adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

News

‘The neighbours are going to think we’re communists’: Voting progressive in rural Alberta

Published

1 year ago

 on

Along a quiet street in Pincher Creek there’s a spattering of houses with bright orange signs that contrast the surrounding sea of blue.

Juneva Green was running errands when her husband stepped the NDP banner into their lawn.

“When I came back and he’d gotten the sign up I said, ‘Gee, Jim, the neighbours are going to think we’re communists,” she said laughing.

The Greens live in Livingstone-Macleod — a riding the NDP hasn’t won since 1966 but that houses pockets of progressive voters.

The election has broadly been a neck-and-neck race. But the NDP aren’t competitive in much of rural Alberta.

The UCP is at 65 per cent support and the NDP at 31 per cent outside Edmonton and Calgary, per polling aggregator 338 Canada. Seat projections show them as serious challengers in only a handful of the 41 ridings outside the two major cities.

The UCP’s greatest concentrations of strength continue to be in those constituencies, of which they currently hold 39.

The fewer small city and rural seats the NDP wins, the harder its path to victory. If the NDP forms the next government, it’s poised to do so largely without rural representation.

Juneva Green, a voter in Livingstone-Macleod, says there's more support for the NDP in her community in this election than she's seen in past years.
Juneva Green, a voter in Livingstone-Macleod, says there’s more support for the NDP in her community in this election than she’s seen in past years. (Elise von Scheel/CBC)

Lately, it’s been lonely to vote progressive in small town Alberta or be a conservative supporter in NDP-held Edmonton. CBC News is featuring stories from both those groups of voters during this election.

“In the last election, we put up NDP signs on both sides of the house and realized we’re the only ones with signs,” said Sharron Toews, a resident of Nanton who has voted across the political spectrum.

Progressive voters in places like Nanton, Claresholm and the Crowsnest Pass would quietly vote for their parties in the past, but the support is more visible this time. It’s the first election in decades where Alberta has solidified into a competitive two-party system.

“We’ve been a conservative-reigned province for many years … I think maybe people are looking for more options.”

This year, orange dots a dozen lawns on Toews’s small street.

Sharron Toews, a voter in Nanton, says in the last election she was the only house on the street with an NDP lawn sign.
Sharron Toews, a voter in Nanton, says in the last election she was the only house on the street with an NDP lawn sign. (Elise von Scheel/CBC)

“The fact that we are in a two-party system where opposition to the conservatives has largely coalesced around the NDP, that’s a really big deal,” said Clark Banack, the director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities at the University of Alberta.

He added that political cultures in small towns have shifted in the last 20 years as government dollars pool in cities and rural residents are confronted with the changing nature of living and livelihoods outside of urban centres.

“Is it going to flip 10 seats? No, I don’t think so. Are there going to be a few races that are far closer than we would have ever seen 10, 15, 20 years ago? Absolutely.”

Tory blue, all the way through

“Other” Alberta, as pollsters sometimes call the areas outside the two metropolises, hasn’t been reliable for the NDP. In 2019, the party had only 23 per cent of the 927,000 votes cast in “otherland.”

Livingstone-Macleod elected a UCP MLA in 2019 with more than 70 per cent of the vote to the NDP’s 21 per cent. It’s a stronghold of conservative support and home base for UCP Leader Danielle Smith (the constituency was also her first choice to get a seat in the legislature last fall).

Just under 50,000 people live in the riding, where people over 45 make up the majority. The riding is a patchwork of ranchers, farmers, health-care workers, energy sector employees, retirees and young families.

“People have this sense that rural Alberta is all one thing. People think it’s Tory blue all the way through,” said Kevin Van Tighem, the NDP candidate in Livingstone-Macleod.

“And a lot of people are concerned about the same things they’re worried about everywhere else in the province.”

He’s facing a well-known rookie UCP challenger, Chelsae Petrovic. Each has encountered controversy: Petrovic proactively apologized for yet-to-be-released social media posts and Van Tighem had to clarify a comparison he made between the oil and gas sector’s impact on the environment and slavery.

Those 41 seats also include places like Red Deer and Lethbridge, which are more of a toss up. And the issues across the province are consistent: Health care and the cost of living are just as much of a preoccupation outside the cities as they are in them.

Kevin Van Tighem is the NDP candidate in Livingstone-Macleod, a riding the UCP won by 50 points in 2019.
Kevin Van Tighem is the NDP candidate in Livingstone-Macleod, a riding the UCP won by 50 points in 2019. (Elise von Scheel/CBC)

“The small scale family farm has really withered away thanks to kind of broader economic shifts. Same with other industries that tended to be rural have been kind of corporatized to a degree,” Banack said.

“This has kind of created a bit of an opening for new forms of rural identity to kind of sprout out.”

In the Crowsnest Pass, longtime residents say the demographics have shifted in the last five years. Younger families have moved into communities like Bellevue and Blairmore. An uptick in mountain biking has brought people with environmental leanings to the region. A vibrant arts and tourism scene has emerged.

The NDP campaign is aiming for some gains outside the cities. Five rural seats would be the goal, flipping 10 would be the ceiling.

Don’t expect to see the majority of efforts focused in rural areas, a senior strategist said, but do expect the NDP to “take a few nibbles of their territory here and there.”

Van Tighem is trying to defy the odds and be one of the 10, using a perhaps counterintuitive strategy. He’s asking “light” blue conservatives to — just this once — put the UCP in the penalty box for four years and loan the NDP their vote.

“We’ve got a lot of the same beliefs except we drive on gravel roads, we’ve got longer driveways and we have far more grass to cut,” Karen Shaw said. She was raised in a conservative family, ranching in the northern half of Alberta. She’s now the NDP’s candidate in Morinville-St. Albert.

Shaw’s riding is a tighter race but still a bit of a toss up, polling aggregates say. The orange wave that swept the NDP to power in 2015 included a win in that region. No such luck four years later, in the 2019 election. She’s working to convince undecided voters the NDP should get another shot at government.

The candidates running in Livingstone-Macleod hold a forum in Claresholm on May 15, 2023.
The candidates running in Livingstone-Macleod participated in a forum in Claresholm on May 15. (Elise von Scheel/CBC)

Orange is the new blue?

The UCP is working to convey the opposite.

“There is nothing conservative or moderate about the NDP or its leader,” Edmonton-South West candidate Kaycee Madu wrote.

The party notes Notley’s record on economic issues, and Smith has poked at her attempt to appeal to more voters.

“She wants to portray herself as some kind of progressive conservative. She’s even wearing blue these days, you may have noticed,” the UCP leader said.

Jean Pultz voted NDP for the first time in 2019, and while she may not be a lifetime convert to the centre-left of the spectrum, she says Alberta needs to give something different a try.

“I think people are fed up.”

Pultz says she’s taking a chance on the NDP again but is skeptical of the party’s ability to deliver on its promises.

“Are they going to carry through once they get in? I don’t know.”

That hesitation voters may have on both major parties is what the Alberta Party would like to capitalize on.

“There’s the true and true blue that are going to vote blue no matter what,” said Kevin Todd, the candidate in Livingstone-Macleod.

“And I want them to just go for better representation.”

Ridings like Banff-Kananaskis, the two Lethbridge seats and Edmonton’s more rural ‘doughnut’ constituencies are opportunities for the NDP, but the odds don’t favour them for most of these 41 otherlands.

That isn’t much of a deterrent for some of these progressive voters.

“Every vote counts, my vote is just as important as anyone else’s,” said Tahvo Laukkanen, an NDP supporter in Grand Prairie.

“It’s politics. We always have a chance.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

News

Bad traffic, changed plans: Toronto braces for uncertainty of its Taylor Swift Era

Published

9 hours ago

 on

November 13, 2024

By

TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?

It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the arrival of Swifties, the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.

Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on the downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.

And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars — the city estimates more than $282 million in economic impact — some worry it could worsen Toronto’s gridlock by clogging streets that already come to a standstill during rush hour.

Swift’s shows are set to collide with sports events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Raptors game on Friday and a Leafs game on Saturday.

Some residents and local businesses have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area and its planned road closures.

Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.

“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window,” he said.

Dayani says the group rescheduled the gathering for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.

“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.

“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”

Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, suggested his employees avoid the company’s downtown offices on concert days, saying he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.

“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” Sinclair said.

“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”

Swift’s concerts are the latest pop culture moment to draw attention to Toronto’s notoriously disastrous daily commute.

In June, One Direction singer Niall Horan uploaded a social media video of himself walking through traffic to reach the venue for his concert.

“Traffic’s too bad in Toronto, so we’re walking to the venue,” he wrote in the post.

Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been working for more than a year on plans to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.

“We are preparing for something that would be akin to maybe the Beatles coming in the ‘60s,” he said.

Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to transit routes around the stadium, and the TTC has consulted the city on potential emergency scenarios.

Green will be part of a command centre operated by the City of Toronto and staffed by Toronto police leaders, emergency services and others who have handled massive gatherings including the Raptors’ NBA championship parade in 2019.

“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.

“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”

Metrolinx, the agency for Ontario’s GO Transit system, has also added extra trips and extended hours in some regions to accommodate fans looking to travel home.

A day before Swift’s first performance, the city began clearing out tents belonging to homeless people near the venue. The city said two people were offered space in a shelter.

“As the area around Rogers Centre is expected to receive a high volume of foot traffic in the coming days, this area has been prioritized for outreach work to ensure the safety of individuals in encampments, other residents, businesses and visitors — as is standard for large-scale events,” city spokesperson Russell Baker said in a statement.

Homeless advocate Diana Chan McNally questioned whether money and optics were behind the measure.

“People (in the area) are already in close proximity to concerts, sports games, and other events that generate massive amounts of traffic — that’s nothing new,” she said in a statement.

“If people were offered and willingly accepted a shelter space, free of coercion, I support that fully — that’s how it should happen.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

‘It’s literally incredible’: Swifties line up for merch ahead of Toronto concerts

Published

10 hours ago

 on

November 13, 2024

By

TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.

Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.

Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.

Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.

Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.

“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”

The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.

Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.

“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.

Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.

The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.

Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.

But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.

Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.

“It’s literally incredible.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Via Rail seeks judicial review on CN’s speed restrictions

Published

10 hours ago

 on

November 13, 2024

By

OTTAWA – Via Rail is asking for a judicial review on the reasons why Canadian National Railway Co. has imposed speed restrictions on its new passenger trains.

The Crown corporation says it is seeking the review from the Federal Court after many attempts at dialogue with the company did not yield valid reasoning for the change.

It says the restrictions imposed last month are causing daily delays on Via Rail’s Québec City-Windsor corridor, affecting thousands of passengers and damaging Via Rail’s reputation with travellers.

CN says in a statement that it imposed the restrictions at rail crossings given the industry’s experience and known risks associated with similar trains.

The company says Via has asked the courts to weigh in even though Via has agreed to buy the equipment needed to permanently fix the issues.

Via said in October that no incidents at level crossings have been reported in the two years since it put 16 Siemens Venture trains into operation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CN)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending