A few days ago we ran a story which included an email statement from the Chief Policy Correspondent of Alberta’s Wildrose Alliance party stating that “…We support the right of our dairy producers to sell their product wherever demand exists for it, along with the right of Alberta consumers to purchase unpasturized milk if they so desire…”. Well that’s the party that, judging by the polls, seems poised to form the next Alberta government. Could this be a turning point for raw milk in Canada?
Wildrose leader Danielle Smith gets close to a mother goat during a campaign stop at a family farm near Chestermere, Alta., on Wednesday. Albertans go to the polls on Monday. Photo: JEFF MCINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS
From the Calgary Herald “Wildrose steams past Tories…”:
“Danielle Smith and her Wildrose party are surging even farther ahead of Alison Redford’s Progressive Conservatives on the campaign trail, but the battle is shaping up to create a north-south provincial split, according to a new poll.
The Leger Marketing survey of 986 voters across Alberta, commissioned by the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal, shows Wildrose has steadily increased its support as the campaign has rolled into its second week.
Among decided voters, Wildrose has 41 per cent of support, while the PCs have 34 per cent. The NDP is polling at 12 per cent, the Liberals at 10 per cent and the Alberta Party at two per cent.
The online survey was conducted between Monday and Wednesday.
The poll found 22 per cent of Albertans say they are undecided. But when asked which party they are leaning toward, undecided voters are almost equally split between the Tories and Wildrose at 18 per cent each, with the other parties well behind.
The poll also shows the Tories continue to lead the Wildrose by a significant margin in Edmonton, but are lagging in Calgary and the rest of the province, where more than half of decided voters are backing the Wildrose…”
Read more of that here in the Calgary Herald
This story is so huge that even the Toronto Star is sitting up and taking notice. From today’s column by Thomas Walkom:
“Unless something dramatic happens soon, polls indicate that Danielle Smith’s upstart Wildrose Party is poised to win Monday’s Alberta election.
Such a win — or even a narrow Wildrose loss — would be a telling victory for a hard-right movement that years ago surged out of Alberta to win the country but that could never quite capture the province of its birth.
Many Canadians might be surprised to learn that Alberta’s current Progressive Conservative government is not already hard-right….”
Read more in the Toronto Star.
Danielle Smith’s Wildrose Alliance is being closely watched by libertarian types all across Canada, and rumor has it that some folks we know in Ontario are even planning to move to Alberta if her party wins. So as soon as next week there could be a provincial government in Canada that looks favourably on raw milk rights. Would that be a sea change or what?
The Bovine 
the party that supports raw milk being legalized, did win the bye-elections in BC. Raw milk was not an issue in those campaigns, but the NDP caucus is firmly on-side with us
Good to see that the west is leading the way on this issue. Today’s the election. The outcome will be closely watched, I’m sure.
Big splash in Sunday’s Toronto Star on the Alberta elections and the very real likelihood that the Wildrose Alliance will form the next government there.
Big surprise on Monday, contrary to the poll indications, the conservatives won. Funny nobody seems to be asking about voting irregularities. Could the polls really be that wrong?
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