UCP takes majority in bitter provincial election

Alberta’s United Conservative Party emerged bloodied but still standing in Monday’s bitterly contested provincial election.

Danielle Smith’s UCP dominated outside Alberta’s two largest cities while retaining enough support in Calgary to overcome an NDP sweep in Edmonton and win a second consecutive majority government.

Smith thanked the hundreds of thousands of Albertans who voted UCP, but also addressed those who did not. “Though I didn’t do enough in your judgment to win your support in this election, I will work every day to listen, to improve and to demonstrate to you that I can be trusted to improve on the issues you care so deeply about.”

The UCP were winning or elected in 49 seats to 38 for Rachel Notley’s NDP in the 87-seat legislature, but a final tally was unknown early Tuesday given close races in

Calgary. The change represents a 14-seat swing compared to the 63-24 vote split between the two parties in 2019.

It was an election night beset by slow reporting from Elections Alberta. Only a small fraction of results were available 90 minutes after polls closed and a UCP win wasn’t called for another 90 minutes after that.

Smith easily won her seat in BrooksMedicine Hat, as did Notley in EdmontonStrathcona.

Notley told supporters at a downtown Edmonton hotel she will stay on as leader and harness the power of the largest official Opposition in the province’s history.

“We will continue to speak up on behalf of Albertans who struggle to have their voice heard. We will fight for better health care, better education, better jobs,” Notley said.

“And, my friends, we will be unequivocal in our demand for respect for the rule of law and an unqualified belief in human rights and basic dignity.”

Support for third parties, such as the centrist Alberta Party, fell away as voters concentrated on either supporting or defeating the two main contenders.

There were 758,550 votes cast in advance polling, smashing the previous record of 700,746 in 2019.

It was the second victory in seven months for the 52-year-old Smith. She had been out of politics for seven years, working mainly as Calgary-based radio talk-show host and political pundit.

Smith ran on a platform of fighting crime and lowering personal income taxes in what is already the lowest-taxed jurisdiction in Canada. She promised a bill forbidding any future hikes to corporate or personal income taxes without a referendum.

She also aimed to woo voters in Calgary by announcing, on the eve of the race, a $330million provincial contribution to a $1.2-billion deal with the city and the owners of the Calgary Flames for a new NHL arena.

The NDP dominated in Edmonton, a city in which they won all but one seat in 2019.