Alberta Liberal Party
Encyclopedia
The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial
political party
in Alberta
, Canada
. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time. Since 1993, however, it has formed the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
.
by the United Farmers of Alberta
.
, but the party has suffered through some difficult times in the eight decades since their defeat as the province's governing party. In opposition, the party has won up to 32 seat
s but has also at times been shut out of the provincial legislature altogether. Between 1971 and 1986, the party did not win a single seat in the Alberta Legislature, and did not receive more than 6% of the popular vote. The point is further discussed under the history of the party's leadership.
When Premier Charles Stewart
resigned as leader after his government's defeat at the hands of the United Farmers of Alberta
in the 1921 election
, John R. Boyle
, a former Attorney-General
, led the legislative caucus until he was appointed to the judiciary in 1924, and Charles R. Mitchell
, also a former cabinet minister succeeded him. John Bowen
acted in the interim until a party convention chose Joseph Tweed Shaw
, a former independent left-wing
M.P.
In the lead-up to the 1930 election
, the party chose George H. Webster, M.L.A. for Calgary City. He resigned in favour of William R. Howson
, who led the party energetically if unsuccessfully in 1935
. After he was appointed to the provincial superior court in 1936, Edward Leslie Gray
succeeded him.
. At the height of Liberal popularity they had managed to lure two United Farmers MLAs to sit in the Liberal caucus.
After the defeat of old line parties by Social Credit in the 1935 Alberta general election
, the coalition idea picked up steam. Edward Gray, Liberal leader cautiously entered the party into the Unity Movement giving riding associations the opportunity to support Liberal candidates or Independent candidates.
The Alberta Liberals were tepid to support the Independent Citizens' Association led by John Percy Page
. They wanted the Independents to remain independent and were against having a new party formed based on the coalition. The Liberals maintained the party organization by keeping the Constituency Associations and Party Executive Intact. After Gray resigned the leadership on April 19, 1941 to accept a patronage position the party did not officially replace him as leader until James Prowse in 1947.
The President of the Party who stood for election annually, became the official face of the party in all matters of party business. The party also kept a rump caucus from 1940 to 1944 that started out with one member and got to three by dissolution in 1944. The Liberals despite internal pressure to break with the coalition agreed not to run candidates in the 1944 election.
Cooperation with the Independents officially came to an end when the federal Camrose
riding association passed a motion at a meeting in August 1945 calling on the executive of the provincial Liberal party to reorganize in all Alberta provincial constituency's free of alliances and arrangements with other parties.
The party held a meeting on January 7, 1946 to discuss proposals to participate in the 1948 Alberta general election
.
leader became very chancy with the abolition of the STV electoral system
used for Edmonton and Calgary cities. The Manning government had successfully renewed and reinvigorated itself, and recovered much of the ground it had previously lost, while the recent Diefenbaker landslide made the Progressive Conservative Party seem a more attractive vehicle for the party's traditional supporters. MacEwan was the first of many leaders who faced a problem similar to those of Liberals in Britain and other Western Canadian provinces
. Ideologically, the party was being squeezed between traditional conservatism, and social democracy
. In a social sense, the party presented an older and more traditional image in comparison to the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, who, given the predominance of Social Credit, seemed fairly liberal. Almost inevitably, the Liberals were reduced to a single member, Michael Maccagno
of Lac La Biche
. MacEwan retired shortly after this disaster.
electrical power
company, with strong environmentalist overtones. This likely limited any growth by the Alberta New Democrats
in the 1963 election
, and it established the party with a distinct image and identity separate from the Progressive Conservatives. However, it was internally divisive, and a number of candidates, including one of its two successful ones, repudiated the platform's main plank. Hunter himself was defeated personally in Athabasca. He did not resign until after he lost a later byelection, when he decided to run for Parliament (unsuccessfully).
Maccagno, who was leader of the minuscule opposition in the Legislature, served as interim leader, but did not regard himself as leadership material. In a convention which exposed the deep ideological fault lines within the party, Adrian Berry, a Calgary lawyer, emerged as leader from a highly acrimonious contest. Internal dissensions continued, and late in 1966, Berry resigned under circumstances still not explained. As a provincial election could be expected within months, Maccagno became leader almost by default, and somewhat unwillingly led the party into the 1967 provincial election
.
Maccagno was elected, the first Liberal leader since 1955 and the last until 1986 to achieve the feat and the party increased its representation from two to three seats. However, the party placed fourth in the popular vote, and had lost it status as the apparent alternative, albeit a weak one to Social Credit. Peter Lougheed
and the Progressive Conservatives presented the attraction of a modern, urban -based party, which was decidedly more liberal than the Social Credit government, and displaced the Liberals to become Alberta's official opposition and government-in-waiting.
, crossed the floor to join Lougheed's surging Progressive Conservatives. Lowery thought he saw some hope in an electoral arrangement with Social Credit, which he believed was showing signs of modernization and rejuvenation under Harry Strom
. He was likely encouraged in this by the party's two federal Cabinet ministers, H.A. Olson
and Pat Mahoney
, who had Social Credit pasts. When word of negotiations to that effect came out, it became evident that any such proposal was deeply opposed by the core membership of both parties. Lowery resigned in the face of it.
The following year saw the provincial Liberal party come very close to extinction. Its political credibility had been steadily eroding, and with the negotiations with Social Credit, it was not immediately clear that it had any ideological purpose. There was much discussion of the party abandoning provincial politics altogether (there was only one organization at federal and provincial levels), and concentrating on federal politics, which looked a great deal more hopeful at the time than they did two years later.
It took a major act of will for the party to decide to soldier on as an independent force, which it did in repudiating Lowery, and deciding to contest the 1971 election
, however hopeless the prospects might be. The party chose, almost by default, Robert Russell of St. Albert, a highly controversial figure who had been passed over twice, but who had a strong desire for the position, and who had strongly supported David Hunter's vision for the party.
The party suffered as bad a defeat as anyone could have expected in the 1971 election winning no seats in an election that saw Social Credit defeated after 36 years in power at the hands of Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives.
It is widely argued that the provincial Liberals' popularity in Alberta was especially hurt during the federal government of Pierre Trudeau
's Liberal Party of Canada
between 1968 and 1984. Trudeau's policies were unpopular in western Canada and especially in Alberta, particularly official bilingualism
, and the National Energy Program
, which exacerbated feelings of western alienation
. During this period, the provincial Liberal party suffered because of its connections with its federal cousins. However, the provincial party had its own internal problems which had to be resolved, and which may be a better explanation as to why it failed to reach anything near the level of support of its federal counterpart during that period.
, when leader Nicholas Taylor
led them to win 4 seats and 12% of the popular vote. Following the 1987 leadership review, a leadership contest was held in 1988. The race was contested by Taylor, MLA, Sheldon Chumir, MLA (Chumir resigned from the race after 73 days, deciding to focus on policy within the Party), Grant Mitchell
, and Edmonton
Mayor Laurence Decore
. Decore was elected leader of the party after the first ballot.
The Alberta Liberal Party ran one candidate in the 1989 Senate Election
, Bill Code
, he finished with 22.5% of the vote.
, the Liberals, under former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore
, enjoyed their greatest success since holding power when they swept Edmonton, winning a total of 32 seats, and collecting 39% of the popular vote. This enabled the party to displace the New Democrats
to become the Official Opposition
to the Progressive Conservative government of Ralph Klein.
In 1994, Decore resigned as leader and four MLAs contested the leadership race: Edmonton McClung
MLA Grant Mitchell
, Fort McMurray
MLA Adam Germain
, Edmonton Roper MLA Sine Chadi
, and Calgary-Buffalo MLA Gary Dickson
. After all the ballots had been counted, Mitchell was elected as party leader.
The party continued to hold its position as Official Opposition, but lost 10 seats in the 1997 election
. With 18 seats in the Alberta legislature, Mitchell resigned as leader, and another race was declared.
The 1998 leadership race
also saw four contestants: former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister
Nancy MacBeth
, Lethbridge East MLA Ken Nicol
, Edmonton Meadowlark
MLA Karen Leibovici
, and Edmonton Riverview
MLA Linda Sloan
. MacBeth was elected on the first ballot.
In the 2001 election
, MacBeth led a campaign which ended with only seven Liberal MLA
s being elected. MacBeth also lost her own seat in the election.
In the days following the 2001 election
, MacBeth resigned and Ken Nicol
was acclaimed leader. Nicol led the party until 2004, when he ran for the federal Liberal Party of Canada
in the Lethbridge riding. Edmonton Mill Woods
MLA Don Massey
briefly stood as interim leader
until a leadership race was held.
On March 27, 2004, Kevin Taft
was elected the new leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. In the 2004 provincial election
, the Liberals more than doubled their seats to 16 and increased their share of the popular vote to 29%. More significantly, and to the surprise of most observers, the Liberals were able to win three seats in the traditionally conservative city of Calgary
. Additionally, in June 2007, Craig Cheffins won in a by-election, making him the fourth Alberta Liberal MLA in Calgary.
The provincial election of March 3, 2008 proved to be another setback for the party. Going up against rookie Premier Ed Stelmach
, the Alberta Liberals had high hopes of increasing their seat count dramatically, particularly with the supposed discontent with the Tories in Calgary. However, the result was humbling for the Alberta Liberals. The party ended with only nine seats, down from 16 when the election was called. The party's power based in Edmonton was hit especially hard, with eight seats won in 2004 going Conservative. On June 26, 2008, Taft announce his intention to resign as leader. David Swann
was elected as the new Liberal leader on December 13, 2008 defeating two other contenders on the first ballot.
Since 1976, the Alberta Liberal Party is no longer formally affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada
.
The leadership campaign of Dr. David Swann stressed the need for party renewal and even to put the subject of name change on the table. In April 2009 David Swann announced at the Annual General Meeting of the Alberta Liberal Party that name change was not going to happen. Most recently, a former party organizer claimed that the Alberta Liberal Party was "totally irrelevant" in Alberta politics. This comes on the heels of an upset loss for the Alberta Liberals, and the PC party, both having lost to Paul Hinman in the Calgary Glenrose byelection, a member of the upstart Wildrose Alliance party.
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time. Since 1993, however, it has formed the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
.
Early years
The Liberals formed the government in Alberta for the first 16 years of the province's existence. Alexander C. Rutherford (1905–1910), Arthur L. Sifton (1910–1917) and Charles Stewart (1917–1921) led Liberal governments, until the party was swept from office in the 1921 electionAlberta general election, 1921
The Alberta general election of 1921 was the fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on July 18, 1921 to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly....
by the United Farmers of Alberta
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...
.
1921: Loss of power
Currently the party is the Official Opposition in the Alberta legislatureLegislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
, but the party has suffered through some difficult times in the eight decades since their defeat as the province's governing party. In opposition, the party has won up to 32 seat
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....
s but has also at times been shut out of the provincial legislature altogether. Between 1971 and 1986, the party did not win a single seat in the Alberta Legislature, and did not receive more than 6% of the popular vote. The point is further discussed under the history of the party's leadership.
When Premier Charles Stewart
Charles Stewart (Canadian politician)
Charles Stewart, PC was a Canadian politician who served as the third Premier of Alberta from 1917 until 1921. Born in Strabane, Ontario, in Wentworth County, Stewart was a farmer who moved west to Alberta after his farm was destroyed by a storm...
resigned as leader after his government's defeat at the hands of the United Farmers of Alberta
United Farmers of Alberta
The United Farmers of Alberta is an association of Alberta farmers that has served many different roles throughout its history as a lobby group, a political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. Since 1934 it has primarily been an agricultural supply cooperative headquartered in Calgary...
in the 1921 election
Alberta general election, 1921
The Alberta general election of 1921 was the fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on July 18, 1921 to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly....
, John R. Boyle
John R. Boyle
John Robert Boyle was a Canadian politician and jurist who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, a cabinet minister in the Government of Alberta, and a judge on the Supreme Court of Alberta. Born in Ontario, he came west and eventually settled in Edmonton, where he practiced...
, a former Attorney-General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, led the legislative caucus until he was appointed to the judiciary in 1924, and Charles R. Mitchell
Charles R. Mitchell
Charles Richmond Mitchell was a Canadian lawyer, judge, cabinet minister and former Leader of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.-Early life:...
, also a former cabinet minister succeeded him. John Bowen
John Bowen
John or Jack Bowen may refer to:*John Bowen , bishop of Sierra Leone*John Bowen English sailor and administrator; founded the first settlement at Hobart, Australia...
acted in the interim until a party convention chose Joseph Tweed Shaw
Joseph Tweed Shaw
Joseph Tweed Shaw was a Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1921 to 1925 as an independent Member of Parliament , and later became leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.-Early life:...
, a former independent left-wing
Ginger group
A ginger group is a formal or informal group within, for example, a political party seeking to inspire the rest with its own enthusiasm and activity....
M.P.
In the lead-up to the 1930 election
Alberta general election, 1930
The Alberta general election of 1930 was the seventh general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 19, 1930 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, the party chose George H. Webster, M.L.A. for Calgary City. He resigned in favour of William R. Howson
William R. Howson
William Robinson Howson was an politician, judge, debt collector, soldier banker and real estate agent from Alberta, Canada.. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1936 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition...
, who led the party energetically if unsuccessfully in 1935
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
. After he was appointed to the provincial superior court in 1936, Edward Leslie Gray
Edward Leslie Gray
Edward Leslie Gray was a politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from Alberta, Canada.Gray was elected in a by-election in the Edmonton after the death of George Van Allen. He also became the Alberta Liberal Party leader in 1937...
succeeded him.
Unity coalition
Discussions on a coalition of opposition forces began in the early thirties to put together a strong opposition to the United Farmers government. The Liberals refused to join when their fortunes were going up during the leadership William HowsonWilliam R. Howson
William Robinson Howson was an politician, judge, debt collector, soldier banker and real estate agent from Alberta, Canada.. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1936 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition...
. At the height of Liberal popularity they had managed to lure two United Farmers MLAs to sit in the Liberal caucus.
After the defeat of old line parties by Social Credit in the 1935 Alberta general election
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, the coalition idea picked up steam. Edward Gray, Liberal leader cautiously entered the party into the Unity Movement giving riding associations the opportunity to support Liberal candidates or Independent candidates.
The Alberta Liberals were tepid to support the Independent Citizens' Association led by John Percy Page
John Percy Page
John Percy Page also known as J. Percy Page was a Canadian teacher, basketball coach, provincial politician, and the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.- Early life, education :...
. They wanted the Independents to remain independent and were against having a new party formed based on the coalition. The Liberals maintained the party organization by keeping the Constituency Associations and Party Executive Intact. After Gray resigned the leadership on April 19, 1941 to accept a patronage position the party did not officially replace him as leader until James Prowse in 1947.
The President of the Party who stood for election annually, became the official face of the party in all matters of party business. The party also kept a rump caucus from 1940 to 1944 that started out with one member and got to three by dissolution in 1944. The Liberals despite internal pressure to break with the coalition agreed not to run candidates in the 1944 election.
Cooperation with the Independents officially came to an end when the federal Camrose
Camrose (electoral district)
Camrose was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1953.This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Battle River and Victoria ridings....
riding association passed a motion at a meeting in August 1945 calling on the executive of the provincial Liberal party to reorganize in all Alberta provincial constituency's free of alliances and arrangements with other parties.
The party held a meeting on January 7, 1946 to discuss proposals to participate in the 1948 Alberta general election
Alberta general election, 1948
The Alberta general election of 1948 was the eleventh general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 17, 1948 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
.
Post-war
Prowse became the first true leader of the party in the post coalition era. He led the party from 1947 to 1958 leading to significant gains in popular votes and seats. He resigned the leadership to run for Mayor of Edmonton, and was succeeded by John Walter Grant MacEwan, M.L.A. for Calgary City. MacEwan was beset by problems entirely beyond his ability to control. The electoral ability of any opposition partyOpposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
leader became very chancy with the abolition of the STV electoral system
Voting system
A voting system or electoral system is a method by which voters make a choice between options, often in an election or on a policy referendum....
used for Edmonton and Calgary cities. The Manning government had successfully renewed and reinvigorated itself, and recovered much of the ground it had previously lost, while the recent Diefenbaker landslide made the Progressive Conservative Party seem a more attractive vehicle for the party's traditional supporters. MacEwan was the first of many leaders who faced a problem similar to those of Liberals in Britain and other Western Canadian provinces
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
. Ideologically, the party was being squeezed between traditional conservatism, and social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
. In a social sense, the party presented an older and more traditional image in comparison to the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, who, given the predominance of Social Credit, seemed fairly liberal. Almost inevitably, the Liberals were reduced to a single member, Michael Maccagno
Michael Maccagno
Michael "Mike" Maccagno was an provincial level politician from Alberta Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1955 until he resigned in 1968...
of Lac La Biche
Lac La Biche
Lac la Biche is a large lake in north-central Alberta, Canada. It is located along the Northern Woods and Water Route, 95 km east of Athabasca.Lac la Biche has a total area of , including islands area...
. MacEwan retired shortly after this disaster.
1960s
He was succeeded by David B. Hunter, then mayor of Athabasca, who campaigned aggressively on the creation of a publicly ownedPublic company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
electrical power
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
company, with strong environmentalist overtones. This likely limited any growth by the Alberta New Democrats
Alberta New Democratic Party
The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...
in the 1963 election
Alberta general election, 1963
The Alberta general election of 1963 was the fifteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 17, 1963 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C...
, and it established the party with a distinct image and identity separate from the Progressive Conservatives. However, it was internally divisive, and a number of candidates, including one of its two successful ones, repudiated the platform's main plank. Hunter himself was defeated personally in Athabasca. He did not resign until after he lost a later byelection, when he decided to run for Parliament (unsuccessfully).
Maccagno, who was leader of the minuscule opposition in the Legislature, served as interim leader, but did not regard himself as leadership material. In a convention which exposed the deep ideological fault lines within the party, Adrian Berry, a Calgary lawyer, emerged as leader from a highly acrimonious contest. Internal dissensions continued, and late in 1966, Berry resigned under circumstances still not explained. As a provincial election could be expected within months, Maccagno became leader almost by default, and somewhat unwillingly led the party into the 1967 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1967
The Alberta general election of 1967 was the sixteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 23, 1967 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
.
Maccagno was elected, the first Liberal leader since 1955 and the last until 1986 to achieve the feat and the party increased its representation from two to three seats. However, the party placed fourth in the popular vote, and had lost it status as the apparent alternative, albeit a weak one to Social Credit. Peter Lougheed
Peter Lougheed
Edgar Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, AOE, QC, is a Canadian lawyer, and a former politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as the tenth Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985....
and the Progressive Conservatives presented the attraction of a modern, urban -based party, which was decidedly more liberal than the Social Credit government, and displaced the Liberals to become Alberta's official opposition and government-in-waiting.
Shut out
In 1969, the party chose a Calgary clergyman turned businessman, John T. Lowery, to succeed him. The party placed very poorly in a byelection to replace a Liberal MLA who had died, and the party had lost its other two seats when Maccagno resigned to run in the 1968 federal election and then in November 1969 the last remaining Liberal MLA, Bill DickieBill Dickie (politician)
William "Bill" Danielle Dickie is a former corporate lawyer as well as a municipal and provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as an Alderman in Calgary from 1961 to 1964 and also served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1963 to 1975...
, crossed the floor to join Lougheed's surging Progressive Conservatives. Lowery thought he saw some hope in an electoral arrangement with Social Credit, which he believed was showing signs of modernization and rejuvenation under Harry Strom
Harry Strom
Harry Edwin Strom was the ninth Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 1968 to 1971. His two and a half years as Premier were the last of the thirty-six year Social Credit dynasty, as his defeat by Peter Lougheed saw its replacement by a new era Progressive Conservative government...
. He was likely encouraged in this by the party's two federal Cabinet ministers, H.A. Olson
Bud Olson
Horace Andrew Olson, PC, AOE was a Canadian businessman, politician, and the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. He also served as a Canadian Member of Parliament, Senator, Minister of Agriculture, and Minister of Economic and Regional Development...
and Pat Mahoney
Patrick Morgan Mahoney
Patrick Morgan Mahoney, PC is a retired judge and former politician, lawyer and businessman.Mahoney was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1968 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Calgary South...
, who had Social Credit pasts. When word of negotiations to that effect came out, it became evident that any such proposal was deeply opposed by the core membership of both parties. Lowery resigned in the face of it.
The following year saw the provincial Liberal party come very close to extinction. Its political credibility had been steadily eroding, and with the negotiations with Social Credit, it was not immediately clear that it had any ideological purpose. There was much discussion of the party abandoning provincial politics altogether (there was only one organization at federal and provincial levels), and concentrating on federal politics, which looked a great deal more hopeful at the time than they did two years later.
It took a major act of will for the party to decide to soldier on as an independent force, which it did in repudiating Lowery, and deciding to contest the 1971 election
Alberta general election, 1971
The Alberta general election of 1971 was the seventeenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 30, 1971 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, however hopeless the prospects might be. The party chose, almost by default, Robert Russell of St. Albert, a highly controversial figure who had been passed over twice, but who had a strong desire for the position, and who had strongly supported David Hunter's vision for the party.
The party suffered as bad a defeat as anyone could have expected in the 1971 election winning no seats in an election that saw Social Credit defeated after 36 years in power at the hands of Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives.
It is widely argued that the provincial Liberals' popularity in Alberta was especially hurt during the federal government of Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
's Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
between 1968 and 1984. Trudeau's policies were unpopular in western Canada and especially in Alberta, particularly official bilingualism
Official bilingualism
Official bilingualism refers to the policy adopted by some states of recognizing two languages as official and producing all official documents, and handling all correspondence and official dealings, including Court procedure, in the two said languages...
, and the National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...
, which exacerbated feelings of western alienation
Western Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
. During this period, the provincial Liberal party suffered because of its connections with its federal cousins. However, the provincial party had its own internal problems which had to be resolved, and which may be a better explanation as to why it failed to reach anything near the level of support of its federal counterpart during that period.
1986: Return to the legislature
The Liberals' fortunes improved in the late 1980s and they returned to the Alberta legislature in the 1986 electionAlberta general election, 1986
The Alberta general election of 1986 was the twenty-first general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 8, 1986 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, when leader Nicholas Taylor
Nicholas Taylor
Nicholas "Nick" William Taylor is a retired geologist, businessman and politician and former Canadian Senator from Alberta, Canada....
led them to win 4 seats and 12% of the popular vote. Following the 1987 leadership review, a leadership contest was held in 1988. The race was contested by Taylor, MLA, Sheldon Chumir, MLA (Chumir resigned from the race after 73 days, deciding to focus on policy within the Party), Grant Mitchell
Grant Mitchell (politician)
-Early life:He received a B.A. degree from the University of Alberta and an M.A. degree from Queen's University. From 1976 to 1979, he worked as a public servant with the Government of Alberta...
, and Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
Mayor Laurence Decore
Laurence Decore
Laurence G. Decore, CM was a Ukrainian-Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was mayor of Edmonton, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.- Early life :...
. Decore was elected leader of the party after the first ballot.
The Alberta Liberal Party ran one candidate in the 1989 Senate Election
Alberta Senate nominee election, 1989
The 1st Alberta Senate nominee election was held on October 16, 1989 in Alberta, Canada. It was held in conjunction with Alberta municipal elections under the Local Authorities Election Act., and resulted in the first Canadian Senator appointed following a popular election.The vote was held along...
, Bill Code
Bill Code
-Political career:Bill Code made his first attempt at public office when he ran as a candidate for the Canadian House of Commons under the Liberal Party of Canada banner in the 1984 Canadian federal election in the riding of Calgary West. In that election he finished second, in a field of seven...
, he finished with 22.5% of the vote.
The party in the 1990s
In the 1993 electionAlberta general election, 1993
The Alberta general election of 1993 was the twenty-third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 15, 1993 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
, the Liberals, under former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore
Laurence Decore
Laurence G. Decore, CM was a Ukrainian-Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was mayor of Edmonton, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.- Early life :...
, enjoyed their greatest success since holding power when they swept Edmonton, winning a total of 32 seats, and collecting 39% of the popular vote. This enabled the party to displace the New Democrats
Alberta New Democratic Party
The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...
to become the Official Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
to the Progressive Conservative government of Ralph Klein.
In 1994, Decore resigned as leader and four MLAs contested the leadership race: Edmonton McClung
Edmonton McClung
Edmonton-McClung is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.Edmonton-McClung was created in 1993, and was represented by Grant Mitchell from 1993 to 1998. Mitchell served as leader of the Alberta Liberal Party from 1994 to 1998.In 1998, following Mitchell’s...
MLA Grant Mitchell
Grant Mitchell (politician)
-Early life:He received a B.A. degree from the University of Alberta and an M.A. degree from Queen's University. From 1976 to 1979, he worked as a public servant with the Government of Alberta...
, Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray, Alberta
Fort McMurray is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It was previously incorporated as a city on September 1, 1980. It became an urban service area when it amalgamated with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995 to create the Municipality...
MLA Adam Germain
Adam Germain
Adam Germain is a former provincial level politician, lawyer and current Court of Queen's Bench Justice from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 to 1997.-Political career:...
, Edmonton Roper MLA Sine Chadi
Sine Chadi
Sine Kassim Chadi is a former MLA, Canadian businessman, President and CEO of Imperial Equities Inc., a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange with a head office in Edmonton, Alberta.- Business Ties :...
, and Calgary-Buffalo MLA Gary Dickson
Gary Dickson
Robert Gary Dickson is a lawyer and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the first Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner....
. After all the ballots had been counted, Mitchell was elected as party leader.
The party continued to hold its position as Official Opposition, but lost 10 seats in the 1997 election
Alberta general election, 1997
The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
. With 18 seats in the Alberta legislature, Mitchell resigned as leader, and another race was declared.
The 1998 leadership race
Leadership convention
In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader.- Overview :...
also saw four contestants: former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
Nancy MacBeth
Nancy MacBeth
Nancy MacBeth, née Elliott is a Canadian politician, who was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party from 1998 to 2001.-Early life:...
, Lethbridge East MLA Ken Nicol
Ken Nicol (politician)
Ken Nicol is a Canadian politician and academic.He served as the MLA for Lethbridge East from 1993 to 2004. During his final three years, he was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, and leader of the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
, Edmonton Meadowlark
Edmonton Meadowlark
Edmonton Meadowlark is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 83 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....
MLA Karen Leibovici
Karen Leibovici
Karen Leibovici is a city councillor from Edmonton, Alberta.Leibovici was elected to the Alberta Provincial Legislature as a Member of Legislative Assembly in 1993 for the Edmonton Meadowlark provincial riding for the Alberta Liberal Party...
, and Edmonton Riverview
Edmonton Riverview
Edmonton Riverview is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....
MLA Linda Sloan
Linda Sloan
Linda Sloan is a Canadian politician and current municipal councillor in Edmonton, Alberta.Sloan graduated from the Foothills Hospital School of Nursing in 1982 and began work as a registered nurse...
. MacBeth was elected on the first ballot.
Recent history
Alberta general election, 2001
The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, MacBeth led a campaign which ended with only seven Liberal MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
s being elected. MacBeth also lost her own seat in the election.
In the days following the 2001 election
Alberta general election, 2001
The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, MacBeth resigned and Ken Nicol
Ken Nicol (politician)
Ken Nicol is a Canadian politician and academic.He served as the MLA for Lethbridge East from 1993 to 2004. During his final three years, he was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, and leader of the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
was acclaimed leader. Nicol led the party until 2004, when he ran for the federal Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
in the Lethbridge riding. Edmonton Mill Woods
Edmonton Mill Woods
Edmonton-Mill Woods is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 83 current electoral districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....
MLA Don Massey
Don Massey
Don Massey is a former municipal and provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 until 2004. In that period he also served as Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party in 2004...
briefly stood as interim leader
Interim leader
An interim leader, in Canadian politics, is a party leader appointed by the party's legislative caucus or the party's executive to temporarily act as leader when a gap occurs between the resignation or death of a party leader and the election of a formal successor...
until a leadership race was held.
On March 27, 2004, Kevin Taft
Kevin Taft
Kevin Taft is a Liberal politician in Alberta, Canada. He was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, from 2004 to 2008...
was elected the new leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. In the 2004 provincial election
Alberta general election, 2004
The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, the Liberals more than doubled their seats to 16 and increased their share of the popular vote to 29%. More significantly, and to the surprise of most observers, the Liberals were able to win three seats in the traditionally conservative city of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. Additionally, in June 2007, Craig Cheffins won in a by-election, making him the fourth Alberta Liberal MLA in Calgary.
The provincial election of March 3, 2008 proved to be another setback for the party. Going up against rookie Premier Ed Stelmach
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael "Ed" Stelmach, MLA is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and speaks fluent Ukrainian. He spent his entire pre-political adult life as a...
, the Alberta Liberals had high hopes of increasing their seat count dramatically, particularly with the supposed discontent with the Tories in Calgary. However, the result was humbling for the Alberta Liberals. The party ended with only nine seats, down from 16 when the election was called. The party's power based in Edmonton was hit especially hard, with eight seats won in 2004 going Conservative. On June 26, 2008, Taft announce his intention to resign as leader. David Swann
David Swann
David Swann, MLA is a medical doctor and Alberta Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary Mountain View. He was until recently the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Alberta Legislature....
was elected as the new Liberal leader on December 13, 2008 defeating two other contenders on the first ballot.
Since 1976, the Alberta Liberal Party is no longer formally affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
The leadership campaign of Dr. David Swann stressed the need for party renewal and even to put the subject of name change on the table. In April 2009 David Swann announced at the Annual General Meeting of the Alberta Liberal Party that name change was not going to happen. Most recently, a former party organizer claimed that the Alberta Liberal Party was "totally irrelevant" in Alberta politics. This comes on the heels of an upset loss for the Alberta Liberals, and the PC party, both having lost to Paul Hinman in the Calgary Glenrose byelection, a member of the upstart Wildrose Alliance party.
Party leaders
| Name | Took Over | Date Left | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Rutherford Alexander Cameron Rutherford Alexander Cameron Rutherford was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first Premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Ontario, he studied and practised law in Ottawa before moving with his family to the Northwest Territories in 1895... |
1905 | 1910 | |
| Arthur Sifton | 1910 | 1917 | |
| Charles Stewart Charles Stewart (Canadian politician) Charles Stewart, PC was a Canadian politician who served as the third Premier of Alberta from 1917 until 1921. Born in Strabane, Ontario, in Wentworth County, Stewart was a farmer who moved west to Alberta after his farm was destroyed by a storm... |
1917 | 1922 | |
| John Boyle John R. Boyle John Robert Boyle was a Canadian politician and jurist who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, a cabinet minister in the Government of Alberta, and a judge on the Supreme Court of Alberta. Born in Ontario, he came west and eventually settled in Edmonton, where he practiced... |
1922 | 1924 | |
| Charles R. Mitchell Charles R. Mitchell Charles Richmond Mitchell was a Canadian lawyer, judge, cabinet minister and former Leader of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.-Early life:... |
1924 | 1926 | |
| John C. Bowen John C. Bowen John Campbell Bowen was a clergy man, insurance broker and long serving politician. He served as an Alderman in the City of Edmonton on the municipal level and then went on to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1921 to 1926 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition... |
1926 | 1926 | |
| Joseph Tweed Shaw Joseph Tweed Shaw Joseph Tweed Shaw was a Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1921 to 1925 as an independent Member of Parliament , and later became leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.-Early life:... |
1926 | 1930 | Resigned |
| John McDonald John W. McDonald John Walter McDonald was a lawyer and provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as Mayor of Fort Macleod, Alberta and also led the Alberta Liberal Party for a brief period from 1930 to 1932.-Early life:... |
March 28, 1930 | March 1, 1932 | Did not hold a seat in the Assembly |
| George Webster George Harry Webster George Harry "Cowboy Mayor" Webster was a politician and transportation expert in Alberta, Canada... |
1931 | March 1, 1932 | Leader of Liberal caucus in the Assembly |
| March 1, 1932 | October 21, 1932 | Interim Leader | |
| William Howson William R. Howson William Robinson Howson was an politician, judge, debt collector, soldier banker and real estate agent from Alberta, Canada.. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1936 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition... |
October 21, 1932 | March 2, 1936 | Appointed to the Supreme Court of Alberta |
| Edward Leslie Gray Edward Leslie Gray Edward Leslie Gray was a politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from Alberta, Canada.Gray was elected in a by-election in the Edmonton after the death of George Van Allen. He also became the Alberta Liberal Party leader in 1937... |
1937 | April 19, 1941 | |
| Robert Barrowman | ? | September 27, 1941 | Party leadership remained vacant from Gray's resignation until James Prowse was chosen as leader. The President of the Liberals maintained the day to day operations of the Liberals during the Unity Coalition. |
| Hugh John Montgomery Hugh John Montgomery Hugh John Montgomery was a merchant fox farmer and a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a politician on the municipal and provincial levels of government in Alberta. On the municipal level he served on the city council of Wetaskiwin holding various posts from 1906 to 1929... |
1941 | ? | |
| Wesley Stambaugh Wesley Stambaugh John Wesley Stambaugh was a farmer and Canadian Senator.Born in Melvin, Michigan United States, Wesley was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent on September 7, 1949 he served in the senate until June 8, 1965.Wesley served as president of the Alberta... |
June 26, 1947 | ||
| James Prowse James Harper Prowse James Harper Prowse Jr. , was a serviceman, provincial and federal politician, barrister and solicitor from Canada. Prowse served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1945 to 1959 sitting as an Independent and a Liberal in opposition... |
June 26, 1947 | 1958 | |
| Grant MacEwan Grant MacEwan John Walter Grant MacEwan, best known as Grant MacEwan was a farmer, Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba, the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Member of the Legislative Assembly and the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Canada... |
November 1, 1958 | 1960 | |
| David Hunter Dave Hunter (politician) David Bruce "Dave" Hunter was an Alberta politician. He served as a mayor and as leader of the Alberta Liberal Party from 1962 to 1964.-Political career:... |
1962 | 1964 | |
| Michael Maccagno Michael Maccagno Michael "Mike" Maccagno was an provincial level politician from Alberta Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1955 until he resigned in 1968... |
1964 | 1969 | |
| John T. Lowery | 1969 | 1970 | |
| Robert Russell | 1971 | 1974 | |
| Nicholas Taylor Nicholas Taylor Nicholas "Nick" William Taylor is a retired geologist, businessman and politician and former Canadian Senator from Alberta, Canada.... |
1974 | 1988 | |
| Laurence Decore Laurence Decore Laurence G. Decore, CM was a Ukrainian-Canadian lawyer and politician from Alberta. He was mayor of Edmonton, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.- Early life :... |
1988 | 1994 | |
| Bettie Hewes Bettie Hewes Elizabeth Jane Hewes was a Canadian politician, former Edmonton City Councilor, and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.Hewes graduated from the University of Toronto in 1944 with degree in occupational therapy.... |
1994 | 1994 | Interm Leader |
| Grant Mitchell Grant Mitchell (politician) -Early life:He received a B.A. degree from the University of Alberta and an M.A. degree from Queen's University. From 1976 to 1979, he worked as a public servant with the Government of Alberta... |
1994 | 1998 | |
| Nancy MacBeth Nancy MacBeth Nancy MacBeth, née Elliott is a Canadian politician, who was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party from 1998 to 2001.-Early life:... |
1998 | 2001 | |
| Ken Nicol Ken Nicol (politician) Ken Nicol is a Canadian politician and academic.He served as the MLA for Lethbridge East from 1993 to 2004. During his final three years, he was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, and leader of the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta... |
2001 | 2004 | |
| Don Massey Don Massey Don Massey is a former municipal and provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 until 2004. In that period he also served as Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party in 2004... |
2004 | 2004 | Interim Leader |
| Kevin Taft Kevin Taft Kevin Taft is a Liberal politician in Alberta, Canada. He was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, from 2004 to 2008... |
2004 | December 13, 2008 | |
| David Swann David Swann David Swann, MLA is a medical doctor and Alberta Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary Mountain View. He was until recently the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Alberta Legislature.... |
December 13, 2008 | September 10, 2011 | |
| Raj Sherman Raj Sherman Raj Sherman is an Alberta politician and current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Edmonton-Meadowlark, formerly as a Progressive Conservative.... |
September 10, 2011 | present |
Current Alberta Liberal MLAs
- Laurie BlakemanLaurie BlakemanLaurie Blakeman is a Canadian politician, who currently represents the electoral district of Edmonton Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...
(Edmonton-Centre) - Harry B. ChaseHarry B. ChaseHarry B. Chase is a Canadian politician. He is a provincial MLA as a member of the Alberta Liberal Party.-Early life:...
(Calgary-Varsity) - Darshan KangDarshan KangDarshan Kang is a current provincial level politician and serves as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary McCall. Prior to his political career he was a welder and a real estate agent.-Political career:...
(Calgary-McCall) - Hugh MacDonaldHugh MacDonald (politician)Hugh MacDonald is a Canadian politician, who currently represents the electoral district of Edmonton-Gold Bar in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He is a member of the Alberta Liberal Party. On Sept...
(Edmonton-Gold Bar) - Kent HehrKent HehrKent Hehr is the Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the riding of Calgary-Buffalo.-Personal life:...
(Calgary-Buffalo) - Bridget PastoorBridget PastoorBridget A. Pastoor is a Canadian politician who has been serving as a member of the Alberta legislative assembly since 22 November 2004....
(Lethbridge-EastLethbridge-EastLethbridge-East is an provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, covering the eastern half of the city of Lethbridge. The district is one of 83 in the province mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.The...
) - Raj ShermanRaj ShermanRaj Sherman is an Alberta politician and current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Edmonton-Meadowlark, formerly as a Progressive Conservative....
(Edmonton-Meadowlark) - David SwannDavid SwannDavid Swann, MLA is a medical doctor and Alberta Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary Mountain View. He was until recently the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Alberta Legislature....
(Calgary-Mountain View) - Kevin TaftKevin TaftKevin Taft is a Liberal politician in Alberta, Canada. He was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, from 2004 to 2008...
(Edmonton-Riverview)
See also
- List of Alberta Liberal leadership conventions
- List of Alberta general elections
- List of Canadian political parties
- :Category:Alberta Liberal Party MLAs
External links
- Alberta Liberal Party official site
- Alberta Liberal Caucus official site
- Glenbow Museum Archives: Alberta Liberals