[Boris2k7]

Well, this should really surprise anyone who follows Alberta political trends, but it's worth posting IMO

Premier riding high in Alberta
Stelmach would win election by a landslide, poll suggests


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Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach
Photograph by : CP PHOTO/Jason Scott

Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, December 21, 2006

As Premier Ed Stelmach visits Calgary today for the first time since taking office and naming a rural-heavy cabinet, a new poll suggests more than three-quarters of Albertans are confident he'll be an effective premier.

The Ipsos Reid survey of 800 Albertans, provided exclusively to the Herald, also found the Stelmach-led Progressive Conservatives are the choice of more than two-thirds of respondents and would roll to an easy majority victory in the next provincial election.

"These results strongly suggest Albertans are comfortable with having him at the wheel and aren't looking for anything in terms of dramatic changes soon," said Kyle Braid, vice-president with Ipsos Reid.

"This just means the PCs and Stelmach should, at this point, relax and have a peaceful holiday."

Stelmach is hosting a reception today at the McDougall Centre and will speak to reporters around 4 p.m., as he looks to assure Calgarians and southern Albertans that he'll govern for the entire province.

Coincidently, Prime Minister Stephen Harper also will be in Calgary today as he returns home with his family for the holidays.

An official with the Prime Minister's Office said it's doubtful the two leaders will have their first official meeting while Harper is back home, but they will look to do so at the earliest opportunity.

Unfortunately for Stelmach -- who is seeking media exposure in southern Alberta -- Harper's visit could steal the spotlight.

Observers said the new premier's political honeymoon will likely be brief, particularly in Calgary, whose number of cabinet ministers was reduced to three from eight in last Friday's appointments.

"The premier has to do repair work in Calgary. Considering he just won, that's something," said David Taras, political analyst at the University of Calgary. "It's not clear that this is going to be smooth sailing."

Yet, the poll, conducted Dec. 13 to 19, reveals that 76 per cent of Albertans surveyed believe the Tories made a good choice in electing Stelmach (33 per cent said "very good" and 43 per cent "somewhat good"). Broken down by region, the numbers are just as strong in Calgary.

The survey, partly conducted after Stelmach named his cabinet Dec. 15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About 78 per cent of those polled said they're confident Stelmach "has what it takes" to be an effective premier for Alberta (21 per cent were "very confident" and 56 per cent "somewhat confident"). Only 15 per cent said they're either not very confident or not at all confident that Alberta's 13th premier has what it takes to run the province.

Although former premier Ralph Klein was criticized for failing to plan for Alberta's phenomenal growth and leading the government on autopilot, only 17 per cent of Albertans said they want a Stelmach government to make "major changes."

As for electability, 68 per cent of decided voters said they'd vote for the Stelmach-led PCs if a provincial election were held now, up 10 points from a similar Ipsos Reid poll in late October.

That compares to 18 per cent for Kevin Taft's Liberals (down four points from October), six per cent for Brian Mason's NDP (down four points), four per cent for George Read's Green party (no change) and three per cent for Paul Hinman's Alberta Alliance (down one point).

Pollster Braid called it "terrible news" for the other political parties.

Stelmach's numbers, however, reflect a temporary bounce typically enjoyed by a new leader, Braid said.

Political analyst Taras said the honeymoon could be cut short by Stelmach's 18 cabinet appointments, which the opposition and even some Tory MLAs complained was unrepresentative on several fronts.

Only three ministers were appointed from Calgary and one from Edmonton, although the two cities have about two-thirds of the province's population.

Alarming to some, the cabinet contains just two women and no visible minorities.

"The cabinet choices shredded Calgary," Taras said. "I don't think (Stelmach) realizes that Calgary may in fact be a battleground."

jfekete@theherald.canwest.com
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David Taras was one of my profs last year. He's quite well spoken and was very much liked by my class... :)

[Boris2k7]

What do you know, they will actually meet today... in about a minute...

Harper uses Calgary visit to meet new Premier

Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, December 21, 2006

Alberta’s two most powerful politicians officially meet face-to-face today in Calgary for the first time, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Ed Stelmach look to build on a federal-provincial relationship that was often frosty during Ralph Klein’s reign.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet briefly at 3 p.m. at McDougall Centre — the provincial government’s southern Alberta base — where they’re expected to have general discussions on several issues.

“I think we’ll just be doing a preliminary chat on some of the main files that we’re going to be talking about over the next few months,” Harper, who’s home for the holidays, told reporters moments after touching down in Calgary around 1 p.m. with his family.

“I don’t think it will be an in-depth discussion today, maybe just a review of what his outstanding issues are.”

While Harper wouldn’t elaborate in great detail on what kind of partner Alberta will be in Confederation, he said he looks forward to working with Stelmach, who’s vowed to be a strong partner with Ottawa and the other provinces.

The meeting appears to be hastily planned, after an official in the Prime Minister’s Office told the Herald late Wednesday it was unlikely that Harper would find time to meet the new premier, despite being in Calgary at the same time.

Early today, spokespersons with both Harper and Stelmach informed the media that a meeting would, in fact, take place.

Harper also took time to criticize the United States over its handling of the Maher Arar file, after a senior Homeland Security official south of the border said Wednesday the Bush administration has no plans to tell the Canadian government why Arar remains on a U.S. government terrorist watch list.

“Obviously we’re not pleased. We’ve been clear with the United States we have no information ourselves that would justify that decision. They say they do, but haven’t shared it with us,” Harper said.

“My suspicion is there’s always tendencies in bureaucracies to refuse to admit an error, but we’re sure that Homeland Security will re-examine the issue.”

Politics aside, Harper said he’s glad to be back in his hometown for the holidays.

“We don’t get to spend a lot of time here, but we always love it when we can,” he said.

jfekete@theherald.canwest.com

[tkoe]

Another cluster-fuck of an article between the Herald and the Conservatives. Lovely!

[Boris2k7]

^ If anything, the Herald is one of the more unbiased papers around. The commentator in the first one, David Taras, can best be described as a Lib Lefty. Even in the editorials and letters the Herald allows a fairly wide range of views. The Herald may actually be incapable of showing any support of opinion, they are so terrible at it.

Another question is: relative to what? The CBC? The Sun? Between those two, the Herald is clearly a moderate, center-of-the-road paper.

[Bassic Lab]

It probaboly doesn't actually mean any thing at all. Polls taken immediately after a leadership contest are notoriously useless. Most people haven't a clue what the person in question has actually done, other than win the leadership, their party just received a fair amount of free and generally positive press, and there has yet to be any toughdecisions of the kind that piss off voters. Look at federal polls that gave the liberals a large bounce after their convention, it's pretty well just name recognition.

[Boris2k7]

So, the follow-up to that meeting...

Stelmach, Harper promise closer ties
Alberta's political giants meet in Calgary

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New Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said he wants to "build relationships with the federal government and other provinces," following a hastily arranged visit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Stelmach's office in the McDougall Centre on Thursday.
Photograph by : Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald

Jason Fekete and Suzanne Wilton, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, December 22, 2006

Alberta's two political powerhouses met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday in Calgary, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Ed Stelmach look to build on a federal-provincial relationship that's been frosty in recent years.

The new premier, who is on a goodwill tour of southern Alberta, used a post-meeting news conference to also reach out to Calgary after naming a rural-heavy cabinet last week that gutted the number of city ministers.

Harper and Stelmach's first official tete-a-tete since the premier took office lasted about 25 minutes at Calgary's McDougall Centre. The political leaders touched on several issues during the hastily arranged meeting. One of the topics was Alberta's place in Confederation.

"I want to build relationships with the federal government and other provinces," Stelmach told reporters following the meeting.

"Because I really do feel that a strong Canada makes for better global competitiveness." Harper didn't speak to the media after their chat. However, he said earlier in the day, upon touching down in Calgary with his family aboard a Canadian Forces jet, that he looks forward to building a strong relationship with Stelmach.

"I think it will be great. I really look forward to working with him," Harper said at the airport.

The get-together appeared to be largely unscheduled, after an official in the Prime Minister's Office told the Herald late Wednesday it was unlikely that Harper would find time to meet the new premier, despite being in Calgary at the same time.

Early Thursday, representatives of both Harper and Stelmach informed the media that a meeting would, in fact, take place.

Political observers argued that the familiar feuding between Alberta and Ottawa -- which continued between former premier Ralph Klein and Harper -- would likely subside with the pragmatic Stelmach in the premier's office.

"He's not someone who's going to wage war against Ottawa unless war is waged against him," said David Taras, a political analyst at the University of Calgary. "Stelmach will deal with it in a non-ideological way. He'll be very co-operative."

One of the major confrontational issues, health care, has been removed from the federal-provincial chess board, Taras added, noting Stelmach has no plans to overhaul the system with private care.

Another agitator -- Klein -- is also out of the picture, which should help Alberta avoid a verbal war with the federal government as long as Harper is in power.

"Ralph was very good playing the 'I'm going to get tough against Ottawa' card," Taras said.

They're Alberta-bred politicians, but neither Harper nor Stelmach has visited Calgary much recently. The prime minister has spent most of the year in Ottawa while Parliament is sitting, and Stelmach was in northern Alberta for the vast majority of the leadership race.

"We don't get to spend a lot of time (in Calgary), but we always love it when we can," Harper said.

Stelmach, meanwhile, is looking to reassure southern Albertans he'll govern for the whole province, after analysts suggested he has already alienated Calgary by slashing the number of city ministers from eight to three. He also broke a recent tradition by not appointing a Calgary energy minister.

Further adding fuel to the controversy is rookie cabinet minister Ted Morton, who reportedly told an Okotoks community paper that Calgary-area rural ministers will help keep the city in line.

"Calgary and Edmonton, other cities and rural Alberta," Stelmach stressed, "are all on the same level in terms of trying to find balance with some of the pressures that we all face across the province."

He said he'll spend "a fair amount of time in Calgary" and that his ministers will balance the needs across the province. "They are there for all Albertans. Just exactly what my role is as premier for all Albertans, that's what the expectation is for my ministers," the premier said.

Many of those growth pressures Stelmach referred to were raised during his talk with Harper, including addressing Alberta's escalating homelessness problem, which they agreed to work together on tackling.

The worker shortage and expanding the B.C.-Alberta labour mobility agreement to other provinces to eliminate trade barriers were also on the agenda.

Perhaps most important, Stelmach said he discussed with Harper "how to get in contact with each other over the next number of months as we work toward common goals."

jfekete@theherald.canwest.com

swilton@theherald.canwest.com

[Boris2k7]

Stelmach to address province's rising costs


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Premier Ed Stelmach vows to deal with runaway costs due in part to labour shortages in Alberta.
Photograph by : Mikael Kjellstrom, Calgary Herald

Suzanne Wilton, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, December 22, 2006

Runaway costs due in part to labour shortages are a threat to Alberta's economy, says Alberta's new premier, who vows to get a handle on the problem.

Ed Stelmach said Thursday he wants to see first-hand how the labour crunch is affecting certain sectors of the economy.

"I would like to go into a manufacturing centre to see how the critical shortage of labour is increasing costs, pushing up inflation, which is important to deal with because we lose global competitiveness," Stelmach said during his first meeting with the Calgary press at his McDougall Centre offices.

"Remember, folks, our economy, our GDP, depends on exports, and if the costs keep continually going up, that reduces profit margins," he said.

Stelmach's comments came on the heels of a new Statistics Canada report showing that price increases in Calgary are doubling and tripling inflation rates elsewhere in Canada as the frenzy of economic activity here drives prices higher.

The federal agency reported that Calgary consumers paid five per cent more in November than they did a year earlier, by far the largest increase of any Canadian city. The closest urban rival was Edmonton, at 2.6 per cent, although most big cities were in the 0.8 per cent to 1.4 per cent range.

Alberta's inflation rate in November was 3.7 per cent, the highest of any Canadian province. Next in line was Manitoba, which posted an increase of just 1.7 per cent.

swilton@theherald.canwest.com