Local political scientist on election call

Groom says the nomination scandal that Alberta Party leader Stephen Mandel faced hurt his chances.

Although there are swing votes, he says many people will go towards the two major parties.

“Now we do have those groups that are NDP people and those groups that are UCP followers but there is that swing vote that grows as issues get bigger and better and those are the ones we gotta watch for sure.”

The NDP and UCP are running very different campaigns, says Groom.

“I think the issues going to be fought on health care to a large extent from the NDP’s side and social issues from the NDP’s side and from the UCP, the economy and jobs is their main thrust.”

Although the upcoming election may appear to be in Jason Kenney’s favour, Groom says the NDP do have a chance at coming out on top.

“It may mean the end to the NDP’s run for a little while, it may be a shift to the UCP or it could be that we have more competitive process in place and that all of a sudden we have two viable parties and the NDP might come out winners.”

Currently, one of the main issues facing Alberta is the lack of action on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Groom says regardless of who is elected, not much can be done on the issue.

“I think Rachel Notley has pushed hard, and I don’t think Jason Kenney can push any hard than Rachel has already done,” says Groom. “So I’m not sure if there’s any really proactive things that we can go out and say ‘oh we’re going to reinvent the wheel and by doing that it means we’re going to get our pipeline in place’ it’s just not in the cards.”

The provincial election is set to be held April 16.

by Jessie Weisner

Local political scientist on election call

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