I think I was more surprised by NDP winning a seat in Alberta then I was when they won their first seat in Quebec (in a general election). The name of the candidate is Linda Duncan (Edmonton—Strathcona) and apparently she never stopped campaigning since the last election. Prior to Linda campaigning in 2006 elections, NDP would be stuck in 3rd place in that riding. Everyone had written Alberta off for the NDP after Jack Layton flew over the province and said they would put a freeze on oil sands development. Just shows that hard work, grass routes campaigning and patience does pay off, even if you are up against incredible odds.
Update: I was corrected by one of the campaign workers from that riding, apparently Layton’s announcement to freeze oil sand development is what united the progressive vote there and helped the NDP in that riding. See the comment section to see more.
I worked on that campaign, and you’ve got it a bit backwards. People wrote Alberta off for the NDP before Layton flew over the tarsands and announced his preference for a moratorium. It took that early visit from his Layton, and his showcasing of Linda Duncan during that time, to catch the attention of both the media and the progressive majority in that riding. Then most of that progressive majority coalesced behind Linda, leaving the other candidates in the dust.
Edmonton-Strathcona has always been a progressive riding. They just needed to be told, clearly, which progressive candidate could actually win. The early Layton visit (among other things I won’t bore you with) accomplished that.