Alberta Election: NDP's Surprise Win Over Conservatives
A left-leaning party has won a surprise victory in Alberta, one of Canada's most conservative provinces. The New Democratic Party (NDP) ended the Progressive Conservatives' (PC) 44-year rule of the province. Political observers were stunned by the result, with one commentator saying: "Pigs do fly". Alberta's Premier Jim Prentice, a former member of Tory Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet, said he was stepping down from political life. He only became premier in September, and called the snap election in April to seek a mandate after bringing in a tough tax-raising budget. "My contribution to public life is now at an end," Mr Prentice said as he conceded defeat, blaming the collapse in oil prices and the subsequent financial problems."