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Nearly 50 friendly NDP legislators stood behind Premier Rachel Notley on Monday, flipping pancakes at the annual McDougall Centre premier’s breakfast.

The crowd in front of her was not quite so friendly. Just hungry.

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Notley and her crew are trying hard to win over Calgarians this week. It’s not easy. Often they seem to be peering out warily, like troops in a surrounded platoon.

Oil prices appear stuck around US$45 per barrel. Interest rates are about to go up; awful for a province that’s pouring on debt.

Thousands of empty offices echo in the towers around McDougall. The drive downtown to the barbecue, once a crawling agony, was like a weekend spin in the country.

Notley’s constant repetition that Alberta has added 47,000 new jobs since last year doesn’t mean much to oilpatch castoffs. Her cheery line may fit Edmonton’s reality, but not Calgary’s.

Monday morning brought the added bad luck of a downpour. The sodden diners didn’t abandon their slow march to the food trestles, though. For some, this had nothing to do with politics. It was about a free meal.