Albertans, more than the rest of the country, are more likely to give their premier a lump of coal for Christmas, a new poll suggests. The survey results do not bode well for Ed Stelmach, whose problems clearly run deeper than an inability to communicate with the public.
The Angus Reid poll, released Wednesday, surveyed 7,000 Canadians about their satisfaction with their provincial leaders. Brash and outspoken Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams topped the list at 78 per cent popular support, while Stelmach came in dead last at 14 per cent, even lower than Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty (18 per cent).
In less than a year Stelmach’s popularity has gone colder than the recent Arctic chill that froze the Capital region, dropping from the 43 per cent support Albertans gave him in February. The results for the bottom two premiers parallel the effects of the recession, which has hit Alberta and Ontario particularly hard. However, the plunge in support runs deeper.
Stelmach has experienced a year of political challenges — a burgeoning deficit that has led to controversial cost cutting — particularly in health care and education — a highly scrutinized leadership review amid the rise of a new right-wing alternative in the Wildrose Alliance and contentious legislation, most recently Bill 50.
For supporters of the Progressive Conservative party, the premier’s performance should be cause for concern since it’s not just government policy that’s failing to woo the public. The premier has a public relations problem and he knows it. Albertans started seeing a different side of their premier just prior to the leadership review when Stelmach delivered a painful $134,000 televised address to the public. Since then his office has taken a keen interest in social media sites like Twitter, where Albertans are encouraged to “Ask Premier Ed” questions. Coincidentally, Paul Stanway recently resigned as Stelmach’s director of communications.
While communicating directly with the public sounds like a good idea on the surface, the YouTube videos only reinforce what Albertans saw during the TV address: communication is not the premier’s strong suit. Unlike his folksy predecessor Ralph Klein, Stelmach is rigid, awkward and unconvincing, even when he tries to create the atmosphere of an informal fireside chat.
Instead of blaming the media for not delivering his true message, Stelmach needs to look in the mirror and reflect on what he could do better to rally Albertans to his cause. Aside from looking comfortable on camera, he should start by getting ahead of an issue. Too often his government has been reactive, fending off one controversy after another, from proposed bed closures at Alberta Hospital to landowners’ rights issues over Bill 50 and environmental worries about nuclear power.
Stelmach has taken his fair share of lumps from the opposition, including the upstart Wildrose Alliance. But even as the Wildrose surged in the polls, Stelmach remained relatively quiet about his new political foes. Only recently did the premier go on the offensive when he told a reporter Wildrose policies are vague and “draconian.” It’s the kind of offensive punch the premier needs to throw more often if he has any hope of holding onto support within his own party, let alone the general public.
With economic recovery likely many months away, Stelmach needs to prove he has more fight left in his political arsenal and not rest on the laurels of a party that, until now, has been all but guaranteed power. If Stelmach cannot reverse the tide of public opinion the blame lies squarely at his feet, not his public relations department. In this case it’s OK to blame the messenger, not the message.
