Why Alberta politics may be getting more polarized — and why that matters

EDITOR'S NOTE: CBC News commissioned this public opinion research to be conducted immediately following the federal election and leading into the second anniversary of the United Conservative Party's provincial election win in May 2023. 

As with all polls, this one provides a snapshot in time. 

This analysis is one in a series of articles from this research. More stories will follow.

If Albertans feel a divergence of political attitudes — a shift from the centre, toward more ideological extremes — in the province, they aren't wrong, according to a recent poll commissioned by CBC Calgary.

"I think we are so polarized," lamented Calgary's Jillian Reimer as she and her two boys sipped drinks outside a coffee shop recently.

"I would like to have more conversations. I think there's very little that's actually black and white and so much more that's nuanced," she told a CBC News journalist asking Calgary residents about their impressions of Premier Danielle Smith.   

Reimer applauds Smith's defense of the energy industry, but not her actions on health care. The Calgary woman laughed when told she is part of a shrinking group of people who rate Smith somewhere in the middle.

From the mainstreaming of "F--k Trudeau" bumper stickers and flags to the heated tone of social media debate, our political discourse can often feel more barbed and split.

While a 2023 political science study found "only mixed evidence that Canadians are diverging ideologically and becoming more polarized," data from CBC News' recent poll suggests an increase in political polarization among  Albertans, pointing toward possibly more contentious times ahead for the prairie province.  

Polarization isn't necessarily a bad thing, according to a data scientist who analyzed the poll results for CBC News.

"It's important to identify where the fault lines in society are," said John Santos. 

He believes that, if we know where the cracks are in our politics, we can try to meaningfully grapple with divergent views and democratically sort out our differences. 

"We need to deal with those in a way where people's concerns are heard and they feel like they have a voice and a say in the democratic process," Santos told CBC News.  

Experts say addressing these political fractures can blunt the entrenchment that polarization can trigger.