By Jim Macdonald, The Canadian Press

RED DEER, Alta. - Premier Ed Stelmach appeared to largely ignore his critics Saturday as Alberta Progressive Conservatives voted on his leadership while 700 people protested outside.

"I'm very confident that what we've carved out in policy as the Progressive Conservative Party is the right one for Albertans," Stelmach told 1,300 Tory delegates.

Stelmach faced a mandatory leadership review vote that Alberta Tories hold after every general election. The results were to be announced in the evening.

Although some Tory veterans have called for a change in leadership, the premier was expected get a fairly strong endorsement from delegates.

The Saturday afternoon protest, organized by Friends of Medicare, was over hospital bed closures and other government cuts to health care.

Stelmach has been facing increasing dissent within his own party as three recent polls suggest the Tories are rapidly losing support to the upstart Wildrose Alliance Party, which has only one seat in the legislature.

Despite the grumbling, Stelmach offered few concessions during a question and answer session with delegates or at a news conference that followed.

The premier said the real problem his government is facing is communicating its message to Albertans without it being interpreted by the media.

"I really do feel that the policies we have are the right ones for Alberta, but it's difficult to get it through the present media that's available to us," he said.

Stelmach said his government will soon start communicating more directly with Albertans using social media and other methods.

"You know Twitter, Flicker, YouTube," he said. "But not everybody has a computer at home, so we still have to look at some hard copy going to Albertans.

"We have no choice because we've got to get the clear, correct message out," he said, adding that he will also being doing more radio and TV addresses to "update Albertans."

In his keynote speech Friday to delegates, Stelmach talked about the courage it takes to put forward a bold plan and not back down in the face of criticism.

"Playing it safe isn't what this party's about and it's certainly not what I'm about," he told boisterous party members, who pounded inflatable clappers and gave the premier a standing ovation.

"As your leader, I'm not afraid of criticism ... or to take a stand. I won't back down from my principles."

But not everyone was supportive.

Former cabinet minister Marv Moore panned the speech, noting that Stelmach provided virtually nothing to bring the party together.

"He never talked about going forward and how he intends to improve the party's standing in the polls," said Moore, who held several cabinet posts in the '70s and '80s, including health and agriculture.

Stelmach's government won a massive majority last year, but has been harshly criticized on several fronts, including its handling of the H1N1 pandemic, which has claimed 20 lives in Alberta.

Danielle Smith, the newly elected leader of the Wildrose Alliance, has already said that it doesn't matter to her party what level of support Stelmach gets from Tory delegates.

"I think regardless of what number Mr. Stelmach gets on the weekend, we're going to continue to see that momentum coming our way," she said in an interview.