Alberta election campaign to follow some wild roads

It rarely fails to happen: Janet Keeping will introduce herself to Alberta voters, try to talk a little politics with them, and that's when someone will get it all mixed up.

"You're one of those people who chase fishing boats and protect whales, aren't you?" they ask. And Ms. Keeping will politely correct them.

"People still confuse us with Greenpeace and people tying themselves to backhoes [to protect the environment]," said the Alberta Green Party Leader since 2012. "We're still relatively new to the scene."

The Greens, as they call themselves, are in for a rough ride on May 5 – voting day in Alberta. Ms. Keeping is running against Premier Jim Prentice in the Calgary-Foothills riding. Asked what that will be like, she answered, "I know I'm going to get clobbered, I understand that. … I think I'm good at big-picture stuff."

The Greens are strategic planners in this election. In some ridings they've not bothered to run candidates; they've aligned with the Liberals or NDP. Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman has agreed to represent the Greens in Edmonton-Centre. It was described as a "symbolic gesture of uniting the progressive left."

Nuts to all

Political campaigning has much to do with stopping in key locations and having a photograph taken so the candidate can show commitment to local residents.

That's what Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice did earlier in the week. He had his bus pull over in the town of Edson, where he posed with PC supporters in front of a giant squirrel. That would be Eddie the Squirrel, a towering member of the Sciuridae family that stands on guard for all people in Edson, regardless of their politics.

Alberta is rich in town mascots and roadside attractions that make people shake their heads in wonder – just like provincial politics. So we could soon see party leaders posing for photos with: Sammy and Samantha Spud, two Vauxhall potatoes dressed up like farmers; or Squirt, the Beiseker skunk; or Chauvin's Susie, the world's largest softball, which pairs nicely with Heisler's world's largest baseball glove.

Toss in St. Paul's UFO landing pad, Vulcan's USS Enterprise and Irricana's truck on a pole, and the possibilities are boundless.

It's in the polls, we're told

On Thursday, Mainstreet Technologies, a Canadian data services provider, released a poll of 3,270 Albertans showing the Wildrose Party was setting the pace with 24 per cent support. The PCs were next at 21 per cent, followed by the NDP at 20. The poll carries an overall margin of error of plus or minus 1.78 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

President Quito Maggi on his company's website said the results showed "signs of a tremendously competitive race. Wildrose is holding steady but the sudden surge of new support for the NDP in both Edmonton and across Alberta is the real story."

Days before the election was called, a Mainstreet poll showed the PCs and Wildrose tied at 24 per cent with a significant number of people (20 per cent) undecided. That poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

There is lots of time for the numbers to change but, at this point, the Tories are experiencing difficulty maintaining their once-undisputed power base.

"This will be very different than in 2012," said Duane Bratt, the chairman of Mount Royal University's department of policy studies. "That one was head-to-head [Alison Redford against Danielle Smith]. … This time, we will see a series of battles in different regions. In Edmonton, it will be the PCs against the NDP. In rural Alberta, it will be Wildrose versus the PCs."

One more poll: ThinkHQ Public Affairs surveyed 1,835 Albertans asking how they felt about the parties. Seventy-two per cent said they agreed with the "characterization of the PC party as arrogant and elitist." When asked about the Wildrose and NDP, 44 per cent of the respondents said the two parties were too extreme for them. The online survey, using a representative but not random sample, didn't have an applicable margin of error.

Last word

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, a former MP, apologized Friday after saying Mr. Prentice wanted to be Prime Minister and tried to undermine Stephen Harper.

According to Mr. Jean, Mr. Prentice and his team went after the Prime Minister when his polling numbers tanked. Mr. Prentice served in the federal cabinet and described the accusations as "ridiculous," adding that he and Mr. Harper are "quite close and had a fabulous working relationship."

Mr. Jean apologized in a statement, saying it was "inappropriate of me to talk about past internal caucus tensions."