Last week, Premier Ed Stelmach announced he will not seek re-election, an announcement aimed at saving the Progressive Conservative Party from being crushed during the next general election.
We weren’t surprised when Foothills-Rocky View MLA Ted Morton announced he was stepping down as Finance Minister to run for leadership of the party. We wish him luck, however, he needs to know that his local support is not what it once was.
In March 2008, Morton’s future looked bright. He was re-elected with 57 per cent of the vote and continued to serve as Minister of Sustainable Resources.
But that all changed when Morton introduced the Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA), which some critics say effectively strips Albertans’ property rights.
Since then, he and his government approved a multi-billion deficit budget, angered the oil industry by tinkering with the royalty regime, ran into a string of problems in health care and voted down a proposal for fixed election dates.
While he may have personally been against many of these decisions, he did little to oppose them publicly. If he is to regain the support he once had, he must do so now.
Mr. Morton must prove his opposition to continued deficit spending, even if that means voting against his own government’s upcoming budget. He must also pledge to fix or scrap the ALSA if elected as P.C. Party leader. In short, he must give residents a reason to support his leadership campaign.
Words are not enough. Like MLA Rob Anderson, who walked away from the P.C. Party, it is up to Mr. Morton to prove he is willing to put his own neck on the line for what he believes.
Will Mr. Morton win the leadership of the P.C. Party? Only if he is willing to show some leadership.
