His Truck Stops Here

Earlier this year, Danielle Smith’s United Conservatives and Rachel Notley’s New Democrats waged an election battle for the ages. Throughout the spring campaign, each party led in polls at different stages — and sometimes split them during the same week. Both leaders struggled at times to connect with voters and apologized for past political mistakes and decisions. A significant number of Albertans couldn’t decide which direction they wanted the province to take until the very end.

The UCP ended up winning the closest election in Alberta history on May 29. Smith took forty-nine seats and almost 53 percent of the popular vote. She won most of those seats in rural areas. Notley, who had served as premier from 2015 to 2019, won thirty-eight seats and 44 percent of the vote. She swept Edmonton and carried fourteen of twenty-six seats in Calgary. In a province that was once regarded as Canada’s most reliably Conservative, this was a surprising result. Indeed, some...