EDMONTON - The stakes are high for Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach as he heads into a normally quiet fall sitting of the legislature.
Recent polls suggest his popularity has tanked, and some disgruntled Progressive Conservatives are joining an upstart right-wing party, the Wildrose Alliance. On top of that, Stelmach will have to face Tory delegates on Nov. 7 for a mandatory leadership review vote.
He has been sharpening his political message in recent weeks, with photo opportunities and a 20-minute provincewide address broadcast earlier this month.
"This isn't about questioning the leadership of me personally or if it's the right or wrong direction," Stelmach says. "It won't be any different from any other session."
The Tories hold 70 of Alberta's 83 seats, the Liberals nine and the NDP two. There is one Independent.
The Wildrose Alliance has just one elected member -- a seat taken from the Tories in a Calgary byelection last month. But the polls suggest Stelmach's party is bleeding support to the fledgling party, which got a huge boost this month with the selection of former journalist Danielle Smith as leader. Even a few former Tory cabinet ministers have conceded she's an impressive choice.
Smith says the pressure is on Stelmach to regain the confidence of Albertans.
"We'll have to see in his first couple of steps in the legislature whether or not he's able to stem the decline," she says. "We've seen a huge fall in the Tory fortunes in the last number of months."
Stelmach won the leadership of the Tory party only three years ago after Ralph Klein stepped down as premier. Klein quietly supported Stelmach, but never went public with an endorsement. Now the former premier is speaking out against Stelmach.
Klein told reporters a few days ago that business leaders are ready for a change. This after he made headlines earlier in the month when he told The Canadian Press that Stelmach needs at least 70 per cent support when 1,500 Tory delegates vote on his leadership.
Stelmach has politely dismissed Klein's benchmark. He's also downplaying the political tension that is apparent as the legislature reconvenes.
He blames his poor showing in recent polls on Alberta's sour economy.
"We're in the middle of the worst recession in 50 years," he says. "I understand full well that many families are hurting, many businesses are hurting."
Liberal Opposition Leader David Swann says there's no question that the Tories will be focused on the leadership review vote as they gather for the fall sitting.
Swann expects some Tories will be grandstanding in the legislature in hopes of making Stelmach look good to party members -- "any opportunity that they can take to celebrate him, to improve his image."
The most contentious piece of legislation this fall will be the bill that lays the groundwork for new electricity transmission corridors to be built across Alberta. Stelmach insists that billions of dollars in new power lines are needed to stoke the province's economic engine once the recession ends.
"We've got to get on with it because we're losing about $250,000 worth of electricity a year in very congested power lines," says the premier. "We're burning more coal to produce less electricity."
But there's a growing wave of protest by people who say there's no need for new transmission lines.
Enmax, the power utility owned by the City of Calgary, has started a campaign against the legislation, including a petition. The company argues that transmission costs to homes and business will triple.
Swann says his party will focus on the issue.
"This is going to be a landmark issue, a multibillion-dollar investment, and people are going to be feeling this on their monthly utility bills," he says.
"Albertans want to have some input."
NDP Leader Brian Mason says health care will also be a dominant issue during the fall sitting, given the government's plans to close hundreds of hospital and mental health beds.
"We just wrapped up public hearings on health care and people (are) angry with what the government is doing," says Mason. "Many are fearful, especially seniors."
Stelmach says the government will also introduce legislation to continue with the election of potential appointees to the federal Senate. The province has held such elections since 1989, but only two of the winners have ever made it to the upper chamber.
"We want to make sure we're prepared if the prime minister wishes to nominate or put another senator into the Senate," says the premier.
The fall sitting is scheduled to last about six weeks.
