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It was a furious scrap in a handful of ridings, but the battle of Calgary ended once again heavily in the Tories' favour last night. Widely predicted to be a far tighter race that would see the Grits break out of their four-seat bridgehead, the Liberals merely managed to hold onto three of their incumbencies and win back another with the PCs taking the other 19 contests. At a victory celebration in Calgary, Premier Ed Stelmach said his party had held the faith of Albertans through sweat. "We worked hard to earn the trust of all Albertans," said the broadly-smiling premier. Predictions the relatively unknown, uncharismatic Stelmach would hurt Tory fortunes in Calgary were laid to rest, said Shiraz Shariff, PC MLA in Calgary McCall. "Look at the numbers across the province -- it's proof Ed Stelmach is a leader," he said. During the campaign, PC candidates were accosted by concerns over 20% higher energy royalty levels, but the Liberals were unable to duck the issue given their own support for boosted rates. In contentious Calgary Egmont riding, Tory Jonathan Denis won the day, easily outdistancing his closest rival, former Catholic school board chairman Cathie Williams. Calgary Currie Grit MLA Dave Taylor turned back a challenge by so-called Scud Stud, Tory Arthur Kent, but the winner wasn't celebrating the overall Liberal performance. "It's disappointing, but there's always a base to build on -- we didn't win this election, but we can win the next one," said Taylor. Craig Cheffins, the Liberal MLA in Calgary Elbow since winning a byelection victory last summer, surrendered the riding in a tough fight to PC Alison Redford. But Grit Kent Hehr handcuffed city police constable Sean Chu to take back inner city Calgary Bow. The perennial campaign bugbear -- health care -- came to the fore throughout the province only once, when the Calgary Health Region suddenly demanded a $115 million funding injection to help break a severe patient logjam caused by a shortage of beds and staff. At a Calgary campaign stop hours after the CHR plea, Liberal leader Kevin Taft latched onto the issue, with the former Holy Cross hospital as a backdrop. "You can't trust this government on health care ... Ed Stelmach cheered as this hospital was shut down and sold for a song to Tory insiders," said Taft. But the same day, while also in Calgary, Stelmach pledged to work out a funding arrangement with the CHR and the issue seemed to fade. Ed Stelmach spent considerable time in the city, where he unveiled numerous planks. "We want to win every seat back to our government," Stelmach said a week ago. Liberal leader Kevin Taft kicked off his campaign at the top of the Calgary Tower, unveiling an agenda for the city that would make Mount Royal College a university and give large cities greater responsibility. Stelmach countered with a multi-billion dollar deal for infrastructure funding, hammered out last year with municipalities. The NDP launched their city effort with a prediction by leader Brian Mason his party would win at least one Calgary seat. But the heavily-outgunned New Democrats made little headway in a city where the main focus was the Tory-Liberal rivalry. |
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