Alberta general election

This article deals with a current or ongoing event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

On October 25, 2004, Premier Ralph Klein called a provincial election for November 22, 2004. The 26th Alberta general election was due to be called no later than March 2006.

Electoral Re-distribution

As a result of the Alberta Electoral Boundary Re-distribution, 2004, Calgary gained two seats. Edmonton lost one seat, and one special consideration division was eliminated. Dunvegan is the sole remaining "special" division - due to its isolation it is allowed to have a population below 75% of the provincial average. Lesser Slave Lake is now considered to be a standard rural division as its boundaries were re-drawn so that its population is slightly above 75% of the provincial average. One urbanized division outside Calgary and Edmonton was added, and two rural seats were eliminated.

Political Parties

As of this writing, there are 11 political parties registered with Elections Alberta.

Parties that elected MLAs in the previous election

Progressive Conservative Association

Leader: Ralph Klein

In the 2001 election, the Alberta Progressive Conservatives recorded a result that was comparable to those achieved in their years of dominance under Peter Lougheed. The Tories received 627,252 out of 1,013,152 votes cast and won 74 seats, gaining 11 seats over and above their 1997 result at the expense of the Liberals. This result was achieved due to a resurgence of the party in Edmonton, where the Tories won a majority of seats for the first time since 1982. Premier Ralph Klein easily retained his Calgary-Elbow seat.

On April 8, 2002, Doug Griffiths retained the Tories' seat in Wainwright in the only by-election held since the 2001 election, albeit with a substantially reduced plurality. The Tories have lost only one seat since the 2001 election, after Edmonton-Norwood MLA Gary Masyk crossed the floor to join the Alberta Alliance.

External link (http://www.albertapc.ab.ca)

Alberta Liberal Party

Leader: Kevin Taft

The 2001 election is generally regarded as a disaster for the Liberals. Although the Liberals retained Official Opposition status and received 276,854 votes, the party lost 11 seats to the Tories and won only seven seats, six of them in Edmonton. Leader Nancy Macbeth even lost her own seat in Edmonton-McClung - she resigned days after the election and was replaced by Ken Nicol, the Opposition's sole representative outside the capital.

Nicol would eventually resign as MLA for Lethbridge-East and as Leader of the Opposition to run (unsuccessfully) for the Liberals in the federal election, as would Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Debby Carlson. These seats remained vacant through dissolution. The Liberals are currently lead by Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft, who was elected to the position in March 2004.

External link (http://www.liberalparty.ab.ca)

Alberta New Democratic Party

Leader: Brian Mason

In 2001 the New Democrats were disappointed not to claim Official Opposition status from the floundering Liberals, but Leader Raj Pannu took some pride in holding the party's two existing seats - Pannu's own in Edmonton-Strathcona and Brian Mason's seat in Edmonton-Highlands. The NDs as they were then known received 81,339 votes. Pannu has since resigned the leadership, with Mason filling the role of interim leader before being elected to that position in September 2004. The party has also ceased abbreviating its name as ND in favour of the more traditional NDP abbreviation.

External Link (http://www.albertandp.ca)

Other registered parties

Alberta Alliance Party

Leader: Randy Thorsteinson

The Alberta Alliance was registered in October 2002 and held its founding convention in February 2003. Its leader, Randy Thorsteinson had lead Social Credit through a modest rebirth before quitting that party in April 1999. The party's sole MLA, Gary Masyk (Edmonton-Norwood) crossed the floor from the governing Progressive Conservatives on June 29, 2004.

External Link (http://www.albertaalliance.com)

Alberta Greens

Leader: George Read

Also known as the Green Party of Alberta, the Alberta Greens ran 10 candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 2,850 votes. In the 2004 election, the Greens are running at least 40 candidates, with a full slate of 23 in Calgary.

External Link (http://www.albertagreens.ca)

Alberta Party Political Association

Leader: Bruce Stubbs

External Link (http://www.albertaparty.ab.ca)

Alberta Social Credit Party

Leader: Lavern Ahlstrom

Prior to the 2001 election Social Credit was in turmoil following the departure of Leader Randy Thorsteinson. Under Lavern Ahlstrom, the party nominated 12 candidates in the 2001 election (down from 70 in 1997) and received 5,361 votes (down from 64,667).

External Link (http://www.socialcredit.com)

Communist Party

Leader: Naomi Rankin

The Communist Party nominated two candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 117 votes.

The Equity Party

Leader: Emil van der Poorten

Reform Party of Alberta

Leader: David Salmon

The Alberta Party, Equity Party and Reform Party did not run any candidates in the 2001 election.

Separation Party of Alberta

Interim Leader: Bruce Hutton

The Separation Party was registered in June 2004, with Bruce Hutton as interim leader. As a separatist party it is the successor to the Alberta Independence Party, which ran some independent candidates in the 2001 election but never achieved official party status.

External Link (http://www.separationalberta.com)

De-registered parties

Since the 2001 election, the Alberta First Party and Natural Law Party have been de-registered by Elections Alberta. In 2001 Alberta First nominated 16 candidates, who received 8,851 votes. The Natural Law Party did not nominate any candidates.

Standings in the 25th Legislature

Standings after the 25th General Election

Standings at Dissolution

Timeline

March 27 - Kevin Taft becomes leader of the Alberta Liberals.

June 29 - Gary Masyk crosses the floor from the Progressive Conservatives to the Alberta Alliance.

July 13 - Raj Pannu resigns as leader of the Alberta New Democrats. Brian Mason is appointed interim leader.

September 18 - Brian Mason formally becomes leader of the Alberta New Democrats.

October 25 - At the request of Premier Ralph Klein, Lieutenant-Governor Lois Hole dissolves the legislature and sets the election day for November 22.

October 28 - Premier Klein is harshly criticized by opposition parties and activist groups after he claims that protestors on Alberta's Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) who had heckled him did not look severely disabled.

October 31 - Premier Klein's mother, Florence Gray dies at the age of 80 following a year-long illness. All major parties announce they will suspend their provincial campaigns while the premier mourns.

November 8 - Close of nominations.

November 22 - Voting day for the 26th Alberta general election.

Poll numbers

• Ipsos-Reid, 2004-10-29: PC 50%, Lib 26%, NDP 10%, AAP 9%, Green 4%

Riding by riding results

names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers

Northern Alberta

Western and Central Alberta

East Central Alberta

Central Edmonton

Suburban Edmonton and Environs

Southern Alberta

Suburban Calgary

Central Calgary

Results table

Regional Breakdown

External links

• Elections Alberta (http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/welcome.html)
• Alberta Legislative Assembly (http://www.assembly.ab.ca)
• Final Report of the Alberta Electoral Boundaries Commission (http://www.altaebc.ab.ca/finalreport.html)
• Riding maps (2003 representation) (http://www.altaebc.ab.ca/maps.html#appGfinal)

More Coverage

• Nodice Elections: Alberta 2004 (http://www.nodice.ca/elections/alberta/)
• CBC Coverage: Alberta Votes 2004 (http://www.cbc.ca/albertavotes2004/)

Candidates

• PC candidates (http://www.albertapc.ab.ca/public/custom/constituency/candidate.cfm)
• Liberal candidates (http://www.liberalparty.ab.ca/NominatedCandidates.htm)
• NDP candidates (http://www.albertandp.ca/Candidates/index.cfm)
• Green candidates (http://www.albertagreens.ca/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=19)
• Alberta Alliance nomination meetings (http://www.albertaalliance.com/nommeetings.html)

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