Progressive voters in small-town Alberta would quietly vote for their parties in the past, but the support is more visible this time.
"We've been a conservative-reigned province for many years … I think maybe people are looking for more options."Sharron Toews, a voter in Nanton, says in the last election she was the only house on the street with an NDP lawn sign.
"Is it going to flip 10 seats? No, I don't think so. Are there going to be a few races that are far closer than we would have ever seen 10, 15, 20 years ago? Absolutely.""Other" Alberta, as pollsters sometimes call the areas outside the two metropolises, hasn't been reliable for the NDP. In 2019, the party had only 23 per cent of the 927,000 votes cast in "otherland.
"And a lot of people are concerned about the same things they're worried about everywhere else in the province." Kevin Van Tighem is the NDP candidate in Livingstone-Macleod, a riding the UCP won by 50 points in 2019. In the Crowsnest Pass, longtime residents say the demographics have shifted in the last five years. Younger families have moved into communities like Bellevue and Blairmore. An uptick in mountain biking has brought people with environmental leanings to the region. A vibrant arts and tourism scene has emerged.
Van Tighem is trying to defy the odds and be one of the 10, using a perhaps counterintuitive strategy. He's asking "light" blue conservatives to — just this once — put the UCP in the penalty box for four years and loan the NDP their vote."We've got a lot of the same beliefs except we drive on gravel roads, we've got longer driveways and we have far more grass to cut," Karen Shaw said.
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