With the race for leadership of the Progressive Conservative party now fully underway, some key questions remain to be answered.
Conventional wisdom is that former Finance Minister Ted Morton will be Airdrie’s favourite.
In the fall of 2006, the riding of Airdrie-Chestermere’s first choice for leader was Morton, who garnered 57 per cent of the vote locally. Jim Dinning finished second with 26 per cent while Ed Stelmach received just 17 per cent support.
Among Morton’s supporters was a young lawyer named Rob Anderson, who ran to succeed MLA Carol Haley, won, and eventually left the PC Party for the Wildrose Alliance. According to polling at the time, most people in this riding supported his choice.
So, does Morton’s 2006 support hold up five years later? We think it does not.
He will have to earn new support.
Too much has happened in the last five years for candidate Morton to run on what made him popular in the past. The massive, record-setting deficit and perceived loss of property rights from Morton’s initiative the Land Stewardship Act, reflect poorly on him.
No, to regain Airdrie’s support, Morton will have to move past his and his government’s record. The best way to do that is by outlining his own platform. What does Morton hope to achieve if he becomes premier?
Morton’s fellow candidate Allison Redford has announced her top priority; making Alberta a world energy capital. It is a gross generalization, but at least its something.
Until Morton deigns to provide us with a reason why he should be premier, we consider him just another candidate.
