Amid Alberta's election campaign, small businesses say they're the canaries in the coal mine — and things aren't going well

The Alberta election on April 16 is top of mind for Terry Steinkey, co-owner of Map Town in downtown Calgary. Like many small businesses in Alberta, the travel store has struggled since prices for Western Canada Select crude oil plummeted to about US$30 per barrel in 2015, pushing the provincial economy deep into recession.In order to keep Map Town’s doors open, Steinkey has reduced the number of employees to two full-timers and three part-timers from 12 full-timers when he purchased the business in 2011, increased prices and expanded an online presence. He has also stopped paying himself.