Alberta leaders target Stelmach in sole election debate

Alberta Conservative Leader Ed Stelmach lived up to his "Steady Eddie" nickname, withstanding an attack by opposition party leaders during the only debate before the March 3 election.

Stelmach, Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, the NDP's Brian Mason and Paul Hinman of the Wildrose Alliance — the only parties with legislative seats at dissolution — all boasted they would bring change to the province in the opening minutes of the moderated event.

Opponents targeted Tory Leader Ed Stelmach, third from left, in the only debate before the March 3 provincial election.
(CBC)

"We've made tremendous progress in meeting the needs of a growing province," said Stelmach early in the debate. "We need new ideas to really face the challenges of growth, not some warmed-over '70s socialist policies."

"Real change does not come by re-electing the same government 37 years in a row," Mason shot back, repeatedly pointing to the corporate donations given to the Tory and Liberal parties and selling the NDP as a party that stands up for families and average Albertans.

Taft scoffed at Stelmach calling himself an agent of change when he was a cabinet minister in former premier Ralph Klein's government, which introduced major cuts to infrastructure and health care funding.

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft attacked previous Conservative government decisions on health care during the debate.
(CBC)

"If you wanted real change, I don't know why you're running again because you've been there for 15 years," said Taft.

"What the people of Alberta want is not a noisier opposition. They want a new government. They want a fresh beginning."

Hinman, appearing in his first leaders debate, brushed off Stelmach's position that the Conservative government has become more accountable because it passed a law requiring lobbyists to be registered.

"We need democratic change and we need accountability," said Hinman.

Leaders often talked over each other

The 90-minute event, held in an Edmonton studio, was televised in Alberta on three networks. Leaders were given 45 seconds to answer questions from a panel of reporters and 30 seconds for a rebuttal. That was followed by time for free debate, when the leaders often could not be heard above one another.

'The issue was, could Stelmach survive an attack on three fronts, and he did. So if you use the expectation game, he exceeded expectations.'—Duane Bratt, political scientist

There was no knockout punch but political scientist Duane Bratt said the fact Stelmach was still standing by the end of the night made him a winner.

"The issue was, could Stelmach survive an attack on three fronts, and he did. So if you use the expectation game, he exceeded expectations," said Bratt, who teaches at Calgary's Mount Royal College.

"People were expecting a car wreck. People were expecting that he was going to make some big blunders and gaffes or to stutter or to do all sorts of other things, and he didn't."

Opponents jump on PC's health-care record

Health care provided some of the night's biggest sparks. In proposing to hire and train more health-care professionals, Taft talked about his wife's elderly uncle who recently faced a long hospital wait. The Liberal leader jumped on previous Conservative government decisions.

"The Tory government channels more money on horse racing than into training nurses. They do not have their priorities straight," said Taft.

"One thing we know for sure, is throwing money at the problem won't work," added Hinman.

Tory Leader Ed Stelmach pointed out he's made tough decisions during his 14 months as premier.
(CBC)

But Stelmach said in defence: "I am fully committed to a public health-care system and I take exception to the claim that we're not doing enough."

Leadership was brought up as all four men have been criticized for a lack of passion and personality, but Taft pointed out "charisma never built a hospital or balanced a budget" and Mason later quipped: "My wife thinks I am charismatic."

Stelmach pointed out that as premier, he's made tough decisions like raising royalty rates, but he did not directly answer CBC-TV reporter Kim Trynacity's question when she asked: "You have said that any cap on oilsands producers will result in the loss of 300,000 jobs. I'd like to know what do you base that number on?"

The Tory leader went on to talk about his party's approach to phasing in cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to balance the growth of the lucrative oilsands.

The Liberals are promising to cap emissions within five years. "Our view is if you protect the environment, you protect jobs and the economy," said Taft.

Taft, Mason fight for Edmonton support

The issue led to a fight between Taft and Mason, whose parties are vying for seats in Edmonton.

"Stelmach was very vulnerable on the environmental file and he got away with it because of the Mason-Taft squabble," said Bratt.

NDP Leader Brian Mason positioned his party as standing up for families and shunning corporate donations during Thursday night's debate.
(CBC)

"What Mason was trying to do was to protect that flank, protect those supporters and Taft fell into it. He missed who his enemy was and his enemy isn't Brian Mason, his enemy is Ed Stelmach."

Stelmach is seeking his first mandate from voters since he took over from Ralph Klein as Tory leader in 2006. The Alberta Progressive Conservatives are looking to extend their political dynasty which began in 1971.

Currently, the Progressive Conservatives have 60 seats in the legislature, the Liberals 16, the NDP four and the Wildrose Alliance one, with one Independent and one seat vacant.

Because the Alberta Greens do not hold a legislative seat, party leader George Read was ineligible to join the televised debate, but he posted his answers to the debate questions on YouTube. The party is running 79 candidates, four short of a full slate.