Alberta Liberal Party

   

The Alberta Liberal Party is a political party in Alberta, Canada.

The Liberals formed the government in Alberta for the first 15 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 1921 by the United Farmers of Alberta.

The party has floundered in the eight decades since their defeat, never electing more than 15 MLAs and often being shut out of the provincial legislature altogether. The provincial Liberals were especially hurt during the federal government of Pierre Trudeau's Liberal Party of Canada between 1968 and 1984. Trudeau's policies were especially unpopular in the west, 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.

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. Even the social democratic Alberta New Democrats were more successful. The Liberals did not return to the legislature until 1986, when they won 4 seats and 12% of the popular vote.

In 1993, the Liberals under former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore enjoyed their greatest success since holding power when they swept Edmonton, elected a total of 32 MLAs, and collected 39% of the popular vote thus enabling them to displace the New Democrats to become the Official Opposition to the Progressive Conservative government of Ralph Klein. The party continued to hold this position but lost seats in 1997 and again in 2001 when they were reduced to only seven MLAs

On March 27, 2004, Kevin Taft was elected the new leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, following the resignation of Ken Nicol. In the 2004 provincial election, the Liberals more than doubled their seats to 17 and increased their share of the popular vote to 29%.

Party leaders since 1974

  • Nick Taylor (1974-1988)
  • Laurence Decore (1988-1994)
  • Betty Hewes (1994) interim
  • Grant Mitchell (1994-1998)
  • Nancy MacBeth (1998-2001)
  • Ken Nicol (2001-2004)
  • Kevin Taft (since 2004)


External links


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