Stelmach urges party to unite behind him

Trumpeting his record and principles, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach urged Progressive Conservative party members to rally behind him as he heads into a high-stakes, secret-ballot leadership review vote Saturday.

“It's a competitive world out there. And that reminds us that we need to work together as a team" he told more than 1,000 delegates gathered in Red Deer on Friday night.

Mr. Stelmach, who has seen his approval rating plummet in recent months, told party faithful his government has a jam-packed agenda to accomplish, including turning around the province's financial mess, and that he's “not afraid of criticism, or to take advice, or to take a stand."

“Albertans are counting on us to deliver, to lead this province out of recession and back to a position of economic leadership," he said. “You can't build that bridge to renewed prosperity alone. It's going to take the confidence and solidarity of this party, supporting your government in delivering on the commitments we made to Albertans."

Mr. Stelmach also reminded the party, which has governed Alberta since 1971, it has battled through difficult times before.

“As a family, I learned that you can always accomplish more together than as individuals," he added.

About 1,500 people, including former cabinet ministers and Alberta Tory MPs, are allowed to vote on Saturday. Few, including Mr. Stelmach, are publicly predicting the outcome, although the Premier's predecessor, Ralph Klein, has said he must receive at least 70 per cent to keep his job.

During a similar vote in 2006, PC delegates shoved Mr. Klein to the exit door after handing him an embarrassingly low 55 per cent support.

According to the Tory party constitution, a leader needs to receive 50 per cent plus one to soldier on, but many political observers have said Mr. Stelmach must hit at least 80 per cent to ward off potential leadership rivals.

The fact Mr. Stelmach finds himself in a potentially vulnerable position only 20 months after leading the party to a surprise landslide election victory (the Tories captured 72 of Alberta's 83 seats) is troubling for many party members.

There is also growing concern the party needs to quickly counter the rising popularity of the Wildrose Alliance party, an upstart right-wing alternative to the Tories.

Alan Hallman, a longtime party organizer in Calgary who campaigned for Jim Dinning – not Ed Stelmach – as his preferred successor to Ralph Klein, told a local newspaper that although the premier is a “decent man," he'd like to see party members reject his continued leadership.

“Ed's leadership is cutting into the brand name," he said. “As far as I'm concerned, leaders come and leaders go, but the party has to live on – and this party is getting damaged."

Mr. Hallman said in an interview that he stands by those comments, but for now, he's said his piece.

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