An open letter to Alberta voters

This letter is to anyone thinking of voting for Greg Clark in the next election.

I was dismayed to find out from a very good friend, that he was going to vote for Greg Clark.

His thinking was that “defeating the NDP is a certainty in my riding and across the province. The odds of the NDP winning as against Greg Clark are absolutely zero, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s UCP or AP. …. And I like Greg Clark as a man and think he’s done a good job, so I’m going to vote for him.”

First, in this period of crisis, the idea that personal friendships might be a reason to vote for someone seems wildly inappropriate. My children should not have to pay a debt caused by a government resulting from my voting for a friend.

But let me move past that and turn to the underlying strategic reasons that this view is flawed.

Ignoring the possible risk of an NDP upset because of this type of thinking, let me give some other reasons to vote for your UCP candidate over Greg Clark, even though you may love him dearly.

  1. In the upcoming negotiations with the federal government, it’s important that Albertans send a clear message to Ottawa that we are 100 percent behind the policies articulated by UCP. Particularly in the constitutional discussions and the negotiations that are going to come up. It is important that every federal politician dealing with our leadership understand that there is a strong plurality of voters behind the UCP.
  2. In the context of the fiscal recovery process that we’re going to have to go through, it’s important that the UCP be given a clear and unequivocal majority. It is therefore the case that every vote counts. This is not true only in federal negotiations. It is going to be true in terms of the need for strong and decisive action at the provincial level to turn our fiscal ship around. Therefore, every UCP vote is important.

I won’t get into any discussion about whether or not Greg Clark is a good man or whether or not he’s done a good job or whether or not the Alberta Party has good policies. Those are not the issues. The issue is that we need to give the UCP the strongest possible mandate to negotiate for our behalf and on behalf of Canada. Any weakness will be taken advantage of. Any possible wedge will be driven into divisions.

Please, therefore, if you’re going to vote for Greg Clark, please consider changing your mind.

Signed,

Andy Crooks

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