Mud taints message in week before vote
‘Exhausted’ parties seem to be ‘losing control’: expert
Danielle Smith said Monday she doesn’t believe the debate is over on the science of climate change, while Alison Redford insisted she’s got no beef with former premier Ralph Klein.
At the same time, Raj Sherman’s Liberals have their eyes on the deputy premier’s job in a coalition government, while the NDP claims the rival Grits have a billion-dollar error in their financial plan.
Capping an unusual day of jabs and counterpunches, Klein’s former chief of staff was accused of being a “Wildrose strategist” by Redford’s recent chief of staff — something Rod Love rejected.
Welcome to the final week of the Alberta election campaign, now arguably the wildest race the province has ever witnessed.
The stakes couldn’t be much greater, with the ruling Tory government trying to extend its 41-year political dynasty, while the Wildrose fights to keep momentum and a lead in the polls ahead of the April 23 election.
And with less than seven days of campaigning remaining, the Liberals and NDP are battling for what they hope is the balance of power — if Alberta ends up with the first minority government in its 107-year history.
“It’s dizzying for voters,” said Mount Royal University political analyst David Taras, noting all the battles in this election are bewildering.
“This is not the way the parties want to go into the final week.”
Monday had the appearance of four parties falling off political message while grappling to woo undecided voters, said Leger Marketing pollster Ian Large. “It feels like they’re losing control, all of them,” said Large.
“It’s not doing any of them any good.”
During an online leadership debate Monday afternoon, Smith, said she doesn’t believe the science behind the theory of climate change is conclusive.
“We’ve always said the science isn’t settled and we need to continue to monitor the debate,” Smith wrote in the Calgary Herald-edmonton Journal online forum.
The comments surprised both political and environmental observers. Later in the day, Smith offered a further explanation: “I think there are a lot of scientists with a variety of different views.”
While Wildrose dealt with the climate change issue and the continuing fallout over controversial anti-gay comments from Edmonton candidate Allan Hunsperger, Redford did her best to deal with some turbulence on the Tory campaign trail.
Supporters of Klein — including his former chief of staff, Rod Love — took issue with remarks Redford made at a private gathering of PC donors where she allegedly said she’s still dealing with the impacts of Klein’s cost-cutting.
On Monday, Redford said she “absolutely did not” make any disparaging remarks about the Klein legacy, telling reporters: “I have always said that I believe Premier Klein was a fantastic premier, very effective for the times.”
But the situation took an unexpected twist when Stephen Carter — Redford’s recent chief of staff and current campaign strategist — accused Love of being a Wildrose strategist. The former Klein confidant dismissed the allegation but acknowledged he has been providing advice to both conservative parties.
As conservatives feuded, Liberal Leader Raj Sherman mused Monday about what his party would expect in order to prop up a Wildrose or PC minority government.
He said he’d work through a coalition with one of the two parties if Liberal MLAS receive, at a minimum, three key spots: a position on Treasury Board, and the postings of deputy premier and minister of health.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Brian Mason charged the Liberals have a $1-billion mistake in their platform; Liberal officials fired back it’s the NDP’S math that’s wrong.
Large worries the negative tone could lead to less public engagement and lower turnout come next Monday’s election.
“This just smacks, on all of them, of potentially being just exhausted,” he concluded. “If they just look like a bunch of manoeuvering, squabbling politicians, people stay at home and don’t vote.”
WITH FILES FROM KELLY CRYDERMAN, JAMES WOOD AND DARCY HENTON, CALGARY HERALD