PCS ARE USING THEIR POWER TO SWAY ELECTION

Premier Jim Prentice says the Progressive Conservatives are not using the power of government to campaign before an election is called.

Let us detail some of the ways the PCs are not using their power, taken from the recent blizzard of government releases and news conferences.

Ministers, MLAs and happy beneficiaries have popped up for announcements including:

“Funding for flood mitigation projects.”

“Supports for francophone families.” Bien oui!

“United effort to preserve iconic Edmonton church.” Thank heaven — and Jim!

“Grants support 72 new seniors spaces in northwest Calgary.”

“School construction promise fulfilled.”

The government has spit out more than 20 such announcements, including four on Thursday alone, since the budget came down March 26.

They’re usually followed by news conferences and spending details. Often the promises are years old and the spending has been announced several times before.

“We did an analysis and probably a third of the announcements have been announced more than twice already and another third had been announced once before,” says new Wildrose Leader Brian Jean.

Groups and organizations sometimes receive money they hadn’t even asked for. Wildrose claims a seniors residence equipped with sprinklers got money for — sprinklers.

The PCs are drilling home their age- old theme — Something for Everybody — before triggering the election itself.

They understand voter selfinterest better than any party in this country. The blitz of announcements suggests that restraint is always for somebody else. You will get what you want, tough budget or not.

“What they’re doing is shocking and not right,” says Jean. “I hope Albertans will see through this electioneering with tax dollars and punish the PCs for it.”

And yet, Prentice suggests the PCs have no edge at all over the other parties.

“It’s me in a vehicle driving from Edmonton to Calgary and they can do the same thing if they choose,” the premier told the Edmonton Journal’s editorial board on Wednesday.

“I represent the government and I can speak to issues from the budget, from that perspective. They’re opposition and they can do the same thing.” But there’s a big difference. All these events are deemed government business, arranged on government time and paid for with public funds.

The opposition parties have a few bucks of legislature money, which they’re not allowed to use for party politicking at all. The PCs, in fact, have often called them out for the slightest sign of electioneering in newsletters and other communications.

On top of this, the Tories are hellbent for election in the face of their own fixed- period law, which says the next vote should fall between March 1 and May 31, 2016.

Prentice says an early election won’t actually break the law and he’s technically correct. There’s a trap door in the bill that allows an election at any time. With the possibility of unstable minorities, this is essential in our system.

In this case, though, a premier with a huge majority has decided to run on his budget and the measures he proposes.

With oil $ 50 US a barrel and the massive policy shift of tax hikes, the premier’s position is at least defensible. What isn’t defensible, in my view, is how the PCs have also abandoned the spirit of the law in order to hoard every possible advantage.

The date is a guessing game because only the premier can declare it — said to be next Tuesday, but he can always change his mind.

Verlyn Olson, the PC justice minister who introduced the now- abandoned bill, said in 2011: “Establishing a fixed election period has benefits for all Albertans. Albertans will be better able to plan to participate or involve themselves in the election process — as voters, as candidates, and as volunteers.”

The bill ended up doing the opposite; it duped opposition parties into the false belief that they had another year. It made a mess of planning and hurt their fundraising.

In that light, it would have been generous of Prentice to announce the date some time ago.

But he didn’t. This is serious business — an actual election. Alberta PCs will use every tool, every lever, to win their 13th straight majority.