Most of these analyses focus on factors within the governing
party. As it embarks on the process of
finding a new leader and premier, I would like to point out an obvious fact
about the premier’s and the party’s low popularity. I focus on just one aspect of the government’s
mandate, postsecondary education. Similar
points could be easily made using many other government policies.
The fact is this: during the 2012 provincial election,
Redford campaigned on a particular platform; she delivered policies contrary
to her platform in her March 2013 budget.
To illustrate, Redford’s campaign promises to reinvest in
postsecondary education, and to provide stable and predictable funding for this
sector, transformed into an over 7% budget cut that took university and college
administrators by surprise. Decisions of
this type – about faces on campaign promises – have not surprisingly led to
enormous decreases in the government’s popularity, not to mention the
obliteration of the electorate’s trust of the government.
The many analyses of the current situation in Alberta politics
examine dynamics within the government and the governing party, providing
possible explanations for the tension between campaign promises and current
policies. It is important to remember,
though, that the general electorate that is outside the party is perhaps less
interested in explaining this tension, and is simply more interested in the fact
that it exists!
Consider an earlier provincial election campaign successfully
conducted by the same party, Ralph Klein’s 1993 “Miracle on the Prairie”. Klein campaigned on a platform that promised
harsh cutbacks in government spending, cuts that were likely more far reaching
than those delivered by Redford’s 2013 budget.
Klein won a majority (as did Redford), and proceeded with various budget
cuts (as did Redford), but Klein’s popularity went up when his fiscal
plan was enacted.
The difference, of course, is that Klein delivered what he
promised on the campaign trail. Redford
did not.
