Updated at the bottom with a new poll…

As if 40 years of one-party rules wasn’t bad enough, the opposition parties appear to be crumbling at a time when (in theory) the PCs should be vulnerable.

Exhibit A is the Alberta Liberal Party, which will lay off its final two staff members on April 30th.
Exhibit B is the Alberta Green Party, who now face deregistration from Elections Alberta. In a comment on Gauntlet’s blog post on the topic, party leader Joe Anglin admits “The financial problems with the Green Party are significant and they go far deeper than just failing to file a year-end financial statement.”

It’s one thing for the PCs to keep winning – maybe they deserve it. But even Conservatives have to agree that a democracy can’t function properly if there’s not a functional opposition to keep the government’s feet to the fire.

In Other News…
Ted Morton’s fourth annual golf ‘n gun fundraiser is coming up!

And Enlightened Savage gives his assessment of the Calgary West AGM fall-out.

UPDATE: Via TPB, comes news of a new Angus Reid poll:

Conservatives: 56%
Liberals: 19%
NDP: 11%
Alliance: 7%
Green: 7%

I’d say that pretty much confirms that there’s no real opposition left in Alberta. Even if the NDP and Alliance are healthier financially than the other aforementioned parties, they’re still not in a position to win more than half a dozen seats between them – and that’s being wildly optimistic.