As the governing Progressive Conservative Party looks forward to its Annueal General Meeting this week and prepares to reflect on the leadership of Premier Ed Stelmach, any party members planning to vote negatively on Stelmach's leadership need to take some time out to assess the party's options should it remove Stelmach as party leader.
When Stelmach became leader of the PCs in 2006, he was the compromise candidate between Ted Morton and Jim Dinning. The two had campaigned themselves into a stalemate over the party leadership.
As it turns out, neither Dinning nor Morton are chomping at the bit for a repeat of the 2006 campaign. Each has recently come out supportively in favour of Stelmach.
"To give Ed Stelmach a mortal blow would be a major mistake, a huge mistake for the party I've been a member of since 1972 when I was a kid," Dinning told the Calgary Herald. "It would be a mistake for the province, too. It would give Alberta a serious black eye when we have to deal with our finances in the short term, environment and energy in the long term, and health care until kingdom come.
"To have the government distracted by internal party machinations when they should be solely focused on those critical issues would be a serious mistake," Dinning continued. "Don't do this! Don't you dare!"
Dinning's leadership rival, Ted Morton, has echoed his sentiments.
"I've told caucus that I think it would be a big mistake to ignore what happened in Calgary-Glenmore with the Wildrose," Morton also told the Herald. "But I've also told friends and members of my (constituency) that it would be a bigger mistake to plunge the party into a leadership review at this point in time."
"It's a time to do policy, not argue about leadership," he continued. "We have to make sure that we are a competitive place to invest and do business, particularly in the oil and gas business."
Morton says he considers the 2006 PC leadership campaign to be long over.
"I've been through this stuff before federally," he explained, "and you don't refight leadership races after they're over. When they're over, they're over."
Moreover, Morton says that the lack of forthcoming challengers for the Tory crown may be impeding any interested candidates from coming forward.
"The absence of a rival is very significant," he insisted. "The fact that no top-name person is breaking ranks means that it's more difficult for others to break ranks."
While it may be presumptuous to believe that neither Ted Morton nor Jim Dinning have any interest in pursuing the party leadership, each man's unequivocal support of Ed Stelmach clearly indicates they aren't willing to risk the party's dominant majority by instigating a leadership contest at a time when the party faces what may be the most formidable challenge in nearly forty years.
The Tories ought to think about that before they vote on Stelmach's leadership.
Comments
Why doesn't Ed just resign then? This would be for the good of the party and this province. Ed is a bumbling fool and has given Saskatchewan (and B.C. to a lesser extent) a real economic boost at our expense. He is trying to govern with rose coloured glasses on. I can't wait to see the next budget. I am no longer a conservative voter, I am now a wild rose voter. The media did not give this party any credit for their showing in the polls after the last provincial election. This will change if Stelmach stays - believe it or not. The P.C. party internally is in shambles with no clear vision of where to take this province under this leader.
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