The Conservative Party in Alberta is the strongest provincial political force in the country. Albertans have elected a new party into government only once in the past eighty years, thus, it is highly unlikely that any single political party - centre or left - can defeat the rightwing Conservatives or the Wildrose Party with a go-it-alone strategy. By combining behind one candidate in each constituency, voters can elect a slate of progressive opposition parties to put the province on a better path and to implement a more democratic voting system, such as Proportional Representation, where every vote counts. Such a mandate would allow all political parties in the province to retain their autonomy while working together to effectively address serious environmental, economic, health, and social issues.

Voter turnout has been falling with each election in Alberta. Combining support behind the most viable candidate, whether Liberal, New Democrat, Alberta Party, or Vision 2012 Society ('new' Greens), would give progressive citizens - particularly disillusioned non-voters - reason to vote, reason to believe that their votes will count, and reason to believe that they can help defeat the Conservatives and/or the Wildrose Alliance. By eliminating vote-splitting among progressive candidates and therefore strengthening the overall number of progressive MLAs in the legislature, strategic voting can end right-wing rule in Alberta.

We take no position on this issue. We support the opposition parties working together towards the goal of a new progressive government, and we believe most progressive Albertans will understand the need for voting strategically in their constituencies in the next election.

Stated party positions overlap greatly on key issues including health, a green economy, education, and social justice, among others. If we want to change the direction of Alberta politics and help voters understand that the policies of Wildrose are as detrimental to the public good as those of the Conservatives, we need to emphasize beneficial policies that progressives have in common rather than focusing on their parties' differences.

As stated above, the DRP includes supporters of all the progressive parties. Our experience in the Edmonton and Calgary chapters has shown that through convivial discussion, progressives of various stripes can rise above traditional party allegiances and work together for the common good. The Voter's Website will function as a 'decision desk'. The criteria will include:

• Evidence of voter support (eg. Numbers of people working on the campaign, number of homes visited by candidate, media coverage, social media support base, election signs on lawns), possible polling in seats where more than one centre-left party is in clear contention.
• Candidate's reputation and accomplishments.
• Past voting patterns and polling results in federal, provincial, and municipal campaigns (adjusting for boundary changes.)

These decisions will be made by a committee of progressive voters within the DRP, overseen by a broad Advisory Council of respected and experienced individuals. We believe strategic voting influenced the results in the federal elections of Linda Duncan and Anne McLellan, and would likely create significant increases in the number of seats held by progressive parties in Alberta as well.

Coalition governments - provincial and federal - are legal in Canada and are the norm in the majority of the world's parliamentary democracies. Historically, Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario have all had multi-party governments. Recently, a coalition government formed in Great Britain and three-quarters of Western European countries in the post-war era have had successful multi-party governments. In order to stop splitting the progressive vote in the next Alberta election, the DRP believes that combined voter support for 'best chance' candidates could bring about a big surprise on election night.

At Fairvote Alberta:
www.fairvotealberta.ca/