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It had the Wildrose with 35 per cent support among decided voters, with the NDP at 31 per cent and the PCs at 25 per cent.

Eric Grenier, who operates the poll-tracking website ThreeHundredEight.com, said if the numbers remain the same on May 5 there will definitely be a minority government in Alberta for the first time in its 110-year history.

“It is completely uncharted territory for Alberta and I don’t think anyone has really thought about how these parties would actually work together,” he said.

“With the floor-crossing between the Wildrose and the Tories, it’s hard to imagine them wanting to work together and it is hard to imagine either of those two parties working with the NDP.”

Veteran political analyst David Taras of Mount Royal University said much can change in the next two weeks of the campaign, but voters’ psychology is shifting with “people saying, what is wrong with a minority government?”

“It’s bizarre. It’s the Star Trek election — we’ve never gone here before,” said Taras, who believes Thursday’s debate is critical for all the parties.

“Nothing is for granted now. There are possibilities.”

Prentice sidestepped the question of a minority government on Tuesday, saying it’s premature to think about it midway through the campaign and he is focused on winning a 13th PC majority.

“I trust in the judgment of Albertans and I am campaigning to be a majority government to to provide the stability that this province needs at this point in time,” he said.