Published by TheStar.com - Canada

Reigning party may be vulnerable on some issues, but March 3 provincial vote is still theirs to lose

Kelsea Purschke would like to see a party other than the Tories in government in Alberta. But she’s not holding her breath.

For 37 years, the Progressive Conservatives have run the provincial government, five years longer than she has been alive.

“I would like to see a change,” said Purschke, a daycare worker in Edmonton, “but what I don’t hear from people are complaints.”

When Premier Ed Stelmach called an election this week, the fourth consecutive PC leader to take the province to the polls, he did so from a comfortable position.

For many people, the Tories are the only game in town, said University of Lethbridge political scientist Geoffrey Hale.

“It would require an earthquake of California proportion to get voters to the point where the Tories won’t be re-elected,” said Hale. “The seismic plates are moving, but they’re not moving that much yet.”

Still, while it’s doubtful that either the Liberals or the NDP, both well behind in the polls, will be able to upset the Tories, the government is not invulnerable.

In Calgary and Edmonton, there is such anger over the growing number of homeless, and crumbling roads and hospitals, that it’s almost certain Stelmach will lose some seats on March 3.

Stelmach, who took over from Ralph Klein in late 2006, was rumoured to be itching to call an election in early December after he explained the province’s new energy royalty regime. But his plan seemingly pleased no one, with critics saying he is too beholden to oil companies and the industry upset about higher royalty rates.

His government has also walked a tightrope on climate change. Stelmach has said the province’s greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise for another 12 years before they decline. Any quicker curbing of emissions would trigger economic consequences throughout the country, he maintains.

Both announcements, three months apart, had little effect on his poll numbers, with the Tories enjoying about 33 per cent support – approximately the same percentage of voters who are undecided.

That could change in the weeks ahead, as so-far latent issues such as a labour shortage, long warned about by business, begin to emerge, said Hale. The growing discontent between landowners and the energy industry may also be drawn out, invoking the broader context of land use and the environment.

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft this week promised if he became premier the province will cap greenhouse gas emissions by 2013. Liberals also plan to re-regulate electricity prices, fund more policing and tackle the housing crisis.

When the election was called, the Tories had 60 seats in the 83-seat legislature. The Liberals had 20, the NDP 4. There was one member of the right-wing and mainly rural Wildrose Alliance Party, one Independent and one vacant seat.

In Calgary, NDP candidate Tyler Kinch believes there are more compelling reasons than ever to vote out the Tories. Few average working people, he said, are reaping the rewards of the province’s wealth.

“In Alberta, they say we’re debt free, but schools are crumbling.”

The key to election-night victory could be the support of the large segment of undecided voters, said Lois Harder, who teaches political science at the University of Alberta. “The issue in a province with a long political dynasty and a healthy economy is whether people are going to be motivated to vote.”

The Tories have tried to plug the leaks in their fortress. The party vowed $120 billion over the next 20 years to shore up roads and build hospitals and low-income housing. The much-despised health-care premium, about $1,000 a year for a family of four, is being phased out.

But health care could emerge as the sleeper issue, especially in Calgary where as many as one in four people can’t find a family doctor.

“It’s the little things you think about during a campaign,” said Bryan Haynes, a financial planner, as he smoked a thin cigar during a workday break. “Things like the health-care premiums and whether your wages are better than they were a few years ago.”

Two decades older than daycare worker Kelsea Purschke, but like her a lifelong resident of Edmonton, Haynes does remember a time before the Tories, when Ernest Manning was premier.

“I can go back to the Manning days and I can remember people saying then that the Socreds would always stay in power,” said Haynes. “So it can be done.”

Of course, with the Progressive Conservatives coming in with a majority government, Ed Stelmach was thinking this would be a walk in the park.  Everyone knows that Alberta is Tory country.

But that is not what the NDP and the Liberals want you to think.

And they are doing everything in their power to make you think of them – not the PC party.

They are working hard to get their message across – and they have an unexpected ally in helping to unseat the tories.

The WildroseAlliance party is new on the scene – and it is making an impact.  They are a right of center party – formed by a merger between the Alberta Alliance and the Wildrose party of Alberta.  Although their policy is nothing like the Liberal and NDP – they have the same goal in mind – Win against the PC incumbent.

So Ed better make sure he gets his troops working their best.  This may end up being the closest race in many many years in Alberta!

Published by the Canadian Press

EDMONTON – The party websites are up and running in the Alberta election campaign. The Canadian Press asked Steven Hoose, who teaches web design at Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan College, to asses the sites:

Progressive Conservatives (www.albertapc.ab.ca)

Strengths: Pretty impressive overall and very on-message from a design point of view. There is visual unity. All the things I see on the page play well together and the pages are easy to scan. The site uses contrasting scale and colour in headings and subheads to help me order the messages they consider important. The messages are in predictable locations for content like navigation, key tasks, and important information. My eyes and brain don’t have to do a lot of extra work.

Weaknesses: An introductory splash page that you must click on to enter a site. I try to push students away from this gimmick because it does nothing for the content or your visitor’s experience. Also, too much visual consistency and the site becomes boring. I’d consider changing things up a bit from page to page to maintain interest.

Most Impressed By: The efficiency. Not a lot of clicking to get from general to specific, like to an excellent visual list of candidates.

Alberta NDP (www.albertandp.ca)

Strengths: Visually approachable. The colours, shapes with rounded corners, language, photos,and messages add up to a friendly site. It’s easy to read. site visitors have choices (weight, size, and colour of type) to help them read on-screen.

Weaknesses: Too much wheat. Get away from the wheat motif in Western Canadian logo design. I also could not shake the feeling that I was on a shopping site. It felt too friendly and that damaged the credibility in my mind. I blame this on the friendly colours, friendly logoa nd the friendly “Four ways You can Help” icons. Style and substance aren’t mutually exclusive, but without appropriate style, we might miss substance.

Most Impressed By: The visual interest. Every page had enough different and enough same to make the overall experience balanced and visually engaging.

Alberta Liberal Party (www.albertaliberal.com)

Strengths: Clarity of navigation. Each page has menus listed on the left side. I like this way of structuring complicated content. I never lose my available choices. There are lots of people pictures, which is a good design choice. The volume of content is overwhelming, so I’m glad there are smiling faces surrounding all of those words.

Weaknesses: Visually daunting. No one likes to wade through content that is all there all the time. Most prefer to scan web pages for personally relevant content instead of cracking the spine on an epic read. I’m as happy to be given some policy detail, but visually I just don’t want to see it all at once. The grid pattern in backgrounds, buttons and banner is dated and boring.

Most Impressed By: The use of imagery. Even though it’s overtly “leader heavy” (there isn’t a single page without party leader Kevin Taft), pictures are an effective way to make messages more approachable.

Green Party of Alberta (www.albertagreens.ca)

They win the award for worst application of a really good logo and brand. Their audience is more sophisticated than their visuals and there is a lack of human presence and visual interest on the site.

Wildrose-Alliance (www.wildrosealliance.ca)

Their website is well organized but hard to scan for information because of the number of small pieces I had to sift through. Lots of “click to read more.” I like the wild rose concept better than the wheat as a visual approach, but the Wildrose-Alliance logo is looking retro – and not in that desirable way that the chrome dining sets look. Also, the word “announced” should never look like “amounced.

KATHERINE O’NEILL AND DAWN WALTON

EDMONTON AND CALGARY

February 4, 2008 at 6:26 PM EST

Albertans will head to the polls March 3, Premier Ed Stelmach announced Monday, kicking off a 28-day election campaign that he hopes will convince voters they should extend the Progressive Conservative Party dynasty beyond its now 37-year reign.

Mr. Stelmach stood in the Legislature moments after the Throne Speech ended to say Albertans should get a say in determining the legacy for the province.

“It is now time for Albertans to exercise that right and make that decision,” he said.

Mr. Stelmach, who was elected Tory leader 14 months ago after the resignation of former premier Ralph Klein, made the widely anticipated election announcement following a Throne Speech in which his government outlined priorities for what turned out to be a legislative session cut short.

The speech, which included a reiteration of many of the previously stated priorities of the Stelmach government, included a new pledge to eliminate health-care premiums, a move Mr. Klein resisted for years, but has long been called for by the opposition parties as well as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

For years, the right-wing Tories, which have governed Alberta since 1971, strenuously resisted the idea, even as the debt-free province’s coffers overflowed with oil and gas revenues.

The Tories plan to phase-out health-care premiums, which are also charged in Ontario and B.C., within four years. The premiums currently cost about $1,056 a year for families and $528 for singles.

Several groups, including Friends of Medicare and Canadian Taxpayers Federation, have repeatedly called for cuts to health-care premiums, which are collected from individuals and employers and pump close to $1-billion into the provincial treasury each year. The fee was instituted in 1969 by the Social Credit government.

The PC government also used the Throne Speech to counter criticisms it doesn’t have a plan to deal with the province’s explosive growth and new wealth, which has created acute housing and labour shortages. The government promised to boost savings, hire more health care workers and strengthen environmental protection for the oil sands region by developing “a strategy for responsible energy development and use in Alberta.”

“Our government has a vision for Alberta’s future – and a plan to get us there,” said the address, which was read by Mr. Kwong.

Though Speeches from the Throne normally kick off new sessions of the legislature, Monday’s formed the groundwork for the Progressive Conservatives’ election platform.

This will be the first election test for Mr. Stelmach since he became party leader in December 2006. He replaced Ralph Klein, who retired from politics after being premier for almost 14 years.

For 37 years, the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party has governed the oil-rich province uninterrupted. And the polls are already predicting this election will give the party its 11th majority government.

However, despite a booming economy, the polls also show a large block of voters unsure about who should lead Canada’s economic powerhouse next. It’s also unclear whether thousands of newcomers who have flooded into the province since the boom began will influence the final outcome.

The Tories’ political rivals are already planning to exploit voter volatility by pouncing on the government’s age. That tactic served the right-wing Conservatives well in 1971 when the party swept another Alberta political dynasty, the Social Credit Party, out of office after 36 years on a platform promising much-needed change. Since Alberta joined Confederation in 1905, only four parties have formed governments. When political change comes, it’s wholesale and the victor a party that had never governed the province before In recent days, the Tories, which have an election war chest rumoured to be in the millions, have been readying for the polls. More than $1-billion in promised spending has been announced. Mr. Stelmach even rolled out a 20-year capital plan he touted has a “very strong urban focus.” The price tag: roughly $6-billion a year.

The Tories’ commitment to scrap health care premiums will be warmly received around Alberta. The party’s main rival, the Alberta Liberals, was already promising to do the same thing if elected.

The commitment is included in their party platform that was officially launched last Thursday in Edmonton. Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft later told reporters to expect a “David versus Goliath” battle.

He expects the well-funded Tories, will wage an “air war” with pricey radio and television commercials.

The Liberals aren’t disclosing their election budget, but the party still owes $473,000 in debts from previous campaigns.