Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

The ability to change and survive under new leaders and different circumstances are the strength of any long-ruling political party. Alberta’s Progressive Conservative Party has successfully rebranded itself in previous years, often using “new leadership” as a strategy. Throwing a former Premier under the proverbial bus seems like a simple solution to dwindling popularity, but have the PC’s used this tactic one too many times for it to be effective this go around? Alberta’s seventh PC Party Premier, Jim Prentice criticized many of the decisions made under Alison Redford and by the government he now leads. The removal of several high profile PC MLA’s from cabinet positions and making questionable ministerial appointments that included members with no seat in the Legislature, could be considered the beginning of Prentice’s “de-Redfordization”. Immediate action on selling the fleet of government planes and cancelling the license plate redesign was a popular no-brainer. Revamping Alberta’s foreign offices, ke