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Premier Jim Prentice is set to steer Alberta onto the campaign trail a year early as his Progressive Conservatives seek to win a record 13 straight elections.

Prentice is almost certain to ask Lt.-Gov. Donald Ethell on Tuesday to dissolve the legislature and call a provincial election for May 5, ignoring legislation that sets the next vote for spring 2016.

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A notice went out from the PC party on Monday evening that Prentice will make a “major announcement” in Edmonton at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and will then travel to Grande Cache “via the Leader’s bus.”

Opposition parties are scrambling to catch up and polls show few Albertans are enthusiastic about an early vote, but Prentice has insisted he needs a mandate for a provincial budget that hikes taxes, holds the line on spending and runs a $5-billion deficit as the province grapples with low oil prices.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said the governing Tories have shown some weakness in recent weeks, but it’s difficult to “see a scenario where the Conservatives don’t win a majority government.”