Alberta Premier Ralph Klein predicts Canada will be left with another minority Liberal government if the Opposition forces an election in the new year.
Speaking in Halifax on Wednesday as part of a cross-Canada speaking tour, Klein said he doesn't see many changes in the political landscape after an expected federal election in January.
The outspoken Conservative premier said it's unlikely the federal Conservatives will gain much ground because they won't be able to win enough support in vote-rich Ontario.
"My hope is that the Conservatives will do much better in Ontario," said Klein. "But unfortunately, I don't think they're going to do well in Ontario. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. ... And I hope they wallop them in Ontario."
He said Ontario voters tend to "gravitate toward the devil they know, rather than the devil they don't."
As for Quebec, Klein said he's met some "good" Conservative candidates in that province. "But I don't know," he added. "The Bloc (Quebecois) is very, very powerful there."
When Klein was asked by a reporter whether he would put money on a minority Liberal government if he were a betting man, Klein replied: "Unfortunately, if I were a betting man, I would. But I wouldn't want to see that outcome."
Part of the problem, said Klein, is that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is perceived to be too far to the right.
Speaking on CTV's Canada AM on Thursday, Conservative party finance critic Monte Solberg said he didn't think Klein's comments were very damaging.
"As you know, Premier Klein clarified later and said he fully supports Stephen Harper, and thinks he'll make a great prime minister," Solberg said.
"But he is worried about the perception that some people have in Ontario."
Solberg said the Conservatives are going to "clean up" the perception of the Tories in Ontario during the campaign.
Klein has indicated that he would give the federal Tories as much help as they want from him in the next campaign.
But the question is whether the Tories would want that help.
Commenting on Klein's remark, Deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay said, "the bottom line is, if Mr. Klein wants to be helpful -- that's not helpful."
MacKay also said the Alberta premier contradicted himself. "Earlier in the week he said that Harper will make a great prime minister and that he supports the Conservative Party," MacKay said on CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live.
When asked earlier in the day by reporters on how to deal with candid, off-the-cuff remarks by politicians like Klein, MacKay said two words: "Duct tape."
Klein, on a three-city, cross-country tour, refused to say whether he thought there needed to be a change in the federal Conservative leadership.
The Opposition has indicated it plans to bring down the government, unveiling a non-confidence motion to trigger an election.
Klein has said he's hoping all parties will raise the issue of health-care reform during the next campaign. It's an issue which likely cost Harper votes, thanks to Klein's public musings about it during the last federal election.
The Liberals pounced on Klein's comments, and used them to scare voters into thinking the Tories were planning to dismantle the Canada Health Act.
But Klein is still pressing the issue. "I'm not afraid to discuss health care,'' he told a business crowd in Halifax. "What I am afraid about is that these matters won't be discussed."
Later, Klein told reporters not to point to him as the "bogeyman of health, because all I want to do is to have an open and honest debate."
Klein said Alberta is exploring ways to address a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision declaring inordinate wait times unconstitutional and opening the way to private health care.
He also reiterated that Alberta contributes more than its share to Ottawa and the rest of the country, providing almost $29 billion to federal coffers this year while taking just $17 billion in federal programs and services.
