With just a few days left until the Alberta provincial election, the electioneering has gone into high gear as the parties contend for seats.
However the with a campaign theme of "change" seemingly adopted by all parties, not much change is occurring with respect to the support levels for the various parties in the province.
During a televised Leaders' Debate last Thursday, in typical pre-election mode party leaders went head-to-head to showcase their own policies and ridicule those of rival parties.
Early in the debate, playing on aversions to left-leaning policies in the largely conservative province, the incumbent Premier Ed Stelmach said, "We need new ideas to really face the challenges of growth, not some warmed-over '70s socialist policies."
Alberta Liberal leader Kevin Taft responded, "If you want real change I don't know why you're running again because you've been there for 15 years. What the people want is not a noisier opposition, they want a new government."
Brian Mason of the NDP attacked both the Liberal and PC leaders for much of the debate. "They side with big oil and other large corporations on royalties, auto insurance, utility bills and rent controls instead of standing up for ordinary families," said Mason in his opening statement.
In a discussion on affordable housing, Wildrose Alliance leader Paul Hinman summed up the position of his conservative party.
"All of these parties only have one solution and [that is] 'We're going to have more programs and have more spending', what that does is increase the taxes for Albertans. Government never solves problems; they usually create [them]. They need to help people to help themselves."
The sentiment in the province indicated that no real winner emerged from the debate. This was backed up by a pole conducted by Leger Marketing for the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal, which showed that support for the 4 parties after the debate remained roughly the same as before.
At the time of dissolution, the PC Party held 60 seats of the 83-seat Alberta legislature, while the Liberal Party and the NDP held 16 and 4 seats respectively. Another seat was held by the right-wing Wildrose Alliance Party, one by an independent, and one seat was vacant.
While it is expected that the Progressive Conservatives, which have been in power for 37 consecutive years would once again win the election, pundits say the party, headed by rookie leader Ed Stelmach, might find it tough to retain some of its seats from the last election.
Stelamch was elected to his position after long-time party leader Ralph Klein retired in December, 2006.
The absence of the highly-charismatic Klein, increasing problems with the growing boom such as housing and infrastructure shortages, and the large number of newcomers to the province — many of whom do not share the Conservative-voting background as long-time Albertans — could mean an increase in votes for other parties.
"The landscape is open," says Mo Elsalhy, the Liberal candidate in Edmonton-McClung who was elected MLA in the last election.
"People are interested in hearing some of the new ideas, they're not as firmly attached to one particular brand — they're shopping around basically."
The Liberals are trying to win more seats in traditionally conservative Calgary — where a growing number of voters have expressed frustration at Stelmach's rural-centric policies— while at the same time trying not to lose any seats to the NDP in Edmonton.
Lamenting the province's low voter turnout, Elsalhy urges Albertans to get out and "participate in the democratic process."
"We have low voter turnouts in this province, and we also don't have clear majorities. Like the party that is in power now has 60 of the 83, but they only received 48 per cent of the vote of those who voted, and that was less than 40 per cent of the population. So it's not really a clear, straight-forward majority."
The Alberta provincial election will be held on March 3.
Additional reporting by George Qu in Edmonton.
Feeds