Alberta Liberal Leader steps down
Posted Feb 1, 2011 8:13 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Alberta’s liberal leader, Dr. David Swann has resigned.
Swann, speaking following a meeting with his caucus Tuesday morning, says he will stay on as a regular MLA in the Legislature so he can continue to focus on his two big concerns- health care and the environment.
“Nowhere is our commitment stronger than the current crisis in health care. Our emergency room health care plan ‘Pulling Through,’ released last year, provides concrete, practical solutions to the province’s health care crisis. Our plan to fix the ER crisis is pretty straight forward, and it will work.”
Swann took over the leadership of the Liberal party in 2008 but has yet to lead the Grits in a provincial vote.
Mount Royal University Political Scientist Keith Brownsey tells 660News considering how bad a job Swann has done organizing constituency offices and raising funds, one has to wonder why he was elected leader in the first place.
Brownsey says if the Liberals are smart, they will elect a new leader before the summer and start getting ready for the next provincial election, likely happening in the spring of 2012.
During Swann’s tenure, the president of the Alberta Liberal party, Tony Sansotta, resigned and communications director Neil Mackie was fired.
Recent polls show that if an election was held today, the Tories would have the backing of 34 per cent of voters, while 32 per cent like the Wildrose Alliance.
The Liberals and New Democrats finish at a distant third and fourth, respectively.
Just last week, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach announced he was going to retire after the current legislative session. That was quickly followed by the resignation of Finance Minister Ted Morton, who wants Stelmach’s job.
