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The Alberta Alliance is a right wing political party in Alberta, Canada. Its membership is primarily 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 Ralph Klein 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.

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. The provincial Reform Party was deregistered along with the Equity Party after the 26th Alberta general election. 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 Alberta 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.

2004 election

The Alliance nominated candidates in all 83 electoral divisions and 3 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 Democrats leader was allowed in the debate, even though the NDs had no MLAs at the time. They also noted that the NDs 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.

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 his Edmonton seat in the election, placing a distant fourth. Masyk's electoral district had been merged in Edmonton-Highlands, the district represented by New Democrat leader Brian Mason. To avoid running against Mason, Masyk sought election in a different 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 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.

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.

2005 leadership convention

A leadership convention was held on November 18 and 19, 2005, in Red Deer. Nominations closed on September 20, 2005. In order to be a candidate, one must have been a party member for at least 90 days prior to the convention, obtain 100 signatures from current party members, and provide a $5,000 deposit.

Four candidates were officially nominated.

Paul Hinman was elected as the party's new leader on November 19, 2005.

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.

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. Merger talks with the Alberta Party are still on-going.

Current provincial council

The Alliance "Provincial Council" as of June 3, 2006:

Alberta Alliance Opposition

See also

External links


2002 establishments | Provincial political parties in Alberta | Alberta Alliance Party

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Alberta Alliance Party".

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