Article content

Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

It’s not a date with major significance in Alberta politics. At least not any more.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Graham Thomson: What if the Alberta election had been held this year? Back to video

But once upon a time, March 1, 2016, was important in provincial politics. Under Alberta’s Election Amendment Act, this was the first day the government of Jim Prentice was allowed to hold an election.

Under the Act, introduced by the Progressive Conservatives in 2011, the first general election after the one in 2012 was supposed to be held in an “election period” sometime between March 1 and May 31, 2016.

That didn’t happen, as we all know.

Last year, in a move too clever by half, PC premier Jim Prentice ignored the act and called the election for May 5, 2015. He had already eviscerated the Wildrose official Opposition through a mass floor crossing the previous December and thought he could breeze to victory.

The rest, as they say, is history …. just like Alberta’s Progressive Conservative government.