Randy Thorsteinson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randy Thorsteinson (born November 8, 1956) is a politician in Alberta, Canada.
Thorsteinson graduated from Brigham Young University in 1980 with a major in business management. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics.
He was one of the founders of Carlson Tours and Incentive Travel Ltd. which subsequently changes its name to Cascadia Motivation Inc. The company was established in 1984 and is currently the largest Canadian owned performance improvement company in Canada. Thorsteinson is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the company.
He entered politics as the Red Deer Riding President for the Reform Party of Canada in 1988 and served in this position for three years. He joined the Alberta Social Credit Party in 1991, and became leader the following year.
Under Thorsteinson, Social Credit experienced the beginnings of a rebirth, and in the 1997 general election, the party nominated 70 candidates and collected almost seven per cent of the popular vote, but failed to win any seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
By 1999, however, Thorsteinson, a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was at odds with his party after a movement within the party wanted to limit the involvement of Latter-day Saints. Thorsteinson quit the party in April 1999, and later formed the Alberta Alliance, whose leadership he assumed in February 2003.
Thorsteinson's new party gained momentum immediately following the 2004 federal election when Edmonton Norwood Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Gary Masyk crossed the floor to join the Alberta Alliance. He was the Alberta Alliance's first MLA.
Later that year in the Alberta general election, 2004, Thorsteinson placed second in votes in his riding (electoral district) of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, failing to become a MLA. His party won one seat in the election; Paul Hinman was elected MLA for the riding of Cardston-Taber-Warner.
On March 7, 2005, Thorsteinson announced his resignation as leader of the Alberta Alliance, saying he would not be able to devote the time and energy into the party. Paul Hinman, the lone Alliance MLA in the legislature succeeded Thorsteinson.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Robert Alford |
Social Credit Party of Alberta Leader 1993-1999 |
Succeeded by James Alberts |
| Preceded by New Party |
Alberta Alliance Party Leader 2003-2005 |
Succeeded by Eleanor Maroes |
