Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

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Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
Image:PCP Alb logo.png
Active Provincial Party
Founded 1905
Leader Ed Stelmach
President Marg Mrazek
Headquarters 9919 106 Street NW Edmonton, Alberta T5K 1E2; 304-902 11 Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta T2R 0E7
Political ideology Conservatism, Neoliberalism
International alignment none
Colours Blue & Orange
Website http://www.albertapc.ab.ca

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial right-of-centre party in the Canadian province of Alberta. The party has formed the provincial government, without interruption, since 1971 under premiers Peter Lougheed (1971-1985), Don Getty (1985-1992), Ralph Klein (1992-2006) and Ed Stelmach (2006-present).

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Origins and early years

The party was created from the Northwest Territories Liberal-Conservative Party that existed from 1898 to 1905. Unlike their predecessor party, that formed government during its entire existence, the Alberta Conservatives were a marginal party in Alberta for most of the province's early history. In the province's first election, the 1905 election, the Conservatives, led by future Canadian Prime Minister Richard Bennett, won only two seats and were barely able to improve on that in subsequent elections. The main policy difference between the Tories and the Alberta Liberal Party was over the Tories' belief that the province should control its natural resources, which the province had been denied.

[edit] On the political sidelines

In the 1913 election, the Tories achieved a breakthrough, winning 18 seats and 45% of the vote. Despite this result, and an even better result in the 1917 election, they were still unable to beat the Liberals. The Tories then split into 'traditional' and 'radical' camps. The party collapsed, and was unable to run a full slate of candidates in the 1921 election. Only one Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) was returned to the Legislative Assembly in this election, in which the new United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) defeated the Liberals, and took power.

For the next fifty years, the Tories were unable to elect more than a half dozen MLAs. The party was marginalized after the UFA was able to negotiate the province's control of its resources from Ottawa, denying the Tories their major policy plank.

In 1935, the UFA collapsed. The Social Credit Party of Alberta took power on a populist and Christian conservative platform. Social Credit attracted conservative voters for decades, particularly after the party moved away from its radical social credit economic theories, and embraced fiscal conservatism.

[edit] The party in the 1940s and 1950s

In the late 1930s, the Conservatives and Liberals formed a united front in an attempt to fight Social Credit and, as a result, no Conservative candidates ran in 1940 election, 1944 election and 1948 election. Supporters of both parties ran instead as independents.

The failure of the coalition strategy led to the reemergence of separate Liberal and Conservative parties in the early 1950s. The Tories only nominated five candidates in the 1952 election, only one of whom won election.

The Tories became Progressive Conservatives in 1959 in order to conform with the name of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The party continued to be unable to improve their fortunes, and lost their only seats in the legislature.

[edit] The party under Peter Lougheed

In March 1965, Peter Lougheed became leader of the party, and began transforming it into a political force by combining fiscal conservatism with a modernist, urban outlook. This approach was in stark contrast to the parochialism and rural agrarianism of Social Credit. In particular, the party started gaining support in Calgary and Edmonton. Social Credit was slow to adapt to the changes in Alberta as its two largest cities gained increasing influence.

In 1967, Lougheed's Tories achieved an electoral breakthrough, electing six MLAs. Lougheed became Leader of the Opposition.

In 1968, Social Credit Premier Ernest Manning resigned after 25 years, and was replaced by Harry Strom. After 33 years in power, Social Credit had grown tired and complacent. Albertans, particularly those associated with the booming oil industry, began to turn to the young and dynamic Lougheed Tories. Over the next four years, Lougheed saw his small caucus grow to 10 members as a result of two by-election wins--one of which was Manning's old Edmonton seat--and two floor-crossings.

In the 1971 election, the Progressive Conservatives campaigned on a simple theme--NOW!--symbolizing their goal of increasing Alberta's clout in Canada. On August 30, the Tories won power for the first time in Alberta's history. They finished only four percentage points ahead of Social Credit. However, they swept Edmonton and took all but five seats in Calgary. Due to a quirk in the first past the post system, this gave Lougheed a strong majority government, with 49 of the 75 seats in the legislature.

In power, the Progressive Conservatives fought a long battle with the federal government over control of Alberta's natural resources (particularly oil). The oil industry provided the Alberta government with large revenue surpluses that allowed it to maintain Alberta as the only province or territory in Canada without a provincial retail sales tax. Alberta experienced a large development boom, particularly in Calgary, in the 1970s and 1980s.

During the Lougheed years, Alberta became a virtual one-party state, carrying almost all the seats in the provincial legislature. Lougheed's successor, Don Getty was unable to match the Lougheed Tories' dominance in the provincial legislature, but he enjoyed large majorities nevertheless.

[edit] Recent history under Ralph Klein

While the popularity of the Tories sagged somewhat under Don Getty, it was revived under Ralph Klein, who has moved the party sharply to the right. In contrast, under Lougheed and Getty, the party was considered a classic example of a Red Tory government. The party was reduced to 51 seats in the 1993 election, but gained stronger majorities in 1997 and 2001.

Tensions have developed within Albertan society and perhaps even within the party between social conservatives and fiscal conservatives as the former have raised concerns about issues such as same-sex marriage. This has motivated Klein to use the Canadian Constitution's notwithstanding clause to preserve the traditional definition of marriage over the objections of the courts.[1] However, this would not apply to federal jurisdiction. Alberta under the Tories has also been the province most vocal about challenging Canada's system of publicly-funded health care, threatening to introduce private clinics and to opt out of the Canada Health Act, despite the claims of some that he does not have a mandate from the electorate to do so.

It was always viewed as unlikely that a centrist or left-leaning opposition party (the Alberta Liberal Party and the Alberta New Democrats, respectively) would be in a serious position to challenge the Conservatives for power in the 2004 general election. The Liberals, New Democrats, and a new right wing party, the Alberta Alliance, all campaigned aggressively against the Tories in 2004. The Klein government was re-elected, but lost a dozen urban seats. Many pundits expected losses in Edmonton, the traditional heartland of the provincial Liberals. However, the Conservatives unexpectedly lost three seats to the Liberals in Calgary, where the Tories had previously held every seat.

The Alliance did not seriously challenge the Tories' majority either, but it was competitive in several rural districts that could formerly have been described as Tory bastions. Although the Alliance only won one seat, from the Tories' perspective that seat was a formerly ultra-safe southwestern district. This has led many pundits to conclude that although the Alliance gained less than ten percent of the popular vote in 2004, it could potentially be in a position to launch a more serious challenge to the Tories in the future.

On March 31, 2006, after receiving a 55% vote of support from his party, Ralph Klein issued a press release expressing his intent to retire. A number of candidates stepped forward as possible replacements for a leadership vote in late 2006. Klein officially resigned on September 20, 2006. The first round of voting on November 25 eliminated all but three candidates - Jim Dinning, Ted Morton and Ed Stelmach. None received the required 50% of the vote, so a second round was held on December 2. In the second round, Stelmach was declared the winner. He assumed the premiership on December 14.

[edit] Party leaders

Northwest Territories Liberal-Conservative Party

Alberta Conservative Party

Alberta Progressive Conservative Party

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Marriage Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. M-5. Accessed URL on March 10, 2006.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Politics of Alberta
Lieutenant Governor Norman Kwong · Former lieutenant governors
Flag of Alberta
Premier (List) Ed Stelmach
Legislature Current assembly · Former legislatures · Executive Council (Cabinet) · Speaker of the Assembly (Ken Kowalski) · Opposition Leader (Kevin Taft · Former Opposition Leaders)
Political parties Progressive Conservatives · Liberals · New Democrats · Alliance · Alberta Party · Communists · Greens · Separation · Social Credit
Elections 2004 general election • Past elections • Electoral districts • Current electoral divisions
Current issues Equalization payments • Prosperity Bonus • Same-sex marriage • Separatism
Other Canadian politics: Federal • BC • AB • SK • MB • ON • QC • NB • NS • PEI • NL • YU • NT • NU
Major national, provincial, and territorial conservative parties in Canada (edit):
Forming the government:
Canada - Alberta - Newfoundland and Labrador - Nova Scotia - Yukon
Forming the official opposition:
Manitoba - Prince Edward Island - New Brunswick - Ontario - Saskatchewan - Québec
Third parties represented in legislatures:
Alberta Alliance
Historical conservative parties:
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada - Canadian Alliance - Social Credit Party of Canada - British Columbia Conservative Party - British Columbia Social Credit Party - Social Credit Party of Alberta - Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan - Conservative Party of Quebec - Union Nationale - Northwest Territories Liberal-Conservative Party
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