Well, I guess it's official – the Toronto Maple Leafs look set to end their 60-year hoodoo and finally land a 14th Stanley Cup, Justin Bieber is on course to win a Canadian Caring Award in 2015 and scientists from the University of Alberta have all but confirmed that pigs do in fact possess a special chromosome that gives them the ability to fly…
These are just some of the many examples of things Canadians would have deemed more believable than Alberta voting for an NDP government.
No, you did not read that wrong. There's no need to rub your eyes. Following well over four decades of PC dominance, Canada's conservative stronghold appears to have chugged the proverbial kool aid, voting for a large NDP majority government.
Rachel Notley and her new band of youthful MLAs have been handed the unenviable task of taking on a province in financial crisis and restoring it to its former glory.
So where did it all go wrong for the Progressive Conservatives? Following 12 consecutive terms at the head of the provincial political spectrum it appears, at least from the outside, that the party and its higher ups simply became too comfortable. The party itself appeared to develop an immortality complex that eventually led to its demise.
It all started under former leader Alison Redford. Entering the fray under the premise of leading the conservatives into a new era, Redford did entirely the opposite, creating divisions within the party before resigning under a cloud of alleged misuse and abuse of provincial services and taxpayers' money.
Months on and in comes former federal cabinet minister Jim Prentice to save the day. Since being confirmed as the party's new leader and Alberta's 16th Premier back in September, Prentice has picked up the ball that Redford dropped and continued to polarize and isolate the majority of Albertans.
When he went on record as to effectively blame Albertans for the financial mess the province has found itself in over the past few months, Prentice sealed his and his party's fate.
It's been said before, but when it comes to politics perception is everything. Prentice did a poor job of steering the conservatives away from the controversies that marred Redford's reign, a move than has culminated in the party being relegated to the back benches in legislature.
Now, it's not going to be plain sailing from here on out. Albertans have taken a real risk in throwing their faith behind Notley and the NDPs. Traditionally, the party has done a very poor job when it comes to managing a province, a fact many Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia natives would be happy to support.
What this move has done is give Alberta the chance to change. Notley and her crew will be afforded every opportunity to get things right. Now it's up to them to ensure they follow through with their pre-election promise of returning this once great province to its glory days.
