Lethbridge doesn’t hold switch against Pastoor
When former Liberal MLA Bridget Pastoor crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservatives in late 2011, she did so in large part because of her respect and admiration for Premier Alison Redford.
With the PCS poised to form their 12th consecutive majority government, Pastoor — who has been declared elected in her Lethbridge-east constituency — said it’s obvious Redford has also won the respect of Albertans.
“I think what this says is that the province wasn’t ready to go that far right,” Pastoor said, from her campaign office Monday. “There’s nothing really wrong with the province—part of the problem was internal, within the government, and a lot of those people aren’t running again. Alison came in as a clean candidate, she doesn’t owe anyone. She’s a very strong woman, and she knows exactly where we need to go.”
The PCS had also retained their seat in LethbridgeWest, where incumbent Greg Weadick had been declared the victor over challenger Shannon Phillips of the NDP.
In Red Deer, which has a tradition of being a Tory stronghold, PC incumbents Mary Anne Jablonski and Cal Dallas were declared elected. Jablonski was first elected in 2000 and Dallas was appointed minister of international and intergovernmental relations by Redford in October 2011.
But it was a different story in Medicine Hat, where former city councillor Darren Hirsch of the PCS as well as two-term PC MLA Len Mitzel both went down to defeat. By 10p.m. Monday, Cypress-medicine Hat Wildrose candidate Drew Barnes and Medicine Hat Wildrose candidate Blake Pedersen had both been declared elected.
Pedersen said he was “shocked” by the way the provincial results appeared to be shaping up, but not surprised that voters in his city had decided to vote for change.
Medicine Hat residents have long dubbed themselves “the forgotten corner,” and frustrations over delays to Medicine Hat’s long-awaited hospital expansion — as well as simmering anger over the PC government’s response to a June 2010 flood that wreaked havoc in the region — are high.
“I think one of the biggest things was just trust and accountability,” Pedersen said. “Nothing had happened down here that they (the PCS) had promised. They would make a commitment one election, and shortly after that they would renege on it.”