Alberta Election will have National impact

Edmonton - The Alberta provincial election campaign heads into its final sprint this weekend, leading up to Monday's vote, in a race that is as exciting as it is important for the rest of the country.

Danielle Smith's upstart Wildrose party is ahead in the polls and appears on the verge of defeating Alison Redford's ruling Progressive Conservatives and toppling the 41-year Tory dynasty.

At stake are the keys to the premier's office and control over one of the richest jurisdictions in North America, as two conservative parties battle it out in what's a messy political civil war.

Yet, all Canadians arguably have an enormous amount riding on the results of the election - both politically and economically.

"It matters (to Canadians), given that the population centre and the economic centre of gravity is starting to move West," said Duane Bratt, political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary.

"The premier of Alberta should be playing a larger role on the national stage."

Indeed, resource-rich Alberta has become an economic juggernaut in Confederation.

The northern Alberta oilsands contribute tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs across the country and billions of dollars to the national economy.

Moreover, the federal Conservative government's environmental policies and regulatory reforms for oil and gas projects are influenced by Alberta's petroleum-powered economy.

The province also remains a lightning rod within Canada - and around the world - for the environmental footprint of carbon-intensive oilsands developments on land, air and water.

Also, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has complained the high "petro-dollar" is hobbling Central Canada's manufacturing sector.

The oilsands are the third-largest proven oil reserves in the world next to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

Certainly, Wild Rose Country remains a polarizing province. Alberta's role in Confederation and how Canadians view the province could be heavily shaped by the results of Monday's vote.

"Twenty years ago, people wouldn't have cared because Alberta was not the economic powerhouse that it now is," said David Taras, a political analyst at Mount Royal University.

Courtesy: Edmonton Journal