Stelmach out of tune with Albertans?

Another article critical of Stelmach. Add these all together and many Albertan conservatives will be sure Stelmach is the right man. It all stinks of Cowtown trying to get revenge for Stelmach stealing the leadership from the rightful Calgary business crowd. Notice that although recent polls show that the PCs could even increase their seat take overall only negative aspects of polls appear in this article. The author is most selective. There is no mention that even in Calgary Conservative support is 44 percent!

Stelmach out of tune with Albertans

Mar 02, 2008 04:30 AM
Gillian Steward


Conservative premiers in Alberta usually cruise through election campaigns. For Ralph Klein, they were nothing more than a big bore. Peter Lougheed once won 74 of 79 seats. The current premier, Ed Stelmach, is definitely not cruising; he's had a rough ride.

Almost every day of the campaign – tomorrow is election day – he has been ambushed by embarrassing revelations that have shot holes in his government's key economic strategy: extracting and selling the oil in the tar sands of northern Alberta.

Stelmach made it clear when he was elected leader of the party 14 months ago that he would not put the brakes on the frenzied pace of development, not even slow it down a little bit, even though it has thrust the province's economy into overdrive.

Municipalities simply can't keep up with the roads, schools, hospitals and housing that are needed to accommodate the surging number of workers. Even Lougheed has publicly stated that it would be better to stagger the tar sands projects rather than let them all go ahead at once because that drives up costs for everyone.

Still, Stelmach kept insisting his government would stand aside as the energy giants carved up the landscape and shipped the oil south. He would point to the billions of dollars flowing into the province as proof that his strategy was working.

But last month, it was revealed that some energy companies – including Petro-Canada, Imperial Oil, Husky Energy and Suncor – would also like a more staggered approach.

In a letter sent to the government before the election was called, the companies, along with aboriginal groups and environmentalists, called for a moratorium on new projects to protect land and waterways. And while other major tar- sands players such as Encana and CNRL did not sign the letter, it is the first time that any petroleum companies have publicly expressed serious reservations about the pace of development and its effect on the environment.

As if that wasn't bad enough, a few days later, the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental think-tank, revealed the results of a survey of candidates from all the political parties. Almost half of the Conservative candidates who took part said no new tar-sands projects should be approved until environmental and infrastructure issues are resolved, while 75 per cent of the Liberals, New Democrats and Greens wanted a slowdown.

The next day, a Leger poll revealed that the dissenting Conservatives and the opposition are more attuned to what most Albertans want than the premier. Nearly two-thirds of Albertans said the government should do more to limit the overall amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by tar-sands projects, even if it means some projects would be delayed or cancelled.

Stelmach's response has been vague. He has said only that the government would make a decision on environmental questions after the election.

None of this did much for the premier's image. He's already seen as weak and indecisive. Expectations of his performance are so low that some commentators praised him for simply making it through the televised leaders' debate.

Stelmach also looks as though he's simply not willing, or able, to stand up to the big boys in the oil patch. His Conservatives might still be re-elected, but even if they are, Stelmach is going to have to dig deep if he wants to set things straight with Albertans.


Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and journalist, and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald.