As the country chose change, Alberta chose more of the same, Oct. 19, remaining a Conservative stronghold, with 29 out of 34 seats in the province going to the Tories.
It's no surprise. As the results came in Monday night and a tide of red crossed the country, beginning in Newfoundland and moving its way west, no one expected it to continue through oil country.
The big blue dam at the Alberta border was never in question.
In fact, as numerous organizations were pushing for strategic voting, ridings like Yellowhead weren't even considered.
Vote Together, a strategic voting website, wrote Yellowhead off as a lost cause.
On the organization's website it stated: 鈥淏ased on past results, we have decided to focus on defeating Conservatives in other ridings where the results are likely to be closer and Conservatives have a better chance of winning because of vote splitting between the opposition parties.鈥�
It turns out, putting their efforts elsewhere was a a smart move, considering Conservative MP Jim Eglinski was re-elected in Yellowhead with 72.2 per cent of the popular vote, with his closest competitor, Liberal candidate Ryan Maguhn, placing a distant second with just 14.2 per cent.
Results like that are nothing new for Yellowhead. In the 2014 by-election, Eglinski won with 62.57 per cent of the vote. In 2011, long-time Conservative MP Rob Merrifield won with 77 per cent and in 2008 he won with 71.85 per cent. His lowest result in his 11 years as MP was 66 per cent when he was first elected in 2000.
With numbers like that, there was no doubt Yellowhead would re-elect Eglinski.
But, it's safe to say, it wasn't thanks to Jasper voters.
Historically, Jasper hasn't supported the Conservative party, but with a population of just 5,000 people and many residents who are ineligible to vote鈥攂ecause they're temporary foreign workers or permanent residents鈥攐ur numbers don't account for much amongst the nearly 74,000 registered voters in Yellowhead.
But, whether you support the Conservatives or not, the people of Yellowhead have spoken loud and clear, choosing Eglinski as our representative for the next four years.
We hope that he'll be a strong voice in the days ahead, not just for Yellowhead, but for Jasper National Park, holding the new Liberal government to its promises of restoring $25 million in funding to Parks Canada and increasing science spending by $2 million a year.
With that said, we look forward to working with Eglinski in the days, weeks and years ahead.
