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Progressive
Conservative Party
Official Party
Website
Official
Campaign Site |
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Alberta’s
inception as a province in 1905 heralded the birth of the
Conservative Party of Alberta.
The party’s inaugural leader, Richard. B. Bennet, who later
became Prime Minister of Canada, led the party through the
province’s first general election.
Only two Conservative MLAs would be elected.
The party would continue its dismal performances for many
more years, never winning more than 18 seats in a general election
before 1971. The party
even disappeared for several years between 1940 and 1952, when
Liberal and Conservative candidates banded together under the
“Independent” label in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the
governing Social Credit party.
In
1959, the Conservative Party of Alberta would become the Progressive
Conservative Party of Alberta.
However, this change in moniker did not change the party’s
fortune at the polls as they won only one seat in the Legislature
that year and would continue to perform dismally until the 1971
general election.
The
year of 1971 would mark an astounding turnaround for the PC party
and begin a new chapter in Alberta’s history.
The Tories, under Peter Lougheed would win a majority 49
seats. In the seven
elections held since this victory, the PC party has maintained
control of the legislature, never winning less than 51 seats or
garnering less than 44% of the popular vote.
Currently,
the party is lead by Ralph Klein, who has served as Premier since
December 14, 1992. Under
his leadership, the Tories have stressed fiscal responsibility,
deficit and debt reduction, and reduced government role in the
private sector. They
hold 64 seats in the Legislature.
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Alberta Liberal
Party
Official
Party Website |
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When Alberta became a province in 1905, Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier instructed the province's Liberal lieutenant-governor to choose a Liberal premier. Alexander Rutherford became premier, named a cabinet, and then went on to win a landslide victory in the 1905 provincial election, aided partly by an electoral map drawn up to favour the Liberals. The Liberals governed the province through the province's formative early years, but scandals and the decision of Alberta's farmers to withdraw their support from the party and enter politics directly, led to their defeat in 1921.
During the governments of the United Farmers of Alberta (1921-1935) and Social Credit (1935-1971), the Liberals were usually the primary opposition party. The dominance of the UFA and Social Credit in rural Alberta, however, meant that the Liberals usually had only a small presence in the legislature. Aided by a scandal that tainted the Social Credit government, the 1955 election saw popular leader Harper Prowse accomplish a minor breakthrough in winning 15 seats. In 1967, Peter Lougheed's Conservatives supplanted the Liberals as the primary alternative to Social Credit, eventually forming the government in 1971. The popularity of Lougheed's government and the unpopularity of the federal Liberal government relegated the Alberta Liberals to the political wilderness for fifteen years.
In 1986, the Liberals achieved a minor breakthrough, winning four seats against a politically weakened Conservative government led by Premier Don Getty. In 1988, Nick Taylor was challenged and defeated as leader by former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore. Under Decore's leadership, the Liberals doubled their representation in the 1989 election and seemed poised to win the next provincial election. The resurgent Conservatives, under new leader Ralph Klein, won a majority government in 1993 by a narrow margin. Despite this being the best showing in decades for the Liberal party, Decore resigned shortly after the election and was replaced by Grant Mitchell in 1994. Under Mitchell's leadership, the Liberals opposed the Klein government's cutbacks, but the popularity of the Conservative government proved too much to handle and the Tories were easily re-elected in 1997. While the Liberals lost almost half of their seats, they did maintain a significant presence in the legislature, albeit one largely limited to seats in the Edmonton area. Mitchell resigned as leader and was replaced by Nancy MacBeth, former Conservative cabinet minister and Ralph Klein's chief opponent in the 1992 Conservative leadership selection process.
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Alberta
New Democrats
Official
Party Website |
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The New Democratic Party began its life in Alberta as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932. At that point, the CCF was affiliated with the United Farmers of Alberta, which was crushed in the 1935 election. Following the retreat of the UFA from party politics in Alberta, the CCF entered electoral politics in 1940, winning 11% of the vote but no seats. A surprise by-election victory for Elmer Roper in Edmonton in 1942 gave the CCF their first seat; they followed that with a few seats over the next several elections. The end of the use of proportional representation in Alberta contributed to the decline of the CCF, but the party's fortunes were souring across Canada.
In the early 1960s, the party renamed itself the New Democratic Party and won a byelection in 1966. The party was unable to hold that seat or win any others in 1967, despite an energetic campaign and winning 16% of the vote. In 1968, the party elected Grant Notley as leader, and he was the lone New Democrat in the legislature for much of the Lougheed era. Notley was an effective and respected critic of Lougheed and the Conservative government. In 1982, Ray Martin joined Notley in the legislature, forming the official opposition. Martin became the party's leader after Notley's tragic 1984 death in a plane crash. Under Martin's leadership, the NDP achieved a major breakthrough in 1986, winning sixteen seats, mostly in Edmonton. While the NDP won 16 seats in 1989 and remained the official opposition, their share of the popular vote dropped. The momentum was clearly on the side of the Liberals who surpassed them in popular vote. That loss of momentum became evident in 1993 when the NDP was shut out of the legislature for the first time in over twenty years.
Following the election disaster, Martin resigned and was replaced in 1994 by leader Ross Harvey, a former researcher for the provincial party, and the first (and only) New Democrat ever elected to represent Alberta in the House of Commons (Edmonton East in 1988). Harvey's focus was rebuilding the party, but Pam Barrett, the former deputy leader of the party, replaced him in 1996. Under Barrett's leadership, the party re-established itself in the legislature in the 1997 election, winning two seats. Barrett proved to be an effective critic of the Klein government's health care policies; however, after a near-death experience, caused by an allergic reaction to local anesthetic at the dentist, she resigned in 2000. MLA Raj Pannu became leader of the party, and was joined by former Edmonton city councilor Brian Mason, who won Barrett's seat in a by-election.
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Social
Credit
Official
Party Website |
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Alberta Social Credit emerged in the province during the Great Depression, when study groups formed to look at the monetary policies of Major Douglas. Popularized by radio evangelist William Aberhart, these study groups formed the political network that brought Social Credit to power in 1935. The party was never seriously challenged for most of its tenure as the province's government. Ernest Manning, who took over from Aberhart in 1943, was premier until his resignation in 1968. His successor, Harry Strom, lacked Manning's political skills and the Conservative party under the young and dynamic Peter Lougheed ended the Social Credit dynasty in 1971.
After their defeat in 1971, Social Credit remained the official opposition, but the party quickly faded away into political irrelevancy by the mid-1970s. The party was shut out in 1982, although two former Social Credit members were elected as independents in that election. By 1986, the party had faded from the scene. By capitalizing on some dissatisfaction with the Klein government's policies among social conservative voters, Social Credit enjoyed a limited, but surprising resurgence in the 1997 election, winning almost 7% of the vote and finishing second in a few constituencies. This momentum was lost in 1999 when internal dissension split the party, leading to the resignation of leader Randy Thorsteinson, and the formation of the Alberta First party.
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Natural
Law Party of Alberta
Official
Party Website |
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No information available
at this time.
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Alberta
Green
Official
Party Website |
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The Alberta Green Party
was formed in 1986 and it maintains affiliations with Green Parties
around the world. The party advocates the preservation of life in all its
diversity and the practices of conservation and sustainability. The party first ran candidates provincially in 1993, with 11
candidates nominated throughout the province.
In 1997, their slate of candidates shrunk to 7.
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Alberta
First
Official
Party Website |
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Founded in November of
1999, the Alberta First Party arose from a split within the Social
Credit party. The party
is new to provincial politics and will be participating in their
first election with a small selection of candidates.
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Alberta Equity
Official
Party Website
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Formerly the Forum Party, the Equity
Party held its founding convention in May, 2000.
This will be the second election for the party.
In 1997, they ran four candidates under the Forum Party
banner, capturing 597 votes.
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Alberta Party
No Official
Party Website
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The Alberta Party
began as an alliance of the Social Credit Party, Western Canadian
Concept, and Heritage Parties in 1986.
Known as the Alliance Party of Alberta, this coalition did
not last long. During
the 1986 election, the Western Canadian Concept party broke ranks
and ran candidates under its own banner but had no success.
Following the
1986 election, the Alliance Party took part in the development of a
new federal party, the Reform Party of Canada.
Following the Reform Party’s inception, the Alliance party
returned to provincial politics.
This coalition of
parties took another blow in 1989, when the Social Credit Party
withdrew its support from the Alliance.
Since then, the Alliance Party has continued its attempts to
gain recognition as a viable alternative to the three parties
currently in the legislature.
In 1998, the
Alliance party followed the example of the Saskatchewan Party and
the Manitoba Party by changing its name to the Alberta Party.
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Alberta Independence
Party
Official
Party Website
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The
Independence Party is the most recent addition to the provincial
political scene.
Holding its founding conference late in January of 2001, this
fledgling party has moved onto the political scene with a great deal
more media attention than most alternative political parties
receive.
Proceeding into its first election, the party is fielding a
handful of candidates across Alberta.
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