Alberta Alliance Party
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| Alberta Alliance Party | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Active Provincial Party | |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Leader | Paul Hinman |
| President | Randy Thorsteinson |
| Headquarters | #3, 1303 - 44 Ave. NE Calgary, Alberta, T2E 6L5 #401 Legislature Annex 9718-107 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5K 1E4 |
| Political ideology | Conservatism, Populism |
| International alignment | none |
| Colours | Blue & Green |
| Website | http://www.albertaalliance.com http://www.allianceopposition.ca |
The Alberta Alliance is a right wing political party in Alberta, Canada. Many of its members are former supporters of the now-defunct Canadian Alliance federal political party and its predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada. Members also joined from such other provincial fringe parties as the Alberta First Party, the Alberta Party and Social Credit. Alliance supporters tend to view themselves as "true conservatives", and believe the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Ed Stelmach is out of touch with the needs of Albertans.
Paul Hinman was elected the party's leader at a leadership convention held on November 19, 2005.
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[edit] Early history
The party was registered on October 25, 2002, and its founding convention was held on February 14-15, 2003, in Red Deer.
Former Social Credit Party of Alberta leader Randy Thorsteinson was selected as the first leader of the party. Thorsteinson, a devout Latter-day Saint, had quit the Social Credit Party in April 1999 in protest of an internal party proposal to limit the involvement of Mormons.
The Canadian Alliance never formed provincial wings or forged formal links with existing provincial parties. In the case of the Canadian Alliance's predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada, an inactive Reform Party of Alberta had been formed by members of the federal party to keep the Reform name out of provincial politics. Unlike the Reform Party, the founders of the Alberta Alliance intended to form a very active party, and many members of the Alberta Alliance undoubtedly hoped the new party would be seen as the unofficial provincial wing of the Canadian Alliance.
The new party never sought a formal link with the CA, and had it done so, the overture would likely have been rebuffed, since many Albertan CA members continued to support the Progressive Conservatives. However, the Alberta Alliance used the same blue-and-green colours used by the CA, and its logo bears a striking resemblance to that of the federal party. The Alberta Alliance continued to grow following the Canadian Alliance's merger with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to form the new Conservative Party of Canada.
The Alliance gained its first Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (MLA) on June 29, 2004, when Gary Masyk crossed the floor. Masyk quit the PC Party to protest Klein's handling of health care issues during the 2004 federal election. Masyk had represented Edmonton Norwood since 2001.
[edit] 2004 election campaign
The Alliance nominated candidates in all 83 electoral divisions and three candidates for the Senator-in-waiting, for the 2004 Alberta election, which was held on November 22, 2004. The party was excluded from Global Television's leaders' debate because it had not elected any members in the 2001 election, which was held before the party was founded. Some Alliance members noted that in the 1997 election, the Alberta New Democratic Party leader was allowed in the debate (as was then Social Credit leader Thorsteinson), even though the NDP had no MLAs at the time. They also noted that the NDP did not even have a full slate of candidates in the 1997 election.
The Alliance hired an American firm, Campaign Secrets, to help run its campaign. Campaign Secrets, which has extensive experience working on Republican campaigns, produced advertisements that were criticized by some Albertans for employing "U.S.-style" negative campaign tactics. The Alliance leadership defended their use of American strategists, claiming that most right-leaning Albertan consultants were already hired by the well-heeled Tories.
[edit] "I Blame Ralph"
The Alberta Alliance Party devised a campaign strategy in September 2004 prior to election called "I Blame Ralph", the purpose of which was to drive a wedge between voters who were uncomfortable with Ralph Klein's behaviour, and highlight his tight controls over the governments decision making.
The party kicked off the "I Blame Ralph" tour holding pre-election campaign events in numerous cities including opening its Campaign Headquarters in Red Deer. Part of the promotional package used by the party was bumper stickers a variety of fliers for different problems and a television ad, as well as t-shirts and a website. "I Blame Ralph" received significant attention, but did not include any of the standard Alberta Alliance logo's or colours, instead using red and white leading many to believe the Liberals were responsible.
[edit] Senate campaign
The Alberta Alliance party ran three Senator-in-waiting candidates selected at a nomination meeting in Red Deer. The Alliance was the only party besides the Progressive Conservatives to nominate candidates. The Social Credit Party failed to get the signatures required to field a candidate.
[edit] Legislature results
On election day, results for the party could be described as mixed. Most analysts did not expect the two-year-old party to seriously challenge what was still a popular PC government, and it did not.
The party's lone incumbent MLA, Gary Masyk, was defeated in the Edmonton Decore electoral district, placing a distant fourth. Masyk's old electoral district Edmonton Norwood had been merged in Edmonton Highlands, the district represented by popular New Democrat leader Brian Mason. To avoid running against Mason, Masyk sought election in a neighbouring riding.
The party on the whole did very poorly in Edmonton and Calgary. The Alliance appears to have played spoiler in some urban seats, siphoning off enough votes from the Tories that Liberals or New Democrats were elected. But many are quick to point out the Alliance simply put the Conservative at par with the Liberals, for the Liberals were having their votes siphoned of by the NDP in previous elections.
As expected by commentators, it was in a handful of rural seats where the party proved to be truly competitive. Thorsteinson placed a distant second in Innisfail-Sylvan Lake. The party managed a narrow victory in Progressive Conservative strong hold of Cardston-Taber-Warner, where Paul Hinman became the first MLA elected under the Alliance banner. The party also placed a close second in Dunvegan-Central Peace. Although the party had other respectable second place finishes, it was badly defeated in other rural districts.
[edit] Aftermath of the 2004 election
On March 7, 2005, Thorsteinson announced his resignation as leader of the Alberta Alliance, citing that he would not be able to devote the time and energy into the party. He stepped down on April 15, 2005. A leadership convention was scheduled for November 19, 2005. Even though Thorsteinson stepped down as leader, he still plays a semi-active role in the party; It is unclear, however, if he will run for the legislature in the next provincial election.
Eleanor Maroes was appointed interim leader by the Provincial Council.
[edit] 2005 leadership convention
The party replaced former leader Randy Thorsteinson in a two day leadership convention held on November 18, and November 19, 2005 in Red Deer.
The Nominations closed on September 20, 2005. Candidates were eligible if had been a party member for at least 90 days prior to the convention, obtain 100 signatures from party members in good standing, and provide a $5,000 deposit.
The Alberta Alliance had four candidates were officially nominated.
Paul Hinman was elected as the party's new leader on November 19, 2005, after a bitter leadership campaign. He was elected on the third ballot defeating Marilyn Burns.
[edit] Merger talks
Following the leadership convention, the party entered discussion about merging with the Social Credit Party of Alberta and re-entered merger talks with the Alberta Party in order to unite the political right in Alberta.
Merger talks with the Social Credit collapsed after a motion was put forward at the 2006 Social Credit policy convention to break off merger talks and focus on electing members in the next provincial election.
The Alberta Alliance Party and Alberta Party will each hold their Annual General Meetings on March 23, 2007 and March 24, 2007, in Edmonton and Red Deer, respectfully; and vote on a new party constitution that will effectively merge the parties. The proposal will keep the Alberta Alliance Party name and keep Paul Hinman as leader. Talks between the two parties have been on-going prior to the election in 2004. The Alberta Alliance party membership voted to withhold a potential merger until after the Alberta Party deals with its current legal troubles.
[edit] 2006 Progressive Conservative leadership election
In an unorthodox political move, on October 11, 2006, Alliance leader Paul Hinman encouraged his party members to buy memberships in the rival Progressive Conservative Party and vote for candidate Ted Morton in the PC Party's upcoming leadership race, as Morton is considered the candidate that is ideologically most in sync with Alliance philosophies. Edmonton Journal story
The idea wasn't well received by the provincial council and voted down.
[edit] Current provincial council
The Alliance "Provincial Council" as of January 2007:
- Paul Hinman, Leader MLA, Cardston-Taber-Warner
- Randy Thorsteinson, President
- John Murdoch, Past President
- Jane Greydanus, Chief Financial Officer
- Kathy Rayner, Party Secretary
- Ed Klop, Vice President - Communications
- Kelly Swerid, Vice President - Election Readiness
- Rand Sisson, Vice President - Fundraising
- David Crutcher, Vice President - Membership
- Cory Morgan, Vice President - Policy
- Mike McCraken, Vice President - Calgary Region
- Phil Gamache, Vice President - Edmonton Region
- Patti Argent, Vice President - Central Region
- Vacant, Vice President - North East Region
- Dale Leuken, Vice President - North West Region
- Vacant, Vice President - South Region
- Alberta Alliance Opposition
- David Strong, Executive Assistant and Constituency Manager (Cardston-Taber-Warner)
- Steve Ellingson, Communications and Research - Edmonton
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Alberta Alliance Party
- Alberta Alliance caucus website
- Alberta Alliance enters merger talks
- Alberta Party enters merger talks with the Alberta Alliance
- Social Credit suspends merger talks
| Politics of Alberta | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant-Governor | Norman Kwong • Former lieutenant-governors |  |
| Premier | Ed Stelmach • Former premiers | |
| Opposition Leader | Kevin Taft • Former Opposition Leaders | |
| Speaker of the Assembly | Ken Kowalski | |
| Legislature | Current assembly • Former legislatures • Executive Council (Cabinet) | |
| 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 - Prince Edward Island - Newfoundland and Labrador - Nova Scotia - Yukon | ||
| Forming the official opposition: | ||
| Manitoba - New Brunswick - Ontario - Saskatchewan Party - Action démocratique du 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 - Northwest Territories Liberal-Conservative Party | ||
