A Lesson in Canadian Politics

Currently in Alberta the governing party is going through a leadership battle. The current leader is retiring and the review for a new leader has just passed the first vote. In order to become a leader of a political party, the candidate must receive 50% + 1 of the votes of party members. Becoming a party member is easy. Just sign your name and pay your fee.
The oddity of Canadian politics is that the new leader of the party becomes the new leader of the province. No election of the people, just paying party members. Next Saturday is the second round of votes of the three top candidates from the first round. One of these three men, in this case, will be the Premier of Alberta (equivalent of a US State Governor). It will be up to that new leader when to call a general election to determine if the public want his party to rule the government.
This is because of another Canadian political oddity. You don't get to vote for who you want to lead the province or country. If he of she is the leader of the party that gains the more votes, by default that party leader becomes the Premier or Prime Minister. This is mighty frustrating for a Canadian voter who likes the party, but not the leader. Canada's great political system, established by a well known drunk and his friends, is a piece of work.