By the numbers: ABmunis’ ‘Think Alberta, Vote Local’ campaign
When the votes were tallied on May 29, the United Conservative Party (UCP) of Alberta was declared the winner of Alberta’s 31st general election.
Elections Alberta’s unofficial results saw the UCP win 49 seats (one of those allocated to an independent), while the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) finished second with 38 seats. Two automatic recounts were underway at the time of writing.
Voter turnout was a respectable 62.4 per cent. In all, more than 1.77 million Albertans exercised their democratic rights and voted.
Spreading the word
Alberta Municipalities conducted its non-partisan ‘Think Alberta, Vote Local’ public information campaign from May 1 to 29, 2023. The goal: Get political parties, candidates, news reporters and regular Albertans thinking (and talking) about three of our members’ top issues – community building (infrastructure), community safety (including policing) and community healthcare (including Emergency Medical Services). Throughout the campaign, we encouraged Albertans to consider who had the best plan when it comes to meeting their communities’ needs.
Advertising
Digital advertisements delivered a steady stream of 'Think Alberta, Vote Local' messages to Albertans on their electronic devices throughout the election.
Media relations
We conducted three online media events in May – each one focused on a specific issue. ABmunis board members and guest mayors spoke passionately about Alberta’s $30-billion infrastructure deficit, the need to address the root causes of crime, and the dire state of Alberta’s healthcare system. President Cathy Heron, Director Tyler Gandam (Cities up to 500,000) and Director Trina Jones (Towns-East) took part in these events, along with guest mayors Michael Yargeau (Town of Penhold) and Ren Giesbrecht (Summer Village of West Cove). Their statements, responses to questions, and follow-up interviews gave voice to our members’ stories and amplified our members’ priority issues.
An opinion piece from ABmunis’ Board of Directors outlining the association's public information campaign ran in the May 27 issues of the Lethbridge Herald and Red Deer Advocate – two of Alberta’s largest regional daily newspapers.
Panel discussions
President Heron, Director Gandam and Director Angela Duncan (Summer Villages & Villages) appeared on Ryan Jespersen’s podcast, Real Talk, on May 12. They discussed the campaign’s goal and all three of our members’ top issues. For her part, President Heron encouraged candidates and voters to bring the conversation about these issues down to the local level.
Director Duncan, who is also the Mayor of the Village of Alberta Beach, was asked to provide her unique perspective on local government as a guest commentator during CBC Alberta’s 2023 provincial general election coverage on May 29. Her knowledge of ABmunis’ key issues informed many of her comments, including this gem – “It's important (that) when we look at this rural-urban divide (we remember) we're all Albertans... healthcare is healthcare, policing is policing."
Now that the election is over, we look forward to planning our government relations activities based on the success of this campaign.
