Note to Alberta PCs: Start Listening!

When Peter Lougheed is saying wake up to the Alberta PC party, you know that they should be listening.

He warned that the party needs to stay "new, fresh and with modern ideas" to remain in office.

"In 1971, we campaigned on the basis that the government of the day had been there -- can you imagine 36 years? It was the theme of our campaign," Mr. Lougheed said with a laugh.

Lougheed doesn't say much these days, but when he does speak out, it's usually well worth paying attention to.

With people like Morton putting forth ideas that are resurrection of the late 19th century, it's time to slap the current lot around.

The discontent first became widely apparent after the last general election in November of 2004, when traditional Tory supporters stayed home in droves. While the party still won a sound majority, Mr. Klein's Tories captured just 47 per cent of the vote and dropped from 74 seats to 62 in the 83-seat legislature.

Yes, and they're still acting utterly non-responsive to their constituents (I sent a couple of letters to my MLA over the last year and have received the most dismissive responses possible - a sign that even those MLAs who are "perceived" to be good about working for their ridings have lost sight of reality.

Mr. Ellis said the province's Official Opposition -- the Liberals, who haven't held office since 1921 -- aren't the answer either because voters perceive them as a "bunch of losers"

Yeah, well, we all know Mr. Ellis' biases. He was one of the the people conducting "pseudo surveys" last year on the topic of "Western Alienation" and came up with results that are quite at odds with any reality I'm familiar with (including other polls). He's so tied in with the hard right wing that he's quite blind to the notion that other opinions could possibly exist.

I'd say it's a "wake up" call - last election, voters reduced the PC's significantly in the legislature, and there's been a steady influx of new people in the province who are now running into all kinds of problems (such as a lack of housing), in large part because of a laissez faire attitude on the part of the government. Someone offering alternatives could well receive much more of a hearing than the present lot suspect.