Whether you plan to vote Progressive Conservative in the next provincial election – as 64 per cent of voters in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills did in 2008 – or for the Greens, the Liberals, Wildrose, New Democrats, or the Alberta Party, one thing is guaranteed.
This Saturday in Didsbury, the candidate chosen to carry the PC banner will very likely become the next MLA for this constituency. It's not a certainty, but it's almost a sure thing.
In a sense then, the vote this Saturday will in all probability have more significance than the vote on election day.
For five bucks you can get in on it.
Five bucks is the price of a PC membership, which you can buy at the door at the Didsbury Multiplex from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. or the Cremona Legion Hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Buying a membership doesn't mean you have to agree with everything the PC Party does or what its leader says, or any of that. What it means is that you get to mark on the ballot your first and second choice of the three PC nominees who want to be your next MLA.
It means, even if you don't vote PC in the next election, that you will have at least gotten to vote for the person you think will do the best job if – as is very likely the case – the PC candidate does end up getting elected.
It comes down to the fact that we are governed at the provincial and federal levels under a party system. On election day we vote for a candidate who represents a party, whose local membership has already selected that candidate. Many voters feel disenfranchised because they have no say in how that candidate is selected. And there are good reasons for this.
Consider the numbers.
There are about 24,000 voters in the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills constituency. In 2008, about 1,200 people voted at the PC nomination meeting, which saw Richard Marz hang on to his position by defeating challenger Darcy Davis.
That's five per cent of the electorate deciding, in effect, who the next MLA would be.
Five per cent.
Five per cent is not the rule of the people. It is the rule of the small minority, the party elite. Don't blame them. It's up to the people to get out there and make the process more democratic.
Five bucks is what it will cost you. It's cheaper than a movie. Hell, it's cheaper than popcorn.
Three very different candidates are running, from different parts of the riding, with different backgrounds, different attitudes, different priorities. You can read this week's Gazette and come away with a pretty good idea of who they are and what they stand for. You can check out their websites or watch last week's candidate forum on CentralAlbertaTV.net. You can show up in Didsbury at 6:30 p.m. and catch their speeches. You can even phone them up and ask them questions; they'll get back to you with answers – they want your votes. And they'll sell you a membership as soon as look at you.
Five bucks will get you in the game. If you're tapped right out, ask your buddy, your neighbour, your wife to spot you a fin.
Five bucks, people. Can you afford it?
