Alberta general election, 2004

Alberta riding map showing the winning parties and their vote percentage in each won riding.

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. Held in conjunction with this election was the Alberta Senate nominee election, 2004.

Upon being called, the election was expected to be anti-climatic, with Klein cruising to his fourth straight majority (the tenth for his Progressive Conservatives).

Shortly after the drop of the writ, Klein's mother passed away and all parties suspended their campaigns for several days. After the campaign resumed, Klein avoided making any policy announcements and attended few events, one commentator called it "Kleinfeld: the campaign about nothing." The Liberals, who originally hoped to hold onto the five seats they had and regain the two seats that they had lost to resignations, began to pick up momentum and became far more optomistic.

In the end, the Conservatives were easily re-elected, despite losing some 13 seats and dropping 15% of the popular vote. The Liberal opposition more than doubled their seats, dominating Edmonton, and making inroads in Calgary. The NDP easily held on to their two seats and gained two more, all in Edmonton. The Conservatives swept rural Alberta except for one seat that went to the right wing Alberta Alliance, who placed second in a number of rural ridings. The Green Party gained in the popular vote (jumping from 0.3% in 2001 to 2.8%) and placed third in some places, but was unable to elect any members. Social Credit placed third in a number of ridings and its leader tied for second in Rocky Mountain House. The Conservative, Liberal and NDP leaders all easily held onto their own seats.

Results by party

¹ 2 seats were vacant at dissolution of the Legislature.
² The Alberta Alliance and Seperation parties did not contest the 2001 election.

Results by region

¹ "Edmonton" corresponds to only the city of Edmonton. (only the ridings whose names begin with "Edmonton") The four suburban ridings around the city as listed below are grouped with Central Alberta in this table.

Results by riding

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

Electoral Re-distribution

Alberta's current electoral laws fix the number of legislature seats at 83. 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

The parties are listed in descending order of number of MLAs elected in 2001.

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. As expected, the Tories have nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election.

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 led by Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft, who was elected to the position in March 2004. The Liberals have 82 candidates in the 2004 election - they will be absent from the ballot in Drumheller-Stettler after failing to file papers for their expected candidate, Don McMann before the deadline.

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. The NDP have nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election.

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

Other registered parties

The parties are listed in descending order of number of candidates nominated in 2004.

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 led 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. The Alliance have nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election, the only other party besides the Tories and the NDP to do so.

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 49 candiates, and have a full slate of 23 in Calgary.

External Link (http://www.albertagreens.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). The party has 42 candidates for the 2004 election.

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

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. The Separation Party has 12 candidates in the 2004 election.

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

Alberta Party Political Association

Leader: Bruce Stubbs

The Alberta Party did not nominate any candidates in 2001, but have nominated four candidates for the 2004 election.

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

Communist Party

Leader: Naomi Rankin

The Communist Party nominated two candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 117 votes. They have two candidates running in the 2004 election.

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. The Equity Party and Reform Party are also absent from the ballot in 2004. Unlike some other provinces, a party does not automatically lose its registration if it does not run candidates in a general election, as long as it continues to file financial statements with the electoral office.

De-registered parties

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

Independent candidates

29 independent candidates ran in the 2001 election, with these candidates combining for 10,528 votes. 10 independents are running in 2004.

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 4 - Global Television re-iterates that they will not invite Alberta Alliance leader Randy Thorsteinson to their leaders debate, because his party did not elect any members in the previous election and their sole MLA crossed the floor. The decision sparks anger amongst Alliance members and even disappoints the other three leaders.

November 8 - Close of nominations and the Global television leaders debate involving Klein, Taft and Mason.

November 13 - NDP leader Mason releases a brochure entitled Health Care for Dummies in an effort to mock the premier's reluctance to discuss health care in detail during the campaign.

November 18, 19 and 20 - Advance polling stations to be open.

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

• 8:00 PM local time: Polls close (03:00, Nov 23 UTC)
• 8:36 PM: CBC projects a PC majority (03:36, Nov 23 UTC)

Poll numbers

• Ipsos-Reid, 2004-10-29: PC 50%, Lib 26%, NDP 10%, AAP 9%, Green 4%
• COMPAS Inc. / Calgary Herald, 2004-11-3, 2004-11-4: PC 61%, Lib 19%, NDP 16%, Green 3%, Separation 1%, Other 1%. Interestingly, the pollsters only prompted for the three "major" parties yet Green and Seperation showed up over 1% in the results while the Alliance, which is contesting every riding and holds a seat in the legislature, did not. [1] (http://www.compas.ca/data/041108-2004AlbertaElection-E.pdf)
• Cameron Strategy Inc. / Global News / Calgary Herald, 2004-11-8-11-16: PC 47%, Lib 21%, NDP 11%, AAP 9%, Green 5%
• Ipsos-Reid, 2004-11-12-11-17: PC 44%, Lib 29%, NDP 12%, AAP 9%, Green 4% (800 adults, MoE 3.5%)

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

Candidate information from parties, and individual candidate websites.

• Elections Alberta Candidates Info (http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/wheretovote/index.cfm?PAGE=21)
• PC candidates (http://www.albertapc.ab.ca/public/custom/constituency/candidate.cfm)
• Liberal candidates (http://www.albertaliberal.com/index.php/alp/content/C47)
  • Calgary Mountain View: David Swann (http://www.davidswann.ca/)
• NDP candidates (http://www.albertandp.ca/Candidates/index.cfm)
• Alberta Alliance candidates (http://www.campaignsecrets.com/alliance/candidates.asp)
• Green candidates (http://www.albertagreens.ca/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=19)
  • Banff - Cochrane: Chris Foote (http://www.chrisfoote.albertagreens.ca/)
  • Calgary Buffalo: Grant Neufeld (http://www.grantneufeld.ca/)
• Social Credit candidates (http://www.socialcredit.com/candidates.htm)
• Separation Party (http://www.separationalberta.com/)