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Although the election law states the next vote should be held in 2016, the premier wouldn’t rule out an early vote.

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“I think all options are on the table, as they always are,” he said. “You know me, I don’t close doors.”

Meanwhile Mr. Prentice’s hand-picked Education Minister, Gordon Dirks, was criticized in an ethics commissioner’s report on Tuesday. According to Mar­gue­rite Trussler, Mr. Dirks used his new office to solve a “specific political issue” in his favour.

Mr. Dirks ordered two portable classrooms for a school in his Calgary-Elbow riding just days before he narrowly won a byelection on Oct. 27. At the time, the school was listed seventh on the priority list.

Technically, this didn’t break Alberta’s conflict of interest laws, but Ms. Trussler said Mr. Dirks’ actions created an “unfortunate perception.”

It’s the sort of issue that Wildrose-turned-PC MLA Rob Anderson would have seized upon as one of the most vocal members of opposition. However, late on Monday, only weeks after he announced he was joining Mr. Prentice’s government, Mr. Anderson confirmed he would not run for re-election.

The announcement has again raised questions as to what the Wildrose floor-crossers may have been offered as an inducement.

“They negotiated two cabinet positions,” interim Wildrose leader Heather Forsyth told the Calgary Herald. “I’d have bet $1,000 on that and, I’ve gotta tell you, my sources are pretty good.”

Rumours abound that the nine MLAs were also promised protected nominations in their constituencies within the PC party; floor-crosser Blake Pedersen confirmed as much to the Medicine Hat News, saying he would have re-considered the offer if an easy path to win the PC nomination weren’t on the table.