Kenney’s victory shakes up provincial politics

Perhaps the electoral victory managed by Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party last spring wasn’t the surprise upset that the NDP victory in 2015 was.

But it’s hard to deny that the political shakeup at the provincial level was the biggest story of the year for 2019.

The story itself was a continuation of the previous two years of planning and politicking on the part of Kenney, who had already managed to win the leadership of the former Progressive Conservative party, campaign for unity with the Wildrose Party, win the leadership of the UCP and then win a byelection to take a seat in the legislature as the main foil to former premier Rachel Notley.

Despite the NDP campaigning against him suggesting his government would drastically slash public services, and allow social conservative factions to run roughshod on rights, Kenney and the UCP were able to win victory on a platform that highlighted economic issues as those about which

Albertans care the most.

And despite increasing its vote total from the 2015 election, the NDP just wasn’t able to compete with the UCP, which bested the second-place party by 400,000 votes.

The intervening seven months have seen much upheaval, with the new government working to change or undo many NDP policies, including the carbon tax, and part of the minimum wage hike.

The government also created controversy over bills relating to LGBTQ students and arbitration with unions, while a panel headed by Saskatchewan’s former NDP finance minister set the stage for cuts in the fall budget, suggesting that Alberta spends far more per capita than similar provinces in areas such as health and education.

October’s budget saw modest cuts floated in some areas, and slight increases in others, but it has sparked much anger among the opposition, labour groups and their supporters.

It may not have been a surprise win, but it was a story that will shape the province for years to come.