Tory loss, not as big a deal as some make it.

Ok, I know, I know, any day there's one less Tory sitting in a legislature is a good day. That being said, there is not much that the Calgary-Glenmore by-election will actually change, despite the many bloggers stating otherwise. There will be no change in the direction of the Alberta Government for one simple reason, they have nothing to worry about. It's quite simple really, the Tory voters of Calgary-Glemore wanted to send a message to Ed Stelmach, since for reasons they couldn't fathom not showing up at the polls wasn't sending one. So they went out and voted for the Wildrose Alliance, given that the outcome of the election wouldn't change the government.

So what's the actual outcome of the by-election? Absolutely nothing. The Alberta Tories know that when push comes to shove in a general election, all those who voted WA in Calgary-Glenmore will flock back to the Tories since "there's no one else to vote for". In other words, when the chips are down, the Alberta electorate will flock to the polls like sheep and vote Tory yet again since protest voting like what was done in Glenmore could accidentally elect a non Tory government. Since Stelmach and his merry band know this, they know they don't have to change a thing to stay in power past the next general election. Heck, they might even punish the voters in Calgary-Glenmore by making budget cuts to things that help that riding, all in an attempt to balance the budget of course, the same way you used to be able to tell who was the MLA by the quality of the pavement.

So to the bloggers who think this is a sign of big change I say this, no, it's a sign of people being annoyed, when the chips are down they'll flock back inside their comfort zones and again vote for the Tories in droves. The by-election means nothing.