Election Day

For the first time in decades, the provincial government of Alberta was not guaranteed before the citizens actually voted in the 2012 election.  Oh, Alberta.  The Texas of Canada. The land of the cowboy redneck.  The province that gushes money as readily as oil.  It stands for so many things I am against, but it is still home.

The only thing that could possibly take over the permanent PC conservative government here would be a MORE conservative government.  This ridiculous prospect has manifested itself as 'The Wild Rose Party'.  Early media reports showed that the Wild Rose was a joke - a party made up of fundamentalist Christians, climate change deniers, and supporters of removing rights from minorities.  So as the election drew nearer, it was very surprising (although it shouldn't have been) that the WRP was doing well in the polls.  In an election like this one, I wanted to make sure my vote was counted as a non-supporter of these principles.  So, a month before election day, I applied for a special ballot, had one sent here, proudly voted non Wild Rose, and sent it back to Edmonton. And then had to wait for the rest of the province to catch up. 

Today was election day, and Facebook was abuzz over the possibile outcomes. Normally when an election happens, I plant myself in front of the TV when the polls close and sit there for the rest of the night, watching the results come in and talking to my friends about our triumphs and failures in this lovely democracy. I obviously couldn't do that here, but at 2 PM I was refreshing election results on my computer and texting back and forth with people from Alberta. I probably would have done this all evening, but at 3, Rachel came into town and the pull of sunshine was too strong.  We headed to the beach while my friends continued to update me via text.  Rachel was playing a mix of happy music out of her portable speakers, and as we pulled into the parking lot, news came through on my phone: Wild Rose did not get a majority, they did not even get any seats north of Red Deer.   Even better, Edmonton was dotted with various parties other than the PC standby.  I was feeling amazing. The Flaming Lips “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" came on the mix, and we ran/danced up over the boardwalk to the beach, singing along and running to meet the ocean. I felt like I was in a movie.  The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, I was splashing around in a tank and shorts in the middle of April, dancing like a mad woman on the beach, and politics at home weren't as depressing as usual. Life is good.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Victory Pose