Alberta's premier Danielle Smith has received a ringing endorsement from her supporters during the weekends UCP convention and leadership vote.
It was a 91% approval rating – that's a pretty good response.
Of course it's a result in a vacuum ... so there is that to consider before the confetti flies and the fireworks boom. It's a qualified success, at best, as the approval came from a limited, and biased sampling of believers who were there to support the leader.
The UCP in Alberta reportedly has about 140,000 card-carrying members. According to information from the weekend vote, 4,600 of those members - about four per cent of them - gave an almost unanimous vote of support for the current Alberta premier and her plans. So, sure – on the surface it's a 91per cent approval from voting members - but the asterix that follows, you know, the pesky small print, should mention the support came from that small sampling.
To some, perhaps those cynical types, that may seem as if 4,600 people have helped steer the direction of a province of 4.88 million people. If that's sort of ratio is going to play such an active part of a democracy that reaches from school classrooms to our hospital surgeries to community policing, seniors’ homes and even to the way sports teams are organized or how individuals are recognized, then it may be important to note that the roster of the United nurses of Alberta currently sits at about 35,000 people, there are more than 40,000 in the Alberta Teachers Association, there are 11,000 doctors in the province, and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees have more than 95,000 members.
If the numbers from the weekend vote are being used to reinforce and justify Smith’s mandate, it would stand to reason that the same ‘strength in numbers’ victory should apply to everyone - especially if the premier truly recognizes the meaning of the first word in her own party’s name.
To be united, she now needs to listen and represent the larger numbers … the 4.87 million Albertans who are not card carrying Conservatives – and make them feel as though they are her number one pick.