Something in the air
February 4, 2008 | 11:43 AM
Kim Trynacity
There was a sure sign of something in the air at the Alberta legislature this morning. Brightly coloured spring flowers have replaced the withering poinsettia, and Education Minister Ron Liepert was actually yukking it up with reporters outside the premier's office.
A cabinet and Tory caucus meeting was called for this morning. For at least some, I think it might be their last time at one of these things and their last day in the assembly itself.
Anyway, the mood is cautiously buoyant I think. There's also a lot of chatter about the full-page ad in the Edmonton Journal today by Albertans for Change. It looks eerily similar to the Progressive Conservative party billboards featuring the face of Ed Stelmach.
There were a lot of questions thrown at the Tory MLAs: "What's Bill No. 1?" which was answered by chuckles and "Are you ready?" which got a nervous-sounding Gene Zwozdesky, MLA for Edmonton-Mill Creek, to reply that he's not too concerned about his political opponent - just the positive message they're sending to Albertans.
Speaking of Edmonton's male Tory incumbents, two female candidates running against them have passed on some unsolicited stories to me. They told me how the men approached them and suggested: "This is not your time [in politics]." The men added that the women's time might be better spent at home with their school-aged children.
It's an interesting sidebar to the lead-up to this election, which is already showing signs of being somewhat nasty.
