Will Stelmach hoe the same old ground?
CALGARY -- The election of Ed Stelmach as new leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives last weekend was mostly greeted with "better Ed than Ted" by Calgary's corporate community on Monday morning.
While Mr. Stelmach's victory was perceived as a better outcome than if right-wing Tory rival Ted Morton had won, no one knows much about the new leader. He doesn't boast many connections with the business community. In this, he is not unlike Prime Minister Stephen Harper or the new Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion -- and it may mean he isn't beholden to anyone.
The bigger question in the minds of many, however, is what role will Mr. Morton be given in the new cabinet.
If he gets a big portfolio, as many expect, it will be taken as a sign of the direction Mr. Stelmach wants for the party and the province: more conservative and less progressive.
This is counter to what is happening in the urban centres of Calgary and Edmonton, which are attracting people from all over the globe to work in the energy sector.
Concern about the possibility of Mr. Morton winning drew many people from across the political spectrum -- artists included -- to sign up and vote for Jim Dinning, the boyish-faced former treasurer, because they believed he understood the challenges facing Alberta and the direction it must go.
But the party's wonky voting system, which allowed new memberships to be sold in the week between the first vote and the final runoff, saw the sleeper candidate slide up the middle and snatch the crown.
By all accounts, the combination of rivalries -- rural versus urban, Calgary against Edmonton -- conspired against Mr. Dinning, who placed first in all the Calgary ballots. Mr. Stelmach on the other hand, placed third in Calgary.
Here's why the corporate world is apprehensive.
According to the 2005 numbers published by Alberta Economic Development, the provincial gross domestic product was $215-billion. Of that, 2 per cent came from agriculture and almost 30 per cent from the energy sector.
And yet someone rooted in agriculture, a segment of the economy whose contribution is steadily declining, is running the province with the blessing of the rural vote.
In short, no one is expecting big things.
"It's hard to get really excited," said one long-time Tory. "We are in an unmatched position in the Western world -- no debt and good cash flow -- and we need new ideas and new approaches to carry us forward, someone who can articulate what the future should look like and how we get there."
"We've been in a hiatus for too long," said another Tory backer. "We need more than 'steady as she goes.' " Expectations are that Mr. Stelmach will do a good job staying the course, and unlike his predecessor, work hard and consult with people who are credible when navigating the policy waters.
"When he was minister of intergovernmental affairs, he would always reach out and ask for input," said Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
Mr. Alvarez was encouraged by Mr. Stelmach's comments at his Monday news conference where he voiced his commitment to attract and retain skilled workers to the province.
But absent in these comments was a glimmer of understanding that having a vibrant arts community is part of this equation; the arts is a segment that remains woefully underfunded in Alberta.
Mr. Stelmach also said on Monday that the government has no business meddling in business, and won't interfere with the pace of growth in the oil sands by picking which projects can proceed and which have to wait.
However, he did reiterate his promise to look at the royalty structure -- a comment that is sure to draw the ire of those who have made big investment commitments in the oil sands -- and to ensure that more of the raw bitumen mined from the oil sands is upgraded here before being sent elsewhere for further refining.
Roger Gibbins of the Canada West Foundation said he wanted to see how Mr. Stelmach will approach issues such as harnessing the wealth created by the province's energy resources.
The Canada West Foundation released a study earlier this year entitled Investing Wisely, which recommended how the government should save for a rainy day.
The bigger question is whether Mr. Stelmach recognizes the degree to which Alberta's role in Confederation has changed because of its economic position and that it must take a leadership role on the national stage.
