What does the future of Alberta hold? Can Central Albertans expect better fortunes when the direction of public policy rests in the hands of the next premier?
The Advocate asked the six candidates for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta to respond to five questions. The questions were specific to Central Alberta issues, although some of the themes are common in many communities around the province.
The questions dealt with:
• the infrastructure deficit in Central Alberta;
• the shortage of seniors housing and extended care options here;
• the potential for a high-speed rail link or enhanced air service to Central Alberta;
• a funding model that treats all municipalities equally;
• the lack of degree-granting status at Red Deer College.
Just three of the six Conservative leadership contenders responded to the written request: Gary Mar, Ted Morton and Alison Redford.
Their responses can be seen in their entirety at www.reddeeradvocate.com.
The other three candidates to replace Premier Ed Stelmach are Doug Griffiths, Doug Horner and Rick Orman.
Readers can make up their own minds about the value or pertinence of the responses we received.
For the most part, they are the responses of veteran politicians: carefully measured, vague to the point of meaningless and inconclusive in the extreme.
In the few instances where the responses are revealing — Morton says he is “skeptical of high-speed rail” — the answers may not be what Central Albertans want to hear.
Our intent was to help Central Albertans measure the candidates before the first round of votes to be cast on Saturday (advance polling began on Tuesday).
It is important to remember that any Albertan can become a Conservative party member to play a role in this process, even if you feel no affinity for the Tories, or you hold a membership in another party.
Taking part in this process may just be your best chance to influence Alberta’s future, particularly if you are not a Conservative.
The lack of responses from Griffiths, Horner and Orman suggested something else altogether; perhaps a lack of commitment to winning, or a concession that they will not advance to the second round of balloting on Oct. 1.
Perhaps their staff simply didn’t pass on the request, raising questions of accessibility and filters.
It’s noteworthy that the three candidates with the highest profile responded and the three who recent polls suggest are likely to not survive the first round of balloting did not.
If no majority is achieved in the first round, the top three candidates will return for an Oct. 1 final ballot. That’s the process that allowed Stelmach to defeat Morton and Jim Dinning in 2006, to the surprise of many. Griffiths, Horner and Orman could similarly surprise us, if one of them is able to nudge out one of the front-runners for the third position on Saturday.
More reasonably, we should assume that Mar, Morton and Redford advance to an Oct. 1 ballot (or, remarkably, gain a majority on Saturday), and one of them becomes our next premier.
Will any of them offer Albertans the kind of prudent, imaginative, transparent and inclusive leadership we need?
Former premier Peter Lougheed launched the 40-year Conservative dynasty in Alberta on one basic democratic principal: backbench MLAs represent the voters, and are closest to the voters; so all policy decisions must be made by the caucus as a whole.
Increasingly as Alberta’s leaders have wandered aimlessly in the post-Lougheed years, the connection of communities to MLAs and MLAs to decision making has diminished.
Each of the front-runners at this point are insiders, having served under Stelmach or Ralph Klein, or both.
None of them, therefore, represents a clear opportunity for Albertans to start fresh. The trick will be to determine which among them offers any hope for change and thoughtful progress.
If Tory party members manage to discover who can best do that, then they will have served us all well.
If not, then they should pick a candidate who can lead them through a stint in opposition.
John Stewart is the Advocate’s managing editor.