Prentice, Notley go toe-to-toe; Jean, Swann sidelined
The most important political debate in recent Alberta history quickly emerged as a heated contest between Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice and NDP Leader Rachel Notley, stumping analysts and raising even more questions about how the final two weeks of the campaign will play out. Early polls suggest Wildrose Leader Brian Jean is the most potent electoral threat to the 44-year Tory dynasty, but Prentice repeatedly challenged Notley on issues ranging from health care and education to jobs and royalty reviews.
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EDMONTON – The most important political debate in recent Alberta history quickly emerged as a heated contest between Progressive Conservative Leader Jim Prentice and NDP Leader Rachel Notley, stumping analysts and raising even more questions about how the final two weeks of the campaign will play out.
Early polls suggest Wildrose Leader Brian Jean is the most potent electoral threat to the 44-year Tory dynasty, but Prentice repeatedly challenged Notley on issues ranging from health care and education to jobs and royalty reviews.
Analysts said it’s possible Prentice didn’t want to engage with the tightly scripted Jean — who seldom deviated from his core message that the Wildrose won’t raise taxes — or that the incumbent premier didn’t want to give any unnecessary airtime to his chief rival.
“It’s always comparative shopping,” Mount Royal University political scientist David Taras said. “You don’t want to go one on one and give attention and time to somebody who is your principal opponent.”
Taras said that by attacking Notley, Prentice aimed to show Alberta’s small-c conservative voters that he is best positioned to “take on the socialists.”
“The question is, did Prentice staunch the bleeding? Did he move the yardstick? (Notley) had an impressive mastery of policy and she avoided getting hit, so she emerged relatively unscathed.
“When people see her, do they see a prospective premier? In standing next to Prentice and holding her own, she looked every bit premier material.”
Prentice and Notley sparred on fiscal policy, with Prentice pointing to Notley’s “union bosses” and misstating the NDP corporate tax hike, claiming it will rise to 20 per cent. The NDP proposal is a two-per-cent hike, to 12 per cent.
Notley corrected him: “I am not sure who is briefing you,” she said.
“I know that math is difficult,” Prentice retorted, a jab at the NDP’s budget miscalculation earlier this week, that will have the left-leaning party balance the budget in 2018, not 2017, as originally promised.
The two went toe-to-toe on education: Prentice wants school boards to dig into their savings to fund 12,000 new students in September, while Notley wants to reverse Prentice’s proposed cuts.
They jousted over jobs: Prentice said increasing corporate taxes by two per cent will cost 18,000 jobs, while Notley said her party will implement a tax credit that will create 28,000 new jobs in the province.
“Rachel Notley gained the mantle as the voice of the progressive voices in Alberta, she outmanoeuvred the other parties in terms of her grasp of the issues and her deftness in outlining her party’s policies,” MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said, highlighting the unexpected Conservative versus NDP dynamic in the debate.
“Jim Prentice was very effective when it came to talking about the fear of coalition governments — that was when he was able to cast the NDP and the Wildrose as the two extremes, and to offer himself as a balanced alternative.”
All of the party leaders repeatedly attacked Jean about his refusal to detail where exactly he will cut $18 billion to achieve his budget objectives. Jean referred Albertans to his platform and reiterated that he will not raise taxes.
“They raised your taxes 59 times,” Jean said, referring to the suite of taxes and fee increases in the Tory’s spring 2015 budget. “Their decision hurts you. I will reverse those tax hikes. … No exceptions, no conditions.”
Mensah said Jean “was a pit bull when it came to cutting taxes.
“On the whole question about ‘where would you cut?’ he became the dodge ball king of Alberta politics. He would bob and weave and escape, and ultimately wouldn’t answer,” Mensah said.
Interim Liberal leader David Swann is trailing in the polls but emphasized throughout the debate his party’s commitment to health care, education and social services, taking every opportunity to attack the Tories for their failure to manage the province’s resources well.
“The key issues, for most Albertans, is trust,” Swann said after the debate. “Can they actually trust a government that has for 40 years spent all their resource wealth … and now is taxing everybody but the corporations?”
Voters go to the polls on May 5.
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