key mistakes in rapid succession. Perhaps foremost was flouting their own legislation that "guaranteed" fixed election dates... again. Why was it too much this time? The PC's had just cut the head off the official opposition party by luring their leader (along with half it's MLA's) across the floor. While Prentice claimed he needed a new mandate for his budget, the true reason for this election's timing was obvious. They thought it would be a cakewalk because their opposition was in complete disarray. This is exactly the kind of election manipulation their own law was supposed to discourage.
The reason the NDP won the election is because voters had decided on "anyone but the PC's" and Rachel Notley was the only leader who didn't look like a clown in the leader's debate. Alberta isn't afraid of big-spending governments because that's precisely what the PC's were. They also expect the NDP to become a much more centrist, business friendly party now that they're in power. Mulcair might be walking with a bounce in his step right now, but he's going to be choking down a lot of sour news about what passes for NDP policy in the West soon enough.
As for federal politics... Harper has now been in power long enough that the West has gotten over feeling giddy about actually mattering in federal politics. A different party with a sound policy and a good leader could easily win a lot of ridings here if they took the province seriously. That means no nepotism, especially regarding the son of a leader famous for flipping the province the bird while riding right on through to the next province on the train. That means no parties that are too afraid to announce their platform. That means no parties that run garbage candidates. (In the last federal election, the NDP ran a grocery clerk from the other end of the province in my riding. She had never been to my city and refused to speak to media. She was nothing more than a name on a ballot.) No federal party that demonizes Alberta as a way of attacking Harper's background (even though he's from Toronto) is going to get a lot of votes here.
Finally, I'd just like to add that the liberals voted with the PC's to pass this bill. The NDP get no credit for opposing the bill because they'd oppose practically anything the other two parties were for.