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Ah, the spring of 2018.

You remember it.

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It was a heady time when the world was captivated by the royal wedding of Meghan and Harry, the Alberta NDP was prematurely celebrating the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and the UCP was working up a sweat walking out of debates on abortion clinics.

A year later, it seems not much has changed.

The royal couple are again in the headlines for the arrival of baby Archie, the Trans Mountain project remains in limbo, and the UCP is still dancing awkwardly around social issues.

On that last subject, if you remember the UCP caucus scurrying away from votes on Bill 9 last year, you’ll also probably recall Jason Kenney’s justification for it.

“We’re not going to play games with divisive social issues,” he said at the time.

Versions of that response would become a common refrain by the UCP over the next year. Whenever the NDP raised the spectre — often overblown — of the social conservatism Kenney and his crew would unleash on the province, the UCP would swat it away by saying such social controversies were a non-issue for a party that was focused on jobs and the economy.