We now have a contest between a Progressive Conservative party and a conservative party.
The Liberals and NDP are not serious contenders as provincial parties in Alberta.
BTW, In Canada the provincial parties are different entities than their federal counterparts. We have even had at least one instance of a Progressive Conservative provincial premier (Mike Harris) throwing his party's support in favour of the Reform Party instead of the federal Progressive Conservative Party in a federal general election.
We no longer have a federal Progressive Conservative party so the federal conservatives should find the Wildrose Party a more comfortable ally than the Alberta Progressive Conservative.
OTOH I have the impression that Harper prefers to avoid intruding into provincial politics.
Agreed, and that's probably good, but he doesn’t seem to want to throw himself into much of anything anymore. He used to have a vision, and a sense of fairness, now he's just another politician.