Breakenridge: Despite recent failings, voter recall may still be a useful tool |
There could still be some choppy political waters ahead, but the UCP must be feeling like the wind is at its back at the moment.
A Leger poll released last week showed the UCP holding a 17-point lead over the Opposition NDP. And the wave of voter recall campaigns aimed at embarrassing or even toppling the UCP government has completely fizzled out.
As it stands, there are still two active voter recall petition efforts — one targeting Progressive Tory Party of Alberta leader and Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie, while the other is aimed at New Democrat St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud. But the petition campaigns launched against two dozen UCP MLAs have all now officially failed.
This may only serve to further discredit the idea of voter recall. Perhaps the folks behind the give-them-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine campaign were never really committed supporters of direct democracy in the first place, anyway.
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But between the developments here in Alberta and some political drama in Ottawa, there’s an opportunity to find some middle ground on voter recall and create........