EDMONTON — The Alberta government has called the province’s 25th general election for March 12, exactly four years and a day after it last went to the polls.
Premier Ralph Klein dropped the election writ just minutes after lt. governor Lois Hole finished reading the throne speech, tying with a similar one day legislature session in 1989.
The election is expected to centre on energy issues, how to spend the billions of dollars in expected surplus energy revenues once the provincial debt is paid, and the government’s role in consumers’ soaring energy bills.
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The throne speech mostly summarized the province’s economic performance, the government’s debt and tax reduction programs and the billions of dollars in new spending announced in the days leading up to the election.
Klein’s government promised it will reduce waiting lists for surgery and other medical treatments, reduce average class size in schools, shield consumers from natural gas and electricity price hikes and fund the hiring of more RCMP officers.
Agriculture received a brief mention in the speech, with the government pledging “the agriculture and food industry is a critical part of Alberta’s economy and will continue to be a priority for this government.”
It also promised to assist producers in times of “disaster and downturn” and to use recommendations from last year’s agriculture summit to increase value-added processing.
Alberta agriculture minister Ty Lund said “ever-increasing input costs” and flat commodity prices will be a rural campaign issue, but said controversy over intensive livestock operations won’t come up because a government task force is already working on it.
“That will be taken care of, in due time,” Lund said. He added he doubted new farm programs would be announced during the campaign.
The throne speech also pledged to pressure the federal government to reform the Canadian Wheat Board and for more “equitable” treatment of Alberta farmers.
At dissolution, standings in the legislature were 64 Conservatives, 15 Liberals, two New Democrats, one independent and one seat vacant.
This is the third campaign as party leader for Klein and the first for both Liberal Nancy MacBeth and New Democrat Raj Pannu. The Conservatives have been in power Alberta since 1971.
Both opposition parties were expected to take aim at the government’s privatization efforts, especially in health care and the government’s deregulation of electric utilities.
