Updated: Mon Nov. 09 2009 11:01:26

ctvedmonton.ca

Even though he secured support from 77.4 per cent of Progressive Conservative members in a leadership review Saturday, one political expert says Premier Ed Stelmach may need to make a cabinet shuffle if he wants to keep that support.

Of the almost 1,200 Tory delegates who voted in the mandatory leadership review Saturday 77.4 per cent offered their support to Stelmach.

Delegates were asked whether there should be a leadership review and 922 voted 'no' and the remaining 269 voted 'yes.'

Following the announcement of the leadership review results in Red Deer Saturday night, Stelmach did hint at possible changes to come, but he didn't say what those changes might be.

"Changes are coming, but they will be done in due course on my timeline," said Stelmach.

However, one political analyst says those changes must be drastic if Stelmach wants to retain support from his party and voters.

"He needs to assess the performance of his cabinet and maybe do some fine tuning," said Grant MacEwan University political analyst Chaldeans Mensah. "The worst thing he can do is to interpret the vote as an endorsement of all his policies."

Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann, says while Premier Stelmach has been given a new lease on life, he still must deal with a number of issues, including a $7 billion deficit, controversial health reforms and a highly criticized H1N1 vaccination program.

"[It's] hard to tell how long its going to last, but this is clearly a prescription for breakup in the Tory party," said Swann.

Stelmach is also promising changes when it comes to his communication style, saying he'll do a better job of communication his policies to voters, but some long-time Tory supporters say the promises might not be enough.

"I'm not happy with the direction they're going and the decisions they're making so I'm sitting on the fence and I'm ready to jump ship," said Tory supporter Muffy Knox.

With files from Scott Roberts

Comments are now closed for this story

Jennifer
The only reason I think the party would vote Ed Stelmach back is at least the PC party can direct him rather than the other way around, unlike Ed Stelmach's predecessor. I miss Ralph Klein. Now, there was a man who had an opinion and said what he thought. I didn't always agree with him and I didn't always like him but I did respect him because at least he said what he was thinking and had his own opinion irregardless of what was 'politically correct'. As long as Ed Stelmach is leader of the PC Party I'll vote for anyone but the PCs. Since he's been premier he's done nothing to improve the province and has been more of a detriment than a benefit in my opinion. The H1N1 debacle and the Calgary Flames getting vaccinated before the high risk individuals is just one more example of his lack of leadership and ability.

Bob
I must say Ed Stelmach and his cabinet are sure going to listen to Albertans now. What a joke how many times have we heard this. I have been a Tory supporter since 1988 and as of this year - 2009 I have become a Wildrose Alliance supporter...very, very disappointed in the Tories.

David
OK Ed, this is your chance to turf Ron Liepert.....there has never been a more foolish...well Alberta politician than this guy....how do you make a high school drop-out the head of the Health Ministry? He reacts to nurses and the media like he had his Halloween candy stolen. His employment is beyond logic Ed....you want my vote again (and those of thousands more)...turf this guy!

Doug in Calgary
I am with Mike on this. I have always voted PC but come next election I will vote Wild Rose as along as Ed is in. It may be 1 less vote for the PC's but at least it's my vote. One also must remember, at the PC convention, Ed was put in by a small group of people as the leader of the PC's, it was not all of Alberta that got to vote on that leader. If our voting was different here, Ed surely would not be still in office.

Pat
They couldn't admit they're wrong, not this late in the game, unfortunately it didn't matter. The PC government should call an election and prove to the rest of us what they believe. Or do they believe it? If there were an election this month the PC's may hang on to the opposition position but would not form the government, they know it and we know it. This was nothing more than a bunch of politicians hanging on to their free ride.

Concerned Citizen
Helen, you are a little in the dark here, as is Ed.

The old guard is still at the top of the bureaucracy (DM's and ADM's). The old boys club is still executing large contracts with those vendors tied to the party.

If I was was Ed, I'd ask for an investigation into the large contracts signed over the last 3 years. I'd want to know why these do not serve Albertans and only add value to the vendors bank accounts.

Start there Ed, and you'll find you and the citizens of this Province have been duped.

Follow that up with whistle blower protection and you'll get some things cleaned up.

CanudigitSucka
We let Eddie the eagle sore in the 88 Olympics and it's our duty to stand behind our Premiere Stelmach to make the tough and ugly decisions in these economic times when our federal government is willing to compromise our future and jobs to ship to countries with no regulations.

Joanne
I am so bitterly disappointed with the decision of so many of the delegates to support Stelmach. It just goes to show they are more interested in their jobs and the big money than they are in the welfare of the province and its people. Our government is nothing more than a lot of "yes" men.
We have always supported the PC's both federally and provincially. When Stelmach messed with the Royalties and business started to leave, I felt we were in trouble and started to rethink my support. I knew I would not be supporting them again after all the bad decisions made regarding health care, cutting services, jobs, etc. - and giving themselves such large wage increases when nobody else was getting anything! Then the "stupid" board and their outrageous bonus! It has been a downhill slide since the royalty decision and I had hoped the delegates would listen to what the people of the province had to say and not support him. Goodbye PC, Hello Wild Rose.

Helen
Yes, I agree the local media plays a huge disservice with the reporting of their opinions as opposed to the community at large. Ed has taken a stand for the average citizen and not succumbed to 'Big Business' bribes and kickbacks. His effort to make them pay for their years of profit making is stellar in my opinion. Our economy is not half as bad as compared to many in this country or any other for that matter.

oldbushflier
When Stelmach ran for the leadership of the PC party he was considered by the media to be a long shot at best. He beat a 10 million dollar Calgary candidate to win it (Dinning).

When he went to a provincial election and the media predicted a huge drop in seats because he didn't have Klein Charisma.....he came within one seat of Klein's all time record.

He goes to a leadership review and the media says "his future is up for grabs" because of his lack of popularity but he grabs almost 80% support, again way up in Klein Territory
.........anybody noticing a trend here?

It seems the best thing that can happen to Eddie is have the media try paint him an ugly colour.

Nurse Judy RN
Alberta has the most MRI machines in the country and the shortest wait times I think Friends of Medicare should go to Ontario and protest the government with the worst record, a 24 billion dollar deficit after sending all their jobs to China. Friends you have a good message it is just directed at the wrong party.

Adele Hay
Like Harper I support the provincial Tories. The Wildrose Alliance tries to act like they have PM Harper's blessing, but Harper has nothing to do with this fringe group.

Wade Ens
77% for Steady Eddy is a strong showing. His sustainability fund has smoothed out those peaks and valleys to rolling hills. The Wildrose party has a pretty flower on top but when you have a closer look there is some real thorns on that bush.

Edward Goodbye
The PCs supported Ed because politically that was the right thing to do. In reality, the PC party will be destroyed in the next election because now I will not vote for my MLA who supported Ed. The PC's had an opportunity to get rid of Ed and rebuild but now they have confirmed their support for a premier who is not popular with many Albertans. What happens now is the next Alberta election where we, the voters, will have to get rid of the party in order to get rid of special Ed.

Mike
As a lifelong supporter of the conservative party, I now realize that they are nothing more than a cabal of sycophantic "yes" men.
I have railed against "no effective opposition" for years.
Democracy only works when we have an effective opposition, therefore I am going to be changing my vote come next election.
GOOO Daniel and Paul !!!!