So, it’s been a rough October for Alberta’s Official Opposition party, the Wildrose.
This spurs from an article published on Oct. 9 in the Globe and Mail by Carrie Tait where Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt implied the governing NDP hoodwinked Alberta voters by following through on the promises made during the spring election.
I know. Don’t think too hard, let’s just keep moving.
So on the day the Legislature returned to work and the Notley government set forward it’s budget for the year, Mr. Fildebrandt used the opposition press conference to call out Tait and accused her of trying to get a job as Premier Notley’s press secretary, while leader Brian Jean was standing right next to him.
This, of course, became the story of the day, rather than the Wildrose response to the budget.
You’d think things couldn’t get worse, but you’d be wrong.
The party then decided to take a principled stand on the start time of the legislature, which the NDP chose to move up from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m.
The real issue here, is the loss of prep time in the morning, as MLAs do start their work at 7 a.m.
However, no one in the general public heard that.
What they did hear was a group of people who make over $100,000 a year complaining about having to start their job an hour earlier, no doubt garnering the sympathy of anyone who’s ever had to take a bus across the city to make an 8 a.m. class.
The problem for the Wildrose is what’s known in communications as noise.
Basically, noise is whatever distracts from the message someone is trying to get across.
It can be anything from static on the radio to a heckler at a comedy club.
Noise is not a new problem for the party.
The Wildrose famously lost the 2012 election after several incidents where the party message was lost in the noise of candidate controversies, most famously the lake of fire incident.
This right leaning party has to make sure that whatever they’re trying to say, it comes across unambiguously clear, with no room for error or alternate interpretation.
If the Wildrose ever does want to form the government in Alberta, they need to show that they have a vision for the province and make sure it doesn’t get lost in the noise of mountains out of molehills.
Meanwhile, for those of you who think I’m being too harsh on the party, I look forward to your tweets and letters.