When asked to place the “typical Albertan” on an ideological spectrum, more than two-thirds (70 per cent) position that person on the right. In reality, however, roughly half of Albertans place themselves in the centre or on the left of that same spectrum, with the other half indicating they are right wing.

This point, in particular, I find interesting. Being an expat of Alberta, I can attest that there is often some cognitive dissonance between how people identify and what their political views are.

During my stint in retail, I interacted with a lot of the general public, and would find that most of them are relatively moderate. For the few political discussions I would have, they would express values that most people seem to carry. They want good schools—they want a family doctor—they are generally against racism and bigotry (though not always succeeding at exercising those values).

In a lot of ways, they are political moderates, but cultural Conservatives (with a capital "C").

The funny thing is that after moving to Ottawa, I often see the inverse, especially at the federal level. The suburbs of Ottawa are just as conservative as Alberta, sometimes even moreso. Yet, there is a degree of loyalty to the Liberal Party despite the fact that they are probably closer to being small-c conservatives. Many Liberal politicians reflect this as well. It isn't unusual to see Liberal politicians support conservative candidates and politicians in the other levels of government, especially municipal.