Stelmach Calls Alberta Election, Seeks Voter Mandate
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach called an
election for March 3 in a bid to win his first mandate from
voters in Canadas main oil-producing province.
Stelmach succeeded former Premier Ralph Klein in December
2006 as head of Albertas Progressive Conservative party, which
has ruled the province since 1971. The Conservatives hold 60 of
the 83 seats in the provincial legislature.
“Our right to gather here today stems from the legacy of
democracy, he told lawmakers in the capital of Edmonton today.
“Fundamental to that legacy is the right of Albertans to decide
who sits in this legislature.
Polls show that Stelmach, a former farmer and a lawmaker
for 15 years, should win his first election as premier. A poll
last month by Leger Marketing showed 32 percent of voters in the
province of 3.5 million people would vote for the Conservatives,
compared with 18 percent who support the Liberal Party led by
Kevin Taft. Support for the Conservatives fell 10 percentage
points from a similar poll in November.
Stelmach on Jan. 29 said an average of C$6 billion ($6
billion) a year is needed over the next two decades to upgrade
roads, build new schools and houses and improve water facilities
as an energy boom strains the provinces services.
Oil and natural gas companies may pay higher royalties to
help finance some of these projects. Stelmach announced in
October a new royalties program that will raise an additional
C$1.4 billion a year beginning in 2010, prompting some producers
such as Talisman Energy Inc. to scale back expansion plans. Oil
and gas account for about a third of the governments revenue.
Insurance Fees
Alberta will also phase out health-care insurance fees
within four years, saving the average family C$1,056 a year, the
government said in an e-mailed statement earlier today.
The debt-free province will probably post its 14th straight
budget surplus for the fiscal year ending March 31, the
government estimated in November.
The provincial economy is forecast to grow 3.4 percent this
year, slowing from a 4.5 percent rate in 2007, according to a
Jan. 15 research report from Bank of Nova Scotia. That would
still be the fastest growth of any Canadian province this year.
Alberta, estimated to have the largest oil reserves outside
the Middle East, is home to companies including Suncor Energy
Inc., the worlds second-largest oil-sands producer, EnCana
Corp., Canadas largest energy company by market value, and
Imperial Oil Ltd., 70 percent owned by Exxon Mobil Corp.
Stelmach, 56, the youngest of five children, grew up in
Lamont, Alberta, on the homestead his Ukrainian grandparents
established after arriving in Canada in 1898.
He has been a member of the provincial legislature since
1993, and held four cabinet posts before running for the
Conservative leadership in 2006.
