Reuters AlertNet Lite - Alberta to go to polls as oil boom causes strains

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Alberta to go to polls as oil boom causes strains

04 Feb 2008 23:14:24 GMT
Source: Reuters

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Voters in Alberta, Canada's main oil-producing province, will go to the polls on March 3 in an election to judge Premier Ed Stelmach's plans to cope with strains caused by a years-long economic boom.

Stelmach called the vote on Monday, ending weeks of speculation and multimillion-dollar spending announcements by his Progressive Conservative government.

Polls show Stelmach, a low-key farmer and long-time politician from the central Alberta region of Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville, with a comfortable lead among voters, but with weaker support in the major cities, Calgary and Edmonton. His party has been in power in Alberta since 1971.

Since taking over from former Premier Ralph Klein in late 2006, Stelmach, 56, has been faced with dealing with the impact of an unprecedented energy-driven economic expansion.

That includes shortages of affordable housing and hospital beds, strained infrastructure like schools and roads and a belief by many of the province's 3.3 million people that good times brought about by high oil prices have passed them by.

He also angered the oil industry by raising royalties. (Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Rob Wilson)

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