Alberta Social Credit Today
As of 2004, Social Credit insists it is "neither a 'right-wing' nor a 'left-wing' political party", and that it opposes both "big business" and "big government". However, the party has adopted what some Albertans might consider to be centrist or even left-leaning policies. These include:
- re-regulation of energy services,
- creation of a public automobile insurance provider, and
- the use of government funds to build meat packing plants in response to the BSE crisis.
- vehement opposition to the proposed privatization of the Alberta Treasury Branches.
The party nominated 42 candidates for the 2004 election, and won 10,874 votes (1.2% of the popular vote, an increase of 0.7% from 2001.) It polled well in a few ridings, most notably Rocky Mountain House where Lavern Ahlstrom tied for second place.
In late 2005, the party entered discussion about merging with the Alberta Party and the Alberta Alliance. Despite cooperation and successful merger talks between the party leaders, the Social Credit Party membership voted down the motion to merge at the 2006 Social Credit Convention. (See: and )
In the Drumheller-Stettler by-election on 12 June 2007, the party's candidate Larry Davidson placed third with 11.7% of the vote.
In early November 2007, Len Skowronski replaced Lavern Ahlstrom as leader of the party.
The party fielded eight candidates for the March 3, 2008 Alberta general election. The party received 0.22% of the total or 2,051 votes, a decline of 1.0% from the previous election. The best individual riding result, and the only result over 3.0%, was for Wilf Tricker in Rocky Mountain House, who received 6.4% of the vote, finishing fifth in a field of seven candidates, just 0.62% behind the Green candidate and well ahead of the NDP and Separation Party candidates. It only fielded three candidates in the 2012 election, and only garnered 0.02 percent of the total— easily the party’s lowest ever election result.
Read more about this topic: Alberta Social Credit Party
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