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Alberta’s political leaders clashed over taxes, spending, health care and a myriad of other issues in a fiery televised debate Thursday that at times erupted into a four-way free-for-all.

Opposition leaders piled on PC Premier Jim Prentice, but the veteran politician lashed back fiercely at Wildrose Leader Brian Jean and NDP Leader Rachel Notley, whose parties he trails in recent polls.

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At times, the premier turned his back on Jean to engage Notley over the NDP’s economic, environmental and energy policies.

“I know that math is difficult,” he chided Notley in one exchange in which he accused the NDP of proposing to raise corporate taxes by 20 per cent.

Notley protested the plan calls for only a two percentage point raise in the corporate tax rate.

Prentice called the NDP plan to review energy royalty rates a “disaster” that would cripple the province, and he questioned who would pay billions of dollars in penalties and increased electricity prices if the NDP shuts down coal-fired power plants.