Alberta Tories lead in fundraising, but can money buy election happiness?

Alberta's Progressive Conservatives used to be money in the bank when it came to winning provincial elections. This time, the only guaranteed money comes from fundraising, and on that front the Tories are richer than you think.

Elections Alberta has publicized a detailed report on how much money the five main parties have raised in the first three months of the year.

Sitting atop the money heap, the PCs raised $825,318. That came from 358 contributors that included oil companies ($10,000 from Imperial Oil), construction companies ($5,000 from Ledcor Construction, $9,750 from Ledcor Industries) and the Insurance Bureau of Canada ($13,500). A majority of the donations were for more than $250, making the PCs' bank account look better than their third-place rating in a recent poll.

The New Democrats, seemingly poised for a monumental breakthrough in Alberta, have raised $406,883 in campaign funds. As for the other parties, Wildrose collected $355,091 with the Liberals at $110,764 and the Alberta Party at $109,272.

Will having the most money buy the PCs happiness? It doesn't look like it. An internal poll, conducted for the Tories, shows them emerging from the May 5 vote with a minority government – unprecedented in Alberta.

Vote team, vote

Politics and hockey rarely make for a good marriage. Think of Liberal MP Denis Coderre telling Hockey Canada not to name Shane Doan to its 2006 Olympic team because he had allegedly bad-mouthed Quebec referees during an NHL game in Montreal.

Turned out Mr. Doan wasn't the one who made the remarks. The hockey player filed a defamation suit; politician filed a countersuit. The two settled out of court. It was a low-water point for everyone.

But for this Alberta election, competing parties are targeting the Calgary Flames and running TV ads during their broadcasts. The PCs jumped aboard the Flaming C train earlier this month, televising their Choose Alberta's Future ads during the Flames' final home game of the regular season. (Featured in the ad is former Calgary police chief Rick Hanson, a candidate for the Calgary-Cross riding.) That night, the Flames defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings to earn a playoff spot.

On Wednesday, the NDP showed its ads during Game 1 of Calgary's opening-round series against the Vancouver Canucks. Once again, the Flames won.

On the plus side, parties advertising via Flames games are getting a large viewing audience. On the flip side, pollsters are wondering whether all that hockey excitement could keep people home and even affect voter turnout. Alberta's voting numbers have been on the decline for more than a decade. That's why Elections Alberta is reminding everyone: "Don't Let Others Decide for You. Vote."

How is it doing that? Elections Alberta ran a TV ad during the Flames victory over Vancouver.

Still with messaging

A Wildrose candidate had to apologize for a poster that invited party supporters to "take a break from calving, farming, spring work and the NHL playoffs to join your neighbours." The poster added the fundraising get-together was a BYWP event – "bring your wives' pie."

That started a Twitter-verse grass fire with some saying the language was sexist and crude. Rick Strankman, the Wildrose candidate for Drumheller-Stettler, tweeted an apology, thumbing that, "It was posted by our volunteers through my account. As soon as I saw it, I asked them to take it down."

Seeing the signs

The signage battle that has the political parties fighting over space for their lawn signs is bothering a Calgary councillor. Ray Jones described the show of signs as "litter … they're unsightly because there are so many of them."

The city has an election-sign bylaw that regulates where a sign can be placed and where it can't, such as, on traffic islands, street lights and no closer than 30 metres to an intersection. Sign fines range from $50 to $200.

Starting a new chapter

Danielle Smith is going to write a political page turner where the heroine of her story switches allegiances and joins forces with her rivals, then is voted out by the people she deserted.

Sound familiar? It should, since Ms. Smith will be writing that story as a look back at her six years in Alberta politics. She elevated the Wildrose Party to opposition status in 2012 only to join the PC party she had been bad-mouthing for years. Tory voters responded by snubbing Ms. Smith and choosing a first-term councillor from the town of Okotoks.

Suggested book title: Crossing the Great Divide.