Armed with a historic 12th-straight Progressive Conservative majority mandate, Alison Redford says she's switching gears from campaign mode to one focused on "growing Alberta and Canada."
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Redford told reporters that voters have given her the go-ahead to pursue improving the fortunes of Alberta and the rest of Canada.
"The campaign is over and we have work to do on federal-provincial relations and to keep growing Alberta and Canada," Redford said.
"I believe yesterday a lot of people voted for the future of the province, the prosperity of this province and its diversity," the PC leader added, noting that Alberta's population comprises those who can trace their roots back generations as well as relative newcomers.
When asked to explain how she thinks her Progressive Conservatives managed to snag a majority when pundits and pollsters had declared the race too close to call, Redford made a thinly-veiled dig at the newly-anointed official Opposition Wildrose Alliance Party.
"I think that it's a great disservice to Albertans to go back to ideologies based on old political stereotypes when I don't think that is Alberta and I don't think that's the future of Alberta," she said.
Redford's comments came on the heels of a surprise win that saw voters elect PC candidates in 61 of 87 seats across the province. That was down from 68 heading into the vote.
Danielle Smith's Wildrose Alliance Party went from 4 seats before the writ dropped to 17 -- enough to form the next official Opposition.
That means the Alberta Liberals were the night's big loser, getting stripped of official opposition status as the party slipped went from 8 seats pre-writ to five in the upcoming session.
And in that light, the NDP can lay claim to a victory of their own, doubling their legislative presence to four seats all in the Edmonton area.
But Redford has the "historic" victory claim wrapped up, as her government's 12th-straight majority in Alberta sets a record in Canada. Barring an unforeseen ouster, by the time Albertans head back to the polls the Tories will have ruled their province for 45 years.
The current record of 43 years in office was set by the Liberals in Nova Scotia between 1882 and 1925.
Addressing a rally in Calgary after the votes were tallied Monday night, Redford said voters sent a message and she's heard it loud-and-clear.
"Every Albertan knew that this election was about choice: a choice to put up walls, or to build bridges -- a choice about Alberta's future. Tonight, Alberta chose to build bridges," she said.
In a congratulatory message issued early Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the chance.
"I look forward to continue working with Premier Redford on issues that matter to Albertans and all Canadians, including promoting jobs, growth and long-term prosperity in a time of global economic uncertainty," he said.
Early in the campaign, Smith's Wildrose party had appeared on track to form its own intergovernmental relationship with Ottawa. But, despite her election to represent the Calgary constituency of Highwood, Smith acknowledged her party still has some work to do if it's to make a breakthrough in Edmonton and northern Alberta next time around.
"Tonight we found out that change might take a little longer than we thought," Smith told supporters in High River, south of Calgary.
"We wanted to do better and we expected to do better. Am I surprised? Am I disappointed? Yeah. Am I discouraged? Not a chance."
During the 28-day campaign, Redford and Smith had waged a political battle that swung from policy discussions to personal attacks.
After kicking off with a flurry of Wildrose promises that ranged from oil rebate cheques in good times, more involvement in private health clinics and spending limits to balance the budget, the campaign appeared to be going in the upstart party's favour.
The Tories, running on their record of 41 years in power, also had some promises -- 140 new family care health clinics, 50 new schools and renovations to 70 more.
But Smith constantly found herself fighting off critics who suggested her party bore a hidden agenda.
The criticism firmed up around the issue of conscience rights -- allowing civil servants to opt out of doing jobs they deeem morally objectionable such as marrying gay couples or prescribing birth control.
Then, in the final days of the campaign, controversial comments by two Wildrose candidates added more fuel to the fire.
Calgary candidate Ron Leech said he had a "Caucasian advantage," a comment for which he later apologized, while Edmonton hopeful Allan Hunsperger was linked to a blog post expressing his opinion homosexuals would perish in a lake of fire.
Despite a backlash of concern a Wildrose government would be intolerant of minority rights, Smith stood by the candidates. But Leech and Hunsperger lost their ridings Monday night.
Redford's PCs lost a high-profile candidate of their own, as former energy minister Ted Morton lost to Wildrose candidate Bruce McAllister in the riding of Chestermere-Rocky View.
Other notable results:
- Since becoming premier through her election as party leader last fall, Redford's re-election in the riding of Calgary-Elbow means she is now Alberta's first elected female premier.
- Morton aside, cabinet ministers Doug Horner, Thomas Lukaszuk, Diana McQueen, Jeff Johnson, Dave Hancock, Verlyn Olson, Frank Oberle, Cal Dallas, Fred Horne, Heather Klimchuk, Greg Weadick, Thomas Lukaszuk, Doug Griffiths, Manmeet Bhullar, George VanderBurg and Jonathan Denis were all re-elected
- Liberal Leader Raj Sherman was re-elected in a tight race for the riding of Edmonton-Meadowlark
- The NDP's four seats, including leader Brian Mason's in Edmonton–Highlands–Norwood, is enough to give the NDP official party status
By party, the popular vote was: Progressive Conservative (43.9 per cent), Wildrose (34.3 per cent), Liberal (9.9 per cent), NDP (9.8 per cent, Alberta Party (1.3 per cent)
