Canada: Jason Kenney and United Conservatives win Alberta election
Source: The Guardian
Canada: Jason Kenney and United Conservatives win Alberta election
Leyland Cecco in Toronto
Wed 17 Apr 2019 04.33 BST Last modified on Wed 17 Apr 2019 05.28 BST
Conservatives in western Canada have won a critical regional election, with voters rejecting the province of Alberta’s incumbent leftwing government and setting the stage for a fight with the federal government over environmental policy.
The bitter election was fought largely over the economy, pipelines and the environment. Running on a campaign slogan of “Alberta: Strong and Free”, winner Jason Kenney and his right-wing United Conservative party (UCP) pledged to revive the province’s troubled oil and gas sector, cut taxes and scale back environmental policies enacted by the previous government.
“Alberta is open for business,” Kenney told a raucous crowd, after pulling up to the stage of his victory celebration in his blue campaign pickup truck. “Help is on the way and hope is on the horizon.”
Premier Rachel Notley of the leftwing New Democratic party was vying for her second mandate in the province of Alberta, having previously shocked the country when she and her party stormed to victory in 2015. The historic win broke an unprecedented 44 years of conservative rule in the province and was heralded as a new age in Alberta politics.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/17/canada-jason-kenney-and-united-conservatives-win-alberta-election
