They are not a dream team. Both former MLAs believe in campaigning hard on the record and little else. Thumbing through the confidential Ammo 2001 guidebook given to Tory candidates recently, it confounded me to see such a powerful dynasty, now 30 consecutive years in office, so clearly on the defensive. Electrical deregulation will pay off with lower power bills over time, it insists. Bill 11 will not open the door to better, not necessarily private health care, it argues.
Class sizes are a school board responsibility, it shrugs.
The 83 Tory candidates are not encouraged to stand for election. They're defined by what they are not, as they return fire from government critics. Nowhere are bold new ideas advanced to link Alberta with the dawn of its second century in 2005. Nothing in Klein's recent fireside chat suggests this election is anything except the due date for renewing his majority rule. The concept of importing the Alaska dividend, giving Albertans an annual slice of their energy windfall, is not on the radar screen.