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Campaign Politics
Alberta 2015 Provincial Election
Voters in Alberta will get the chance to evaluate the government of Jim Prentice as they head to the polls on May 5th. The former Harper cabinet minister and bank executive was chosen by party faithful to replace Alison Redford in March of last year after she was forced to step aside because of scandal. Prentice appeared to have neutralized the Wildrose opposition when he convinced then party leader Danielle Smith and 8 of her colleagues to cross the floor and join the PCs, but then oil prices began to tumble and at one point fell below the $50/ barrel threshold throwing the whole Alberta economy into a tailspin. Prentice, seeking a mandate to ride the economic storm, called an election for May 5th and instead of seeing the opposition shrink away has seen them grow stronger. The Wildrose Alliance is now led by former Conservative MP and backbencher Brian Jean, who has reignited the party's fortunes. The NDP under Rachel Notley have seen their popularity rise to levels never seen before in the province and even the provincial Liberals have seen an increase in their popularity which makes the upcoming election in Alberta one that has grabbed the attention of Canadians from coast to coast. CPAC's Brian Coxford has the story from Alberta.