Premier Danielle Smith of the United Conservative Party (UCP) is projected to win the Alberta election with a majority government after a bitter race with Opposition leader Rachel Notley and her New Democrat Party members.

According to 338Canada, Smith is projected to win 52 seats with just 44 needed to win a majority. Notley is projected to win 35 seats.

Heading into the final days of the election, most polls showed Smith had a slightly better chance of winning the election over Notley’s NDP.

Just a few days before Albertans headed to the polls to elect a new provincial government, business leaders warned that political extremism threatens to upend the province’s prosperity.

Questions about extremism within the Alberta NDP recently surfaced after it was revealed that at least five of the candidates currently being fielded by Rachel Notley have expressed sympathy for communism – a radical far-left ideology that has killed an estimated 100 million people worldwide. 

They include Edmonton–Ellerslie NDP candidate Rod Loyola who led a march of a Communist Party of Canada Edmonton Club parade with Soviet hammer and sickle banners in full display. 

Loyola has also written rap songs praising communist dictators like Fidel Castro. Others supported antifa-like “Defund the police” rhetoric.

Last week, Smith was cleared of wrongdoing by the Ethics Commissioner in relation to allegations she interfered with the Crown Prosecutor Service. The CBC wrote an article – then later doubled down – that they had proof that Smith spoke to Crown Prosecutors. CBC based its claim on an alleged anonymous source. Smith called the CBC and NDP liars for their role in pushing the unsubstantiated claims.

During their one and only debate, Smith told Albertans that Notley would walk “in lockstep with Justin Trudeau.”

“She wants to achieve the 2035 net-zero target put forward by Justin Trudeau – that’ll cost $52 billion dollars, that’ll increase your power bill by 40%, and we can’t afford to do that,” Smith said. 

“Where do you think Justin Trudeau got the idea for Just Transition, and for an emissions cap, and for a carbon tax? He got it from Ms. Notley when she was Premier.”