Alberta is open for business': Kenney says UCP will focus on getting people back to work
Recap of Jason Kenney's majority election victory over the province's first-ever NDP government. Here's how the night unfolded.
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The polls have closed
The polls closed at 8 p.m. MT and the results will start trickling in shortly after. That’s when poll workers will open up the ballot boxes and begin counting the votes by hand.
You can get the full results breakdown here.
Unless the race is especially close, CBC's decision desk anticipates it will call which party will form the next government tonight. But final totals won't be available for a few days because of the new "vote anywhere" legislation.
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CBC's election night special is live
You can watch the presentation by clicking the video above. Rob Brown and Nancy Carlson are hosting our election night special, with live results from across the province, updates from campaign headquarters, and real-time analysis from our panel of political experts.
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It’s election night in Alberta
After a whirlwind 28-day provincial election campaign, the big show is finally here!
My name is Amara McLaughlin and I will be your live blog host throughout the evening. I’ll be joined by a motley crew of CBC reporters stationed across the province:
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Bryan Labby and Carolyn Dunn are at the UCP HQ in Calgary.
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Kim Trynacity is at the NDP HQ in Edmonton.
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Dave Gilson is at the Calgary-Mountain View riding where Liberal Leader David Khan is vying for a seat.
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Andrew Brown is at the Calgary-Elbow riding.
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Tanara McLean is at the Alberta Party HQ in Edmonton.
We will be bringing you up-to-the-minute news, photos and voting data as the race for the next leader of Alberta unfolds.
At stake: whether the New Democratic Party (NDP) will retain majority control in Alberta, or whether another party will sit at the helm. You can follow the results here.
We’ve got lots of news to cover, so let’s get started.
Alberta’s party leaders, from left to right: UCP Leader Jason Kenney, NDP Leader Rachel Notley, Liberal Leader David Khan, and Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel. (CBC) -
Parties and seats… Who are the players?
These are the biggest political players in the province:
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Rachel Notley, leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP)
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Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP)
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Stephen Mandel, leader of the Alberta Party (AP)
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David Khan, leader of the Alberta Liberal Party
The four main party leaders have travelled thousands of kilometres across Alberta, trying to win over voters and shore up support. Now it all comes down to tonight.
Out of Alberta’s 13 registered political parties, six hold seats in the legislature. However, only three party leaders hold seats — Notley, Kenney and Freedom Conservative Party Leader Derek Fildebrant.
Here’s how the 87 seats in Alberta’s legislature broke down by party in the last session:
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NDP: 52 seats
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United Conservative Party: 25 seats
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Alberta Party: 3 seats
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Independent: 3 seats
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Alberta Liberal Party: 1 seat
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Freedom Conservative Party: 1 seat
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Progressive Conservative: 1 seat
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Vacant: 1 seat
UCP Leader Jason Kenney, left, Liberal Party Leader David Khan, centre-left, Notley, centre-right, and Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel pose together before the start of the leaders' debate on April 4. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press) -
Standing by for the pre-show
You will be able to stream our election night special above starting at 7:30 p.m. MT. Host Rob Brown will be joined by CBC reporters on the ground to give you the results as they come in. We will also be checking in at all the party headquarters.
Full coverage is also available:
- The CBC Calgary and CBC Edmonton Facebook pages.
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The CBC Calgary News and CBC Edmonton News on TV.
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CBC News' YouTube page.
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Our CBC Gem streaming service.
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Or, listen to the radio special starting at 8 p.m. MT on CBC Radio One.
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Who will be the next premier?
UCP Leader Jason Kenney and NDP Leader Rachel Notley are the front-runners in the 2019 Alberta election campaign.
If the polls are correct (and that’s a big “if”), Kenney’s United Conservatives will secure a majority victory over his party’s main rival, the NDP. The UCP has led the polls since it was created out of the merger of Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) Further, Rachel Notley will make history tonight as either the first Alberta NDP premier to win re-election or the first leader of an Alberta party that failed to win a renewed mandate on its first try. The NDP are likely to form the official opposition.
(Dave Chidley/Canadian Press) All party leaders have hammered home different visions for Alberta since the province announced at the end of last month when it would go to the polls. But this election campaign hasn’t just been about two parties going head to head.
The Alberta Party is largely perceived as the third party in the race, followed by the Alberta Liberals.
A party has to win 44 ridings to form a majority government.
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Counting all the votes
Alberta’s new “vote anywhere” legislation shouldn’t prevent CBC’s decision desk from calling which party will form the next provincial government on election night. CBC’s analysts use a number of tracking methods to determine when the winning party can be announced.
There are around 2.6 million Albertans registered to vote and for the first time this election, Albertans were able to cast advance ballots at polls outside of their own riding. Those votes, as well as special ballots, will begin to be counted the day after the election.
Advance votes cast within the riding will be counted on election day, but not until polls close.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) -
Party performance in 2015
Here’s a look at Alberta voting trends from 2015:
- The NDP won 53 ridings, claiming around 41 per cent of the popular vote.
- The Wildrose took 21 seats and 24 per cent of the popular vote.
- The PCs claimed 10 seats and about 28 per cent of the popular vote.
- The Liberals and the Alberta Party each claimed one seat.
(CBC) -
Parties appearing for the first time this election
The United Conservative Party (UCP) made its debut on voters’ ballots. Jason Kenney’s party didn’t exist the last time Albertans headed to the polls in 2015. The UCP is the main rival to the NDP.
The two parties that merged under the UCP banner in 2017 — the Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose — have been dormant ever since. They both are still on Elections Alberta’s list of registered political parties, despite not fielding any candidates.
Another new contender this election cycle is the Alberta Advantage Party. The five-month-old party was founded by former members of the Wildrose who were dissatisfied with the merger with the PCs.
The upstart Freedom Conservative Party (FCP) was created in 2018 by former UCP MLA Derek Fildebrandt as a coalition of “grassroots controversies, libertarians and Alberta patriots.”
Fildebrandt was elected as a Wildrose MLA in 2015 and was a brief member of the UCP caucus that formed when the Wildrose and PC parties merged. He left after a series of political scandals and formed the FCP a year later.
(Sam Martin/CBC) -
Will the NDP storm to another win or suffer an upset?
The numbers look tough for Rachel Notley. Recent polls have suggested the NDP will struggle to repeat the success of their 2015 campaign.
The New Democrats turned Canadian politics on its head in 2015 by unseating four decades of Progressive Conservative domination in Alberta.
(Larry MacDougal/Canadian Press) The NDP’s rise, claiming a majority government by winning 53 ridings, came as a massive shock. Up until that point, Alberta was traditionally known as Canada’s most conservative province. But anger at the long-governing PCs seemed to have spurred the so-called Orange Wave, even in former Conservative bastions.
The NDP’s previous best showing in Alberta was in 1986 when the party took 16 seats, but by 1993, it was shut out of the legislature.
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Advance polls set new record
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) About 696,000 Albertans cast their ballots in advance polls — a new record for the province. That's almost triple the amount of ballots cast in the 2015 election advance polls and about a quarter of all 2.6 million registered voters.
The delay is because the advance votes are split into two categories: the regular advance vote and "vote anywhere" option, which allowed voters to vote outside their ridings.The first group will be counted among the ballots submitted on election day.However, Elections Alberta says it won't even start to count the "vote anywhere" ballots until Wednesday and the process could continue to Saturday.About 223,000 advance votes fall into that category. That means in ridings where the race is close and there is a significant number of "vote anywhere" votes, CBC's decision desk will not be able to make a projection of a winner in that riding tonight. -
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What are the key election issues?
One of the tools we’ve been using during the election is Vote Compass. It has been used more than 360,000 times and tracks data about how users' views compare with those of Alberta's political parties.The results show that in Alberta politics there is no centre.Vote Compass found that the views of NDP supporters and those of United Conservative Party (UCP) supporters are not only far apart across the province, but they are even at opposite ends within each riding.The results paint a picture of polarization.
This graph shows the difference between self-declared NDP and UCP voters within each riding. (Vote Compass/Vox Pop Labs) -
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How far right or left do entire ridings sway?
According to the Vote Compass analysis, the top 10 right-leaning ridings in Alberta are:
- Cardston-Siksika
- Drumheller-Stettler
- Taber-Warner
- Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills
- Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre
- Chestermere-Strathmore
- Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul
- Drayton Valley-Devon
- Vermillion-Lloydminster-Wainwright
- Grande Prairie-Wapiti
The Top 10 left-leaning ridings in Alberta, per the analysis, are:
- Edmonton-Strathcona
- Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
- Edmonton-City Centre
- Edmonton-Glenora
- Edmonton-Gold Bar
- Edmonton-Riverview
- Calgary-Mountain View
- Edmonton-Rutherford
- Edmonton-Decore
- Calgary-Buffalo
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Few things you can expect from a UCP government:
- The end of Alberta's carbon tax — and a fight with the feds over their backstop.
- The lowest corporate tax rate in Canada — down to 8 per cent from 12 per cent.
- A referendum on equalization payments. Kenney proposed the referendum as a way to pressure the government to build a coastal pipeline.
- Farm and labour changes, including an end to workplace safety rules for farms and ranches and a lower minimum wage for minors.
- Turn-off-the-taps legislation at the first cabinet meeting. The legislation, passed by the NDP but never enacted, would allow the government to restrict oil exports to B.C. if they did not support the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
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Jason Kenney has capped his three-year goal...
...of uniting Alberta's political right, leading his United Conservative Party to a majority win over the province's first-ever NDP government.
Created in 2017 through a merger of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties, early results project the UCP to win a majority of seats in tonight's provincial election.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) -
Does the UCP's projected victory signal a conservative resurgence across Canada?
On the eve of the vote, the CBC's Erin Collins toured Alberta's conservative heartland to take the temperature of a growing movement.
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Reaction to Kenney's projected majority victory
Tonight's high vote share for the UCP means Kenney will lead a government with a strong mandate from Albertans.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) UCP supporters are waiting for the projected next premier of Alberta to speak.
(Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
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'Gratitude and pride': Notley
Outgoing premier Rachel Notley is thanking her supporters."As I look out at all of you, I'm filled with an enormous sense of gratitude and pride," she said during her concession speech.Notley added: "It's on nights like tonight that I'm very glad we expanded Alberta's craft beer industry." -
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NDP promise to lead 'rigorous and robust' opposition
"To every Albertan out there who identifies as LGBTQ2A+, know you will always have a champion in me, and in the Alberta NDP, and in the Alberta NDP opposition," Notley said as she was met with cheers of "Ra-chel! Ra-chel!" from the crowd. -
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'Help is on the way': Kenney
(Bryan Labby/CBC) Jason Kenney, the next premier of Alberta,arrived at UCP headquarters in a blue-coloured pickup truck.He echoed Ontario Premier Doug Ford's election speech when he told his supporters, "Alberta is open for business.""Alberta has elected a government who will be obsessed with getting this province back to work," Kenney said. -
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We haven't talked much about the popular vote
Here's a breakdown for tonight. A big victory for Kenney's United Conservatives, however the NDP still managed to hang on to a considerable number of key ridings.- UCP: 54.7 per cent.
- NDP: 32.3 per cent.
- AP: 9.52 per cent.
- Liberals: 0.97 per cent.
- FCP: 0.53 per cent.
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Closest riding of the night goes to Banff-Kananaskis...
...where the UCP's Miranda Rosin and NDP incumbent Cam Westhead are trading a lead in the double digits, with more than 14,000 votes counted.
UCP candidate Miranda Rosin, left and incumbent MLA Cam Westhead, right, are running in the Banff-Kananaskis riding. (Helen Pike/CBC) -
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That’s a wrap live blog wise
I’m signing off on this live blog here. But the coverage continues online. CBC’s newsrooms are furiously writing articles now, which you will be able to find shortly right here.
Here’s a round up of our stories from the evening:
- Big election win for Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party
- Jason Kenney's UCP wins majority, defeating NDP
- UCP dominates in southern Alberta ridings — but 1 district remains
- Blue wave surges through Calgary, early results project
Our coverage continues bright and early tomorrow morning with more results and in-depth analysis.
I'll leave you tonight with a look at Alberta — a sea of blue with orange spots.
Good night Alberta! Thanks for following along.
