Skip to content

PC leadership race heating up

The race to replace premier Ed Stelmach at the helm of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party is heating up as the number of candidates vying for the job has jumped to four.

The race to replace premier Ed Stelmach at the helm of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party is heating up as the number of candidates vying for the job has jumped to four.

Foothills-Rocky View MLA Ted Morton was the first in the race, announcing his candidacy just two days after Stelmach announced we was stepping down.

He was followed soon after by MLA Doug Horner and MLAs Doug Griffiths and Alison Redford threw their hats in the ring last week.

Griffiths may hail from the backbenches, but he has logged a lot of miles promoting a unique version of community building across the Province. He wrote a book, 13 ways to kill a community, in which he looks at overcoming issues facing communities from a unique perspective – primarily by ensuring how not to succeed.

He said people can expect a similarly different approach from him as leader and premier.

“As a party and as a province it is a critical time right now to re-evaluate and challenge ourselves on the things we’ve been doing for the last 40 years,” said Griffiths.

He is the Battle River-Wainwright MLA and was the Parliamentary Assistant to the finance minister before announcing his candidacy.

At the age of 38, Griffiths is the youngest candidate in the race. He believes his youth could be one of his strengths to help attract more young people to the party and to bring new ideas to the fore. He noted Peter Lougheed was in his late 30’s when he was first selected to lead the Progressive Conservatives and age 43 when elected premier.

Griffiths said he wants to reinvigorate the PC party. He said it’s often not easy for people his age with young families to participate and he wants find ways to get more people in their 30’s and 40’s involved.

He said the environment and land stewardship are critical for the Alberta’s future.

“Just like no one wants to leave a financial deficit for the next generation, no one wants to leave an environmental deficit,” said Griffiths.

As well, he said spending on health care will eat up the bulk of the government’s budget if it’s not put under control.

Redford said she wants to attract Albertans who haven’t taken a large interest in politics.

“Albertans need to feel an awful lot of pride about what we have and what we are,” she said. “It’s time to bring a whole lot of people into this conversation who haven’t been part of it for a long time.”

Redford is the MLA for Calgary-Elbow and was the Minister of Justice and Attorney General until announcing her candidacy.

Redford wants to make Alberta a global energy centre. She said the province is blessed with resources, strong industries, is leading the way in developing new technologies and in agricultural research. This is all happening in isolation from each other, said Redford, and she wants to talk more about how they relate to each other.

“It’s taking what we have and really getting behind how to make it all work together the way people think of Switzerland as a banking centre,” she said.

Redford said there are areas where the health care system is working, but there is a lot of room for improvement in the administration and access side of the issue.

She said the answer is not having a single provincial board. Ultimately, Redford said Albertans know what’s needed in their communities and the Province needs to listen to front-line workers.

She said there are areas where the government needs to spend money and it can get a good social return on investment, but it must match Albertans priorities.

“Whether we’re trying to balance the budget or whether we’re trying to run with a bit of a deficit in difficult economic times, we have to know that we’re all on the same page,” said Redford.

Horner said Alberta has weathered the recession well and he wants to foster a prosperous future for the province.

“It’s all about having hope and opportunity and what we’re looking for is hope and opportunity in the future and a diversified economy.”

Horner, the Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert MLA, has served in a number of cabinet positions, most recently as Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

He said Alberta has changed in recent decades and the government needs to adapt to it. Ultimately, he said the party should not be rallied around ideologies.

“Ideology is something you can talk about in a coffee shop or a political science class,” he said. “The reality is we need to make decisions for Albertans based on a good set of values and a good set of principles.”

Horner wants the Province to have a world leading research and university system. He wants an environment where entrepreneurs can flourish and keep wealth. He wants the Province to be able to keep on top of its infrastructure needs.

“I think that’s there we need to go, that’s there we need to get to,” said Horner.

He doesn’t want to get into too many details about specific policies he’d promote.

“I don’t think it’s fair to our current premier, frankly, so I’m going to wait and put out my platform after the [current legislative] session is done,” he said.

However, he did reveal some of his priorities include creating a world leading, sustainable health care system, an education system that leaves no one behind and defending the energy sector.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks