DividebetweenurbanandruraldeepensinB.C.,Alberta

There is usually not much to learn from another province’s general election, but the recent result in Alberta serves as a reminder that some of this country finds itself moving in two different directions.

One side is moving along rural lines, while the other is becoming entrenched in urban and suburban areas

The Alberta election result largely mirrored the B.C. election outcome in 2020, albeit with philosophically opposite parties winning each contest.

The winning United Conservative Party proved victorious by dominating the rural regions of the province, while the NDP made impressive gains by winning almost three-quarters of the urban and suburban ridings.

In the last B C election, the BC NDP won about 80 per cent of the urban and suburban ridings. The BC Liberals (now the BC United Party) won more than half the rural and regional seats.

A key takeaway from these results is that conservative-oriented voters seem to be in decline in the urban and suburban areas of the country, a shift that favours political parties that lean in different philosophical directions

This rural–urban divide can also be seen at the federal level.

In the most recent federal election, the ruling Liberals won 15 of the 23 ridings in Metro Vancouver while the NDP took five of them and the Conservatives just three

I suspect this shift in voting patterns is indicative of changing demographics The suburbs are dominated by younger people and young families, who naturally gravitate to parties that are not right-wing

In B.C., this divide may get even wider in the years ahead. The provincial legislature will grow by six seats before the next election, and five of the new ridings are in Burnaby, Langley, Surrey and Vancouver in Metro Vancouver, as well as Langford in the Capital region (the sixth riding will encompass downtown Kelowna)

As I have mentioned, this kind of split can pose problems for any sitting government.

When one side doesn’t have much representation at the caucus or cabinet table (in Alberta, the urban/ suburban voters are almost shut out, while the opposite is true in B.C.), getting public policy right on key policies can prove to be a challenge

The ruling NDP government has been dealing with that challenge for almost six years now

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will now be the latest leader trying to navigate what appears to be a growing divide.

Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC