Provincial election results bring little change

An overwhelming victory by Alison Redford and the Progressive Conservatives was a surprise, admits Driftpile Chief Rose Laboucan, who is hopeful it won’t mean the same old same old for First Nations.

“I’m hoping that the premier will have an open mind when it comes to working with First Nations people. Regardless of who is the premier, we are part of Alberta … and they should have to come to terms with working with us at some point,” said Laboucan, who admits to being impressed with Danielle Smith both in a personal meeting with her and in an APTN interview Smith gave.

“Smith did say very openly that First Nations feel very left out in the wealth of Alberta and she would look at how they would work with that,” said Laboucan.

Smith’s Wildrose Party had been highly touted to win the election but came away with only 17 seats. The PCs took 61 seats, the Liberals five seats and the New Democrats four.

 “At the end of the day, it’s whoever’s in power and whoever is backing (them),” said Laboucan.

During the election campaign, the Wildrose Party came out strongly against the provincial government’s decision to not fund the Alberta First Nations Energy Centre project.  Whether Wildrose’s Official Opposition status will translate into a strong voice for Aboriginal people is unclear.

Laboucan would like to see the PCs give the AFNEC another look. The proposed $6.6 billion oil sands upgrader would process 125,000 barrels per day of bitumen from the tar sands into synthetic crude oil, diesel, jet fuel and other products. Word came prior to the election call that Energy Minister Ted Morton would not grant funding under the Bitumen’s Royalty In-Kind program to AFNEC. Morton was one of four rural Cabinet ministers to lose his seat in the election.

Speaking the morning after her election victory, Redford pledged to continue to push Alberta’s oil and gas industry.

“(Energy) is important not only for Alberta’s economy but for Canada’s economy,” said Redford.

Redford also noted that she was “not as surprised as everyone else” by her party’s solid victory, although political pundits had expected the PC’s 41-year reign in Alberta to come to an end.

“The only polls that matter is election day,” said Redford.
NDP leader Brian Mason, who won his Edmonton Highlands-Norwood’s seat in convincing fashion, congratulated Redford on her election win.

“I never thought that was going to happen, but you can’t count the PCs out. That was a very strong victory,” said Mason.

The NDP ran three Aboriginal candidates, the most of any party. However, none won their seats.

The only Aboriginal candidate to win was incumbent PC MLA Pearl Calahasen in Lesser Slave Lake. However, it was the closest battle she has had since beginning her seven-term stint in the Alberta Legislature. Calahasen took 3,518 votes to Wildrose contester  Darryl Boisson‘s 2,847. Steve Kaz was one of the three Aboriginal candidates for the NDP and placed third in the riding with 427 votes.

Muriel Stanley Venne, a long time NDP supporter, also ran under the NDP banner in the new riding of Edmonton Southwest. She placed fourth with 1,076 votes. PC Matt Jeneroux took the seat with 7,010 votes far outdistancing the nearest contender, Allan Hunsperger of the Wildrose Party, who earned 2,163 seats. Hunsperger was one of a number of Wildrose candidates embroiled in controversy during the election campaign.

Stanley Venne said she was disappointed with the lack of Aboriginal issues on the agenda during the election. She noted that the NDP are the only party which has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“I’m certainly concerned about the lack of involvement of Aboriginal people,” said Stanley Venne. “We have a lot of work to do … in getting (people) to understand that it is a very important part of democracy that they do get involved in political parties.”

Stanley Venne said it was “an issue” that organizations like the Métis Nation of Alberta, for which she served as vice president until the MNA’s most recent election, has in its bylaws that the MNA  not be affiliated with any political parties.

The other Aboriginal candidate was Linda Robinson who placed third in the Stony Plain riding with 1,224 votes. PC Ken Lemke won the seat with 5,675 votes.

Along with the reconsideration of the  AFNEC, Laboucan said she would like to see the government give priority to other First Nations issues:  better consultation on the part of the province; better quality health services; and equity in education.

Laboucan admits these are all long-standing issues. Perhaps under the helm of a new leader, the PCs will be willing to listen.

“I’m hoping,” she said. “All I can do is hope that we’ll be able to work together for the betterment of all Albertans and not just the party.”