UCP, NDP campaigns underway weeks before official writ drop

Alberta election campaigns are usually 28 days long but everyone knows the campaign is already well underway two weeks before the vote is actually called. 

Premier Danielle Smith's matter-of-fact answer at a news conference last Friday shows how longer campaigns have become the norm. 

After announcing reporters would only get one question at her news conferences, Smith was asked why she was changing the long-standing practice of allowing them to ask a follow-up. 

"It's an election, that's why," Smith replied, adding that this would allow more outlets to get questions to her in the coming weeks. 

Technically it isn't an election. At least not yet. The date — May 29 — is set by legislation. The campaign doesn't officially start until May 1 when Smith said she will call the election. 

Campaign-style news conferences

But campaigning is already underway. The opposition NDP has held campaign-style news conferences for months. Now the governing UCP is holding events. 

Smith appeared at a party news conference in Sherwood Park on April 11, where she pledged that no one would have to pay out of pocket for medical care

Two days later, Smith spoke to members of the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce. She used part of her speech to praise two local UCP MLAs running for re-election and offer a thinly-veiled dig at the NDP.

"Do we want to continue building a strong, stable Alberta, an Alberta focused on growing the economy and job creation and ensuring families can pay their bills?" she asked the luncheon crowd. 

"Or do we want to go back to high taxes and more red tape that would drive businesses and investment away and make life more expensive for Albertans?"

Earlier in the day, Smith met with Mayor Cathy Heron and the rest of St. Albert city council for an hour, something her predecessors never did, Heron said. 

"She's been very generous with her time in St. Albert," Heron told CBC News afterwards. "She's learned a lot and hopefully we will be on her radar in the future."

While Smith courted favour in the Edmonton donut — the nickname for the suburban ridings that extend past city limits — NDP leader Rachel Notley made a quick visit to northern Alberta where she stopped in Slave Lake and Grande Prairie. 

Notley downplayed the significance of the visit when asked by a reporter. 

"We had a seniors town hall at the friendship centre and that was really important," she said. "That's the work that opposition does, quite frankly, even between elections, regardless, hearing from folks on the critical issues."

Notley then accused Smith of campaigning on the public dime because the government has spent millions of dollars on post-budget advertising. 

New campaign limits

Sniping aside, the pre-writ period helps the opposition as well as the governing party. 

Both the NDP and UCP head into the campaign with sizeable budgets — each party raised $7 million in donations just last year. 

Legislation passed in 2022 increased the spending cap for each party over the 28-day campaign from $2 million to $3.2 million. The new figure is based on multiplying the number of electors three months before election day by $1.16. 

The extra cash means the parties are already spending to produce videos for social media and commercials during hockey games. 

Political scientists say this type of pre-writ campaigning is not unusual in Canadian politics. But the trend toward advanced voting may mean that it could be useful.

Jared Wesley is a political science professor with the University of Alberta who studies political culture in western Canada through the Common Ground project. 

He says nearly half of eligible voters may cast a ballot before the leaders debate if the trend toward advanced voting continues. The change means parties have a dwindling number of persuadable voters to work with leading up to election day. 

Wesley said its useful for campaign volunteers to identify supporters early, and help them to figure out their plan for voting.  

"In an election that is so close like this, even a handful, hundred, even a couple of dozen votes, are going to mean the difference between winning and losing a seat and are going to mean the difference between which party forms government," he said. "Campaigns do matter when it's this tight."

Notley acknowledged advanced polling can change the arc of a campaign. 

"There is no question that we'll be encouraging the hundreds of thousands of folks who've already told us they plan to vote for us to vote early, and many of our campaign resources will be dedicated to that," she said. 

Entrenched political identities

Feo Snagovsky, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Alberta, agreed that the early campaigning is useful for political parties.

Alberta voters are quite entrenched in their political identities — whether they see themselves as progressive or conservative — so have strong opinions about the leaders and parties, Snagovsky said. 

Voters may not pay attention to the smaller day-to-day details of a campaign but they will notice bigger issues. 

"I think they're paying attention to the broad brushstrokes, the credibility, the policy positions, the broad agenda that the leaders are putting forward," Snagovsky said. 

The campaigning will likely start ramping up later this week. 

On her weekly radio show on Saturday, Smith said the last cabinet meeting before the election would be on Tuesday. The show itself was ending until after the election, she said. 

"This is going to be an important election campaign and we want to get right to it, selling our message."