Alberta PCs: Look in your own mirror.

To say Tuesday’s election in Alberta marked a historic shift in Canada’s political landscape doesn’t begin to capture the extent of the change Albertans have chosen for their province.

The victory of Rachel Notley’s New Democrats and demise of the 44-yearold Progressive Conservative dynasty is many things: a gamble on the future, a stinging lesson for over-fed and over-entitled governments, a warning about the potency of an angry electorate and proof positive that — however disaffected they may appear — voters still run this country, if only they would use that power more often.

The PCs have only themselves to blame, after taking an oil-rich province brimming with opportunity and spending it into deficit, and richly deserve their fate. That said, to hand the levers of power to a group of untried neophytes represents an enormous risk that could affect millions of Canadians, well beyond the borders of the province. The province that has been the driver of Canada’s economy is now in the hands of dozens of untested, inexperienced politicians, most of whom have never occupied a seat in the legislature, much less run a government.

Nonetheless, Alberta’s future is for Albertans to decide, and they have done so, in no uncertain manner. If her campaign is any indication, Notley is a skilled leader who knows her province and its people, and will take office equipped with a sizable store of goodwill. She will face enormous challenges. The NDP’s economic blueprint is little more than a wish list of spending projects to be funded by an unlikely combination of higher taxes on the wealthy and on Alberta corporations. Notley has no credible explanation for how she will fill a $7-billion budget gap while continuing to pay some of the highest civil service wages in the country and add to services that are already among the country’s priciest.

She is also taking over at a moment of particular difficulty for the province. It has long been over-reliant on energy as the single dominant driver of the economy, and now finds that industry in the midst of a downturn caused by a worldwide plunge in prices. Notley is pledging stricter rules on environmental protections and a “review” of the royalty structure from which the government derives much of its revenue, at a time when companies are laying off thousands of workers, delaying projects and hunkering down in an effort to survive until the slump has passed. An increase in the minimum wage also seems oddly timed, to say the least, with employment falling.

As inexperienced as the new government may be, it will be faced with an official Opposition boasting no greater background. Wildrose Leader Brian Jean took over his party’s top job just two weeks before the election was called, having spent the previous decade as a federal MP in Ottawa. He will have his own challenges building and shaping a party that was left for dead when former leader Danielle Smith and eight other elected members crossed the floor to join the PC government. If it hopes to convince Albertans it represents a viable alternative to the NDP, Wildrose will have to broaden its platform beyond its admirable but single-note opposition to tax increases as the response to every ill.

While Wildrose and the NDP wrestle with those challenges, Alberta’s PCs face doubts about their ability to survive. Rather than stick around and work to rebuild the party that named him its leader just six months ago, Jim Prentice chose to resign not only the leadership, but his seat in Calgary. An unassailable dynasty just a month ago, the Tories find themselves a leaderless, demoralized, third-place party in a province that has never given a second chance to a party ousted from government. Just as Notley’s success demonstrates that Canadians are open to change, even in the unlikeliest of places, Prentice’s failure is a warning to any party, or leader, of the dangers of taking the voters for granted.

To hand the levers of power to a group of untried neophytes represents an enormous risk