Progressives across Canada were quick to celebrate the Alberta New Democratic Party’s (NDP) surprising election win on Tuesday. Even many leftists skeptical of the NDP realized that the victory was a historic moment.

After forty-four years in power, the Alberta Progressive Conservatives (PC) were reduced to third-party status. And for only the fourth time in Alberta’s 110 years as a Canadian province, there has been a change in the governing party.

Voters in Alberta decisively rejected former Premier Jim Prentice’s attempt to deal with the drop in oil revenues with a budget that cut public services and increased regressive user fees.