EDMONTON - It took five minutes Thursday for the Alberta election leaders' debate to turn into a tag-team smackdown of Conservative Premier Ed Stelmach, who fought back by labelling his opponents recycled socialists and by citing the support of his wife.
"We've made tremendous progress in meeting the needs of a growing province,'' said Stelmach as he squared off against Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, Brian Mason of the NDP and Paul Hinman of the Wildrose Alliance in a 90-minute event televised provincially on CBC, CTV and Global.
"Over the past 14 months, I've shown bold leadership, decisive leadership.
"We need new ideas to really face the challenges of growth, not some warmed-over '70s socialist policies.''
"Don't try and misrepresent the positions of other parties,'' Mason shot back.
"Real change does not come by re-electing the same government 37 years in a row.''
Taft ridiculed Stelmach for calling himself a change agent given he was at the cabinet table during the years under former premier Ralph Klein when infrastructure spending fell far behind the explosive population growth.
"If you wanted real change, I don't know why you're running again because you've been there for 15 years,'' said Taft. "What the people of Alberta want is not a noisier opposition. They want a new government. They want a fresh beginning.''
On the question of leadership, Stelmach said he's got what it takes: "While the two socialists on either side argue about their plans, my wife Marie -- I've been married for 35 years -- said, `You know what? You're still young. You still have a lot of energy and new ideas.' Even my wife agrees with it.''
The 56-year-old northern Alberta farmer and former county politician said his government has become more accountable, noting it has legislated the registering of lobbyists.
Hinman said that's not enough: "We need democratic change and we need accountability.''
Mason agreed.
"You are about as transparent as a slab of granite,'' he told Stelmach, pointing out the government suppressed key documents that showed royalty rates should be increased.
The campaign is headed into the stretch run. Voters go to the polls March 3.
The Tories, in power since 1971, are seeking an 11th consecutive majority government. It's the first election with Stelmach as party leader. He replaced Ralph Klein in 2006.
Although Stelmach served nine years in Klein cabinets, his team has worked to distance itself from the Klein administration, which used energy riches to pay off the provincial debt at the expense of replacing, upgrading or building critical infrastructure to handle thousands of newcomers.
Klein has admitted his party didn't manage the growth and Stelmach has spent the last year promising and enacting a sweeping multibillion-dollar program of construction and renovation.
Critics say many Albertans are struggling with severe housing shortages, soaring rents, high home prices and jammed roads to go with too few schools, health-care beds, doctors, nurses and workers.
On the campaign trail, the royalties, health care, housing and the environment have been the hot-button issues.
The oilsands projects around Fort McMurray have made the province rich but are also a prodigious greenhouse gas producer.
The Conservatives say they won't implement any greenhouse gas cuts for another 12 years, then will phase in cuts gradually until emissions reach 14 per cent of 2005 levels by mid-century. Those targets fall well short of levels set by the Kyoto Accord, the European Union and the federal government.
Stelmach said the gradual approach is crucial to keep the cash cow oilsands viable, and that hard caps proposed by his opponents will kill it.
"Absolute caps from the Liberal Party cost $1.6 billion. How many jobs and how many families will move out of the province?'' asked Stelmach.
The Liberals promise to cap greenhouse gas emissions within five years. The NDP says it will also pursue hard caps with stiff penalties for rule-breakers. Stelmach has said those policies will result in more than 270,000 job losses in the oilpatch, but declined to answer a direct question from a panellist Thursday on where he got that number from.
Taft suggested Stelmach's approach was simplistic: "Our view is if you protect the environment, you protect jobs and the economy.''
Mason, whose NDP is fighting with the Liberals for seats in Edmonton, accused Taft of rejecting hard caps in the legislature but promoting them on the campaign trail.
"What you do in the house is far more important than what you say in the election,'' said Mason.
Hinman said caps will only damage the industry.
In housing, soaring home prices have prompted landlords to double or even triple rents and convert badly needed apartments into condos.
Stelmach resisted calls to invoke rent controls, but has limited rent hikes to one a year.
The Liberals say they'll put a 10 per cent cap on rent hikes and introduce strict rules on condo conversions. The NDP said it would introduce rent controls and impose limits on condo conversions. The Wildrose Alliance says it will work to create more affordable housing. The Liberals promise to push recycling and more efficient energy use in buildings.
On oil royalties, the Conservatives took a hit last year when an arm's-length review panel found Albertans were being severely shortchanged and that the province's royalty take should be increased by 20 per cent to bring in another $2 billion a year.
Stelmach has since announced they would be increasing royalties by $1.4 billion a year starting in 2009. The Liberals promise to raise them by the recommended $2 billion. The NDP says it would scrap the system and adopt one similar to Alaska's.
In health care, the Liberals and the Tories also promise to recruit and train more doctors and nurses while the NDP says it will revamp the pharmacare program to cut drug costs. The Wildrose Alliance says it will streamline the health system to reduce wait times.
Early campaign polls suggest the Conservatives are in front but face a contingent of undecided voters pegged as high as one in four. Indecision proved costly for the Tories in the last election, when more than 100,000 fewer Albertans cast ballots, leading to key opposition gains.
The Tories had 60 seats in the 83-seat legislature at dissolution. The Liberals had 16, most of them in Edmonton. The NDP had four, all in the Alberta capital. The Wildrose Alliance had Hinman's one seat in southern Alberta. There was one Independent and one seat left vacant.
