With the 2019 federal election just two months away, the campaign to lead Canada over the next five years will now be moving into top gear.
And while it’s obviously too early to predict a winner in the October vote, it is already clear that the stakes for Alberta and the rest of the nation couldn’t be higher.
For rural Alberta, key topics and issues in the campaign will include agriculture and related trade, oil and gas development, and the state of the economy, both currently and moving forward.
With Alberta farmers being heavily impacted by the ongoing trade dispute with China, and in particular the Asian nation’s curtailing of Canadian canola imports, voters here will want to know what the respective parties plan to do to end the dispute.
And those plans need to be more than vague promises about talking tough – voters will expect candidates to outline concrete strategies and firm timelines.
With Alberta’s economy continuing to be stymied by the lack of pipeline capacity for the province’s oil resource exports, residents will want candidates to outline what their respective parties plan to do to improve the desperate situation.
Again, promises and vague assurances will not be helpful. What voters will want to hear are concrete plans and strategies.
And perhaps the most important issue facing the province and the nation this campaign will be the economy.
In particular, which party has the best plan to keep Canada’s economy on track and prevent it from slipping into recession over the next term?
With the nation’s economic health having a direct and constant impact on the Alberta economy, residents here will want to know what candidates plan to do and when they plan to do it.
The 2019 Alberta election was one of the most heated campaigns in recent memory.
With the two main federal parties deeply divided on virtually every major issue facing Canada, the 2019 national campaign could end up being an even more down-and-dirty fight to the finish.
Dan Singleton is the Mountain View Gazette editor.
