Bumbling Stelmach unravels in second part of leaders’ debate

Bumbling PC Leader Ed Stelmach sank further into desperate Tory fibbing in the second part of the televised leaders’ debate Thursday.

“I always put people first and will continue to do that,” said Ed Stelmach.

Stelmach was asked directly why he claims hard caps would kill over 325,000 jobs in the resource sector, and where he based his information. HE COMPLETELY EVADED THE QUESTION. Stelmach has been smearing Kevin Taft with this claim for the entire campaign, and he has not come clean on his facts or his source.

Stelmach claims that people are coming to Alberta. He is fibbing again. ”In the third quarter of 2007 (July 1 to September 30), Alberta experienced a net loss of 3,300 persons in interprovincial migration, compared to a net gain of 7,400 people in the second quarter. This is Alberta’s first interprovincial migration loss since the fourth quarter of 1994.” (Source: Alberta Finance, Alberta Population Report, Third Quarter 2007 (December 19, 2007)

Stelmach claims the economy is great. Here’s the truth: “The positive impact of the growth in the economy is offset by a decline in oil prices and by margins squeezed by rising labour and other costs.” pg. 37, Fiscal Plan, Budget 2007, Government of Alberta.

Stelmach claimed: “We invested in new infrastructure every year.” But he has no plan, no spending targets, no specifics, nothing in the Capital Plan.

Stelmach’s action on homelessness was to create a $13 million slush fund for landlords.

And true to form, Mason continues to stretch the truth, too:

Brian Mason is actually against hard caps. Or at least that’s what he told the Edmonton Journal editorial board.

“Alberta’s NDP won’t follow their political rivals and set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Liberals say they’ll do it in five years while the Tories say they’ll accomplish it in 12 years….’It’s so complex and it’s so important that to sort of say we would set this cap five years from now or next year and so on, anybody who’s talking like that has not really analyzed it,’ Mason told The Journal’s editorial board.” – Edmonton Journal, February 14, 2008

But now he’s in favour of hard caps. Or at least he was when the Legislature was in session. We can’t keep track.

The Alberta Liberals feel it’s impossible to implement the Kyoto Protocol targets right now, mostly due to government inaction. That’s why we voted against David Eggen’s April 10, 2007, amendment. It was another completely useless NDP stunt.

The Alberta Liberals have been voted by the Conservation Voters of Alberta as having the best environmental platform, a “B+”. The NDP has a “B”, the PCs and Wildrose Alliance, a “D”.