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Let’s be honest folks, this election win by Rachel Notley and the NDP was completely unexpected here in what has been fortress Tory Alberta for the last 44 years.  I watched the election write itself out with trepidation for the first hour and a half, because one can never forget, this is Alberta, and for the longest time you could elect a half a bag of stale nacho chips here as long it sported the Tory Blue colours.

And then it happened.  The seat count exploded for the NDP and the Orange Crush never looked back.  No Tory Minority, No NDP Minority but… damn son…  an NDP Majority government.  The missus and I, around 9:30, broke out the Honey-Jack and toasted Rachel Notley and the new political future of Alberta.

I am very glad that we have a new government as of today, the old PC’s by now could be nothing but rife with patronage, cronyism and corruption.  Out with the old corruption and all that; hopefully we’ll have a nice long window of reasonable governance before the new wave of graft starts.

It is important for the NDP in Alberta to make good on their promises to the people of Alberta.  For the record here are the highlights

Notley campaigned on having the wealthy pay more to fund better health care and education. She’s promised:

• A Resource Owners Rights Commission to review the royalties oil companies pay to the province.

• A boost in the corporate tax rate to 12 per cent from 10 per cent. Increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018. Current wage is $10.20.

• More tax brackets for high earners than the Tories are proposing: a 12 per cent rate on income between $125,000 and $150,000; 13 per cent on income between $150,000 and $200,000; 14 per cent between $200,000 and $300,000 and 15 per cent over $300,000. NDP would also roll back the Tory health levy.

• The creation of 2,000 long-term care spaces over four years.

• A ban on corporate and union donations to political parties.

  Well there we go. Let’s hope that we see movement on these issues as early as the new budget that will be coming up

Another thought does occur to me, as I am still processing this NDP win in Alberta: How does this affect the prospects for the upcoming federal election?  Is there enough momentum to carry the Orange Crush to the next level – and in Harper’s hometown to boot.    I’m thinking the political landscape has become a lot more volatile, not only in Alberta, but in Canada as well.

For once, the polls in Alberta were right.