Alberta bound

I’ll be heading to Edmonton tomorrow for the Manning Centre’s Conference on Alberta’s Future where registrants will discuss and evaluate Alberta’s performance in the Canadian and global contexts.

The conference comes on the heels of the Stelmach government’s Throne Speech today and when renewed calls for increased opposition time in Question Period have been vocalized by both the NDP and Wildrose Alliance Parties. Leader of the latter party, Danielle Smith has confirmed her attendance at the conference so it will be interesting to hear her take on Alberta’s future now, especially now that she’s leading in the polls and may well have been Alberta’s next premier if an election were held today.

There will also be representatives from the government there to discuss their vision as well as members of the other opposition parties. Preston Manning wrote an article published in the National Post today suggesting that Alberta’s PC dynasty is on shaky ground. Alberta observers will remember that Manning was courted by many Alberta conservatives to replace Premier Klein. Yet, in the end, Ed Stelmach was selected.

Alberta, partly due to the economic downturn, finds itself in different financial shape as the province’s treasury faces deficits instead of surpluses. Still the economic engine of Canada thanks in large part to its still booming energy sector, Alberta’s future and potential political turnover is the sleeper story in Canadian politics.

If you’ll be in Edmonton this weekend, I hope that I’ll see you at the conference. If not, I’ll be doing my best to file video and blog reports with those that have shaped Alberta’s past and those shaping its future.

Craig Chandler is out…

The Alberta PC party has refused to accept the nomination Craig Chandler for the riding of Calgary-Egmont.

Here is the CP story.

Does this mean that Jonathan Denis, who came a strong second in the nomination race will become the nominee?

Here were the results from that nomination race:

1670 total votes

Denis – 485
Chandler – 945
Smith – 227

Anne McLellan interview

Yesterday, I bumped into Anne McLellan at the Liberal leadership convention. I sat down with the former deputy Prime Minister to ask her about the convention, Maher Arar and the Alberta PC leadership race.

Ted Morton supporters will want to watch the video the full way through. Fans of the professor will be cheering by the end.

Anne McLellan interview with Blogging Tories