Alberta PC Party leadership race

Compared to that of the Liberal Party of Canada, the leadership race of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta will be more exciting, more forward looking, yielding more significant results. First of all, the winner will be Premier of Alberta, leader of a provincial government which is close to balancing its budget, and which is nominally steward of a booming economy. The balanced budget means fewer spending cuts to be considered; the booming economy means steadily increasing tax revenue available for government expenditure. Which politician does not want to inherit what Premier Ralph Klein leaves behind. Businessman Jim Dinning has the odds in favour, being former Alberta Treasurer, former chair of Calgary Health Region, and former fundraiser for Canadian National Institute of the Blind. The dark horse is Preston Manning, CEO of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, being former federal Leader of the Official Opposition, founder of the Reform Party of Canada, and founder of the Canadian Alliance. When the race is called, it will be interesting--more so than watching the Liberal race. Watch for other Alberta politicians running: Ted Morton, Mark Norris, Gary Mar, Ed Stelmach. Canadian politics is fun again--with simultaneous leadership races in the Liberal Party and the Alberta PC Party and a new Conservative Government of Canada in Ottawa. In both parties, I expect to hear new ideas from candidates on the scope of government in the economy and people's lives, the place of provinces in the Canadian federation, and the role Alberta or Canada plays with the U.S. and in the world. Interesting times ahead. Prime Minister Harper gets another lucky break--besides the Liberal Party in disarray and the Quebec Government in a distinctly friendly mood, the Alberta Government will be too distracted with domestic politics to affect federal-provincial relations.