Tories feel the heat over licence logo
All of a sudden, we’re a province of licence-plate patriots.
The hottest political issue of Stampede week is the new licence-plate designs, and especially the government’s omission of the age-old slogan, Wild Rose Country.
Now, when was the last time you looked at the plate on the car in front of you, carefully read those words, and wept with Alberta pride?
Probably never. But when they take that slogan away, and try to replace it with a government website, the province goes nuts.
That’s why the PCs might launch yet another online poll, this time on the choice of a new slogan, not just the plate design.
“If we get overwhelming feedback that there should be a slogan, we will consider doing that,” says Kathleen Range, press secretary to Service Alberta Minister Doug Griffiths.
A Herald online poll showed 72 per cent of respondents want Wild Rose Country to stay on the plate, whatever the design looks like.
The Wildrose opposition (who else?) ran its own poll, which soon showed nearly 70 per cent support for the slogan that serves Danielle Smith’s party extremely well as free advertising.
The government’s online poll instantly went viral, even though it only asks people to vote on plate designs, not the slogan.
Within 24 hours, it drew half a million page views and more than 100,000 votes. The PCs will be lucky to get that many votes for a new premier.
Griffiths tweeted: “Licence plate survey most viewed alberta. ca web page ever.”
The web address he plugs is the very one that could go on the new plates.
Griffiths also said the three proposed plate designs were produced at no cost by 3M, the company that wants to sell reflective sheeting for the plates.
It was also 3M’s suggestion to use alberta.ca in place of a slogan, I’m told.
Some American states do that already. Only one Canadian province, Prince Edward Island, plugs a government website on its licence plates.
Alberta’s plate plan quickly became an issue in the PC leadership campaign with the three candidates.
Jim Prentice came up with a classic: “I don’t think you can have a licence plate that has the name of one of the political parties on it — what if it said NDP?”
If that’s the case, the government can’t very well put “Alberta” on the plate, either.
There is an official Alberta Party, which happens to be a lively progressive alternative to the government Prentice wants to run.
Thomas Lukaszuk said: “If it was up to me, I would keep the slogan because I have no issue with Wild Rose Country.
“But it is what it is. There are bigger problems to worry about.”
Ric McIver was more forceful. “Frankly, I think taking the words Wild Rose Country off the plate is going to be seen as petty, and it’s a mistake — and one that I don’t support,” he told CBC on Thursday.
“I would leave the motto on the licence plates and then we can talk about whether we want a fancy plate with a picture of mountains on it, or the same plate but with the reflective paints.”
McIver and Lukaszuk surely know, after surviving the past year in Alberta politics, that the small catchy things can be more dangerous than the big boring ones. The PCs will suffer serious harm if they seem to be forcing a new plate down people’s throats.
Griffiths is clear about one thing; the plate design picked by the most voters in the government survey will go on the cars.
So far, there’s a tight race between what they call Version 1 and Version 2, both fairly representational views of mountain and Prairie scenery.
The more stylized Version 3 is far behind.
There’s some government wiggle room on elements of the design, and certainly on the slogan.
Griffiths says he personally favours Strong and Free — the provincial motto, and the proudest phrase in O Canada.
That was the most popular replacement slogan in a government survey taken some years ago. Even in the Wildrose Party poll, Strong and Free has considerable support.
But the government is getting an earful about Wild Rose Country, and may yet put up that second poll with a slogan choice for voters.
Wild Rose Country isn’t dead yet. Keep that clicker finger limber.