Orange is the new blue: How progressive conservatives could help the NDP win power
CBC
Alberta's New Democrats unveiled a new logo at their convention this weekend.
It's a shield housing two stripes of orange, representing the prairie fields, two white mountains, and a light blue stripe of sky.
The colour palette could be an unintentional representation of the mix of the voters — a lot of NDP orange, a little bit of conservative blue — who may pave the NDP's path to victory in next year's provincial election.
Part of the blueprint to get Rachel Notley back into the premier's office is to woo progressive conservative voters into leaning a little left.
How? The convention offers some clues: Upping the emphasis on the economy and honing in on voters in Calgary.
Ironically, the people who could help push the NDP to the 45 of 87 needed seats (44, plus a speaker) may actually be conservatives. But it's not a strategy without hurdles.
Orange and blue signs rippled in the crowd as Notley proclaimed "We've got politically active Albertans joining us today from other progressive traditions" in her speech to just under 1,400 party members.
The NDP is betting there are some "light blue" conservatives who feel politically homeless.
Polling from Janet Brown Opinion Research from the summer shows that on a scale of 0 (strongly left) and 10 (strongly right), 31 per cent of respondents identified as a five — dead in the political centre.
The work is to convince those people to "dip their toes in the NDP waters," said Cheryl Oates, who worked in Notley's premier's office and is back to help with the campaign.
Lou Arab, who is organizing the party's ground game and is also Notley's partner, said they've seen a 332-per-cent increase in identified voters open to voting NDP since the 2019 election. He also said in the 24 hours following Danielle Smith's election as UCP leader, his party raised $100,000.
Monday will also mark the launch of a new NDP advertising push, in part targeting traditionally conservative voters who don't identify with the path the UCP is travelling under its new leader.
The rival parties are pushing similar priorities, as Smith's speech during the UCP convention (also Saturday) spoke to affordability and health care issues as well — albeit, from a different angle.
It's maybe the one thing the two parties can agree on these days: Votes lie in a strong economic offering.
A long-serving United Church minister is preparing to leave his pulpit, adding pressure at a time when filling vacancies has become increasingly difficult.
Garrett Hawkins is on the cusp of making it to the big leagues. The pitcher from Biggar, Sask., has been added to the San Diego Padres 40-man roster.
Charlottetown Police and Fire Services are asking residents to avoid areas around Green Street due to a structure fire on Sunday morning.
Despite being born on a Christmas tree farm in Ohio, he wasn't really a fan of the holiday season.
A Hamilton hospital network is taking a closer look at how psychedelics might be useful in medicine.
Most people would prefer to spend the Christmas holiday weekend in warmth and comfort — but a Philadelphia man is going to spend it trudging 120 kilometres in the cold across Windsor-Essex.
Long before the first Calgary Stampede, the city attracted a different kind of cowboy.
After waiting four years to get his son the support the family says he needs to navigate school with learning challenges, a father from London, Ont. is fighting to make equitable healthcare and education a fundamental right.
Waterloo region and Guelph are under two yellow weather alerts warning of freezing rain changing to heavy rainfall Sunday, Environment Canada says.
A survey recently conducted on Prince Edward Island turned up a type of freshwater snail that experts say has never before been identified in the Maritimes.
A downtown Toronto long-term care home is rebuilding with a new design that considers lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, going beyond the province’s standards — but some say those standards are out of date.
It’s another wet and stormy day for much of Newfoundland and Labrador.
It’s been years since the tiny but aggressive European green crab made its way over to the Magdalen Islands, and some researchers in Quebec are warning it could be headed for the Gaspé next.