Premier Ed Stelmach ordered his ministers to hit the road after ending the spring sitting of the legislature six weeks early.

It’s the summer road show with no catchy title, no fancy bus and definitely no cocaine or busty hookers.

Starting this week, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and his cabinet ministers are fanning across the province on a tour officially called Cabinet Tour 2010 — a six-week, 16-leg jaunt to mainly meet and greet local businesses, politicians and community groups. This travelling political show is happening after the government abruptly ended the legislature’s spring session, several weeks before it was originally scheduled to shut down.

“We have been criticized for the short session and even a short legislative agenda,” the premier told reporters at a recent press conference. “But I must remind everyone that last year we introduced over 60 bills and I suggest an administration be judged on a complete body of work and not just a first of any one year.”

The brief spring session saw legislative members sit for only 30 days and introduce a scant 16 bills. That’s compared to a busy spring session last year, when the government introduced 52 bills and sat for 48 days. And during the past 10 years, Alberta’s MLAs averaged 53 days during the spring; Ontario’s politicians, in comparison, averaged 88 days.

The Alberta government sets the legislative agenda months in advance (in this case, last fall), and holding a majority, it has the power to end sessions whenever it wants. This year, provincial politicians get a lengthy summer break; the fall session is slated to begin October 25.

While the premier says he’s pleased the past session focused heavily on the budget, critics contend the government is lacking fresh ideas, is smarting from reversing several embarrassing decisions and is running scared.

“They’re obviously not putting forward a very aggressive legislative agenda because they’ve got so many black eyes from having proceeded with such haste last year,” says Danielle Smith, leader of the Wildrose Alliance. “There were multiple reversals that we’ve seen in their program and now what they’re trying to do is make a show of consultation — a travelling ministerial road show.”

Spotting one of the touring ministers could entirely depend on chance as the government has yet to release itinerary details — including whether the premier is joining the tour.

The spring session started off poorly for the Tories, who have ruled the province for 40 years. In January, Calgary-Fish Creek MLA and former cabinet minister Heather Forsyth, along with Airdrie-Chestemere MLA Rob Anderson, crossed the floor to join the surging Wildrose Alliance, saying the Conservative government had lost its way and was unsalvageable.

The government continued to take it on the chin in the following months: a record $4.7-billion deficit; a contentious $7-million marketing campaign at the Vancouver Olympics, including $276,000 on IPods; a reversal of the controversial oil and gas royalty structure; funding cuts to foster parents, which were quickly reversed; and the recently failed attempt to muzzle the Liberal chair of the audit committee.

Meanwhile, public support for the Tories and the premier has continued to drop in the polls. Several surveys have shown the staunchly conservative Wildrose Alliance party is a real threat to the Conservative dynasty. And this cabinet road tour, says Keith Brownsey, political scientist at Mount Royal University, shows that the Conservatives are desperate to quell the Wildrose threat.

“They need to get the premier and the ministers out there on this tour to counteract what Danielle Smith is doing or at least what they perceive her to be doing, which is having a free ride,” he says, adding he doubts the tour will polish the premier’s tarnished image.

Smith, who has spent past months attending town hall meetings across the province, contends the Tories have become smug and overconfident. “They’ve lost touch with average Albertans,” she says. “We have MLAs who haven’t done town halls in as long as 10 years.” Liberal party leader Dr. David Swann says the government hasn’t done its homework and has recently ignored several important issues. “A clear plan of action on health care, economic diversification, serious commitment to a different way of developing the oilsands that is not placing environment and people at risk,” says Swann. “Those are the kinds of things I would expect government to attend to as priorities.”

Swann, whose own leadership was questioned after MLA Dave Taylor left the Liberal party to sit as an independent, says cabinet ministers should expect an earful from grassroots Albertans, especially on health-care issues.

Smith agrees, saying the government has made several rash decisions on health-care reform without a mandate or a clear vision. “We seem to be lurching from one decision to another,” she says. In January, the premier shuffled MLA Ron Liepert out of heading the health portfolio and brought in Gene Zwozdesky, who has reversed and reworked several decisions made by the province’s super health board.

Changing ministers in midstream has bewildered Albertans, says Smith. “We seem to be taking a totally different direction under this new minister and Albertans are left feeling confused about who’s in charge,” she says. “Is it the minister making decisions or the health board making decisions? What’s the role of the local hospital administrator? None of that is clear right now.”

The premier says his government has fared well despite the challenges of the economic recession, managing to stave off job and program cuts in order to balance the budget. MLAs , he says, will be working hard over the summer, gathering input from Albertans on issues such as minimum wage, safe communities, and the leadership campaign financial disclosure review. He dismisses criticism of the short legislature session.

“Since I’ve been in the legislature, comments from the opposition are fairly predictable because we’re either ramming too much legislation, like we heard last year, or not legislating enough,” Stelmach says.