Alberta PC caucus plots future after Stelmach

Alberta Finance Minister Ted Morton said Wednesday he supports the budget and that it has been approved by the Progressive Conservative caucus.

"The budget was approved yesterday," Morton said as he left McDougall Centre in downtown Calgary. "It's going ahead."

When asked who would be presenting the budget, Morton replied, "We'll see."

"The premier andI are going to have a talk," he said.

Members of the Alberta Progressive Conservative caucus were tightlipped about the agenda as they arrived for a meeting in Calgary earlier Wednesday, one day after Premier Ed Stelmach's surprise announcement that he won't seek re-election.

The gathering, which was scheduled before Stelmach made his revelation on Tuesday, was billed as a chance for MLAs to talk about the next budget and the upcoming session of the legislature.

But as speculation mounts about who will be the next Tory leader and premier, many of Stelmach's cabinet ministers say it's too early for that discussion.

"I think we should give our premier the respect he deserves for the decision he's made," said Education Minister Dave Hancock. "The question of leadership will come in due course."

Stelmach didn't spell out his reasons for quitting. But there have been rumblings of discord between Stelmach and Finance Minister Ted Morton who is considered a fiscal hawk about how deeply spending should be cut, according to Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt.

'Ted Morton is the most powerful man in this province right now.' Duane Bratt, political scientist

"Morton and the finance department were in a battle with the premier's office," Bratt said.

Justice Minister Alison Redford also said a run at party leadership "might be something in the future" she'd consider.

But the suggestion of caucus in-fighting was downplayed by Sustainable Resources Development Minister Mel Knight.

"I had no heated debate with anybody over the budget or anything else," he said."I don't believe that this is anything that the party won't survive."

Others recognize there is a division between those who want to slow spending and those who say it's OK to dig into the rainy day fund.

"I know there were some people saying that, you know, we needed to cut deep and hard ... and other people were saying Albertans are counting on us to deliver the programs that are designed out there," said Transportation Minister Luke Oullette.

Political strategist Rod Love said regardless of differences of opinion over the budget, the main thing now is get a new leader in quickly.

"The critical role the party has to do right now is to meet quickly, to set the rules so that everybody knows what the next few weeks and months are going to look like," said Love.

Stelmach's departure puts Morton, who ran against the premier for the party's leadership in 2006, in a strong position to win the job this time around, said Bratt.

"Ted Morton is the most powerful man in this province right now, and in my view, he will be the next premier of this province," Bratt said.

Love and others in the Tory caucus have said they feel the new leader should be chosen by mid-June.

"I think that it makes sense to have it sometime before the summer to allow the new leader to settle in and get his cabinet appointed, and obviously the fall is going to be an incredibly busy time for the new leader," said Calgary-North Hill MLA Kyle Fawcett.