The Alberta Alliance Party, a conservative political party in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, held its second leadership election on November 18 and 19, 2005, in

Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and education. ...

. The leadership position was vacated by

Alberta Alliance Party The Alberta Alliance was a right wing provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Many of its members were supporters of the defunct Canadian Alliance federal political party and its predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada. Members also joined f ...

founder and leader

Randy Thorsteinson Randy Thorsteinson (born November 8, 1956) is a politician and businessman in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Early years Thorsteinson was born in Gimli, Manitoba and spent his youth living in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Edmonton, Alberta; Calgary, Alberta; ...

in March 2005. Paul Hinman was elected leader on the third ballot, defeating the other candidates, Marilyn Burns, David Crutcher and Ed Klop. Hinman lead the party from this leadership election to the merge with the

Wildrose Party of Alberta The Wildrose Party of Alberta was a centre-right political organization founded in Alberta, Canada in 2007. The organization took its name from Alberta's provincial flower. On January 19, 2008, the members merged with the Alberta Alliance Party t ...

in 2008.

Election results

The election was held using a preferential ballot. Members indicated their preferences in order on the ballot. After each round of voting, the candidate receiving the fewest votes was removed from the election, and his or her votes allocated to other candidates on the basis of the voters' indicated preferences. All members who registered or renewed their memberships before October 6, 2005, were mailed a ballot. Members could mail in their ballots or take them to the leadership convention in Red Deer. Ballots had to be mailed in by November 18, 2005 to be eligible. Sampleaamailinballot

Candidates and platforms

Four candidates were officially nominated. Candidates needed 100 party member signatures and a $5,000 deposit to run for leader.

Marilyn Burns

Campaign slogan: ''"A Brighter Future, A Better Way"'' Marilyn Burns: Marilyn Burns is the Alberta Alliance justice critic and candidate for Stony Plain in the 2004 election. Marilyn was the first candidate to get her campaign off the ground. One of her main principles is defending Alberta's provincial rights, under a heavily expanded version of the Alberta Agenda. She is a lawyer, politician and mother of four from Edmonton Alberta. Informal polls have shown her to be fighting for the lead in the race with David Crutcher.

David Crutcher

Campaign slogan: ''"A new Alberta"'' David Crutcher, a member of the Progressive Group for Independent business, backed by

Craig Chandler Craig B. Chandler is a Canadian businessman, lobbyist, and political activist. He is co-founder and CEO of the Progressive Group for Independent Business (PGIB). He was a candidate at the federal 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership conventi ...

, ran in

Calgary-Egmont Calgary-Egmont was a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single Member of the Legislative Assembly, member to the Legislative Assembly o ...

, and won the largerst percentage of the popular vote of any Alliance candidate in Calgary in the 2004 election. * Supports an Alberta provincial tax on consumer goods * Supports publicly funded alternative medicine in order to save money and resources * Opposes

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

* Supports Alberta's separation from Canada if the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

didn't win in the upcoming federal election.

Paul Hinman

Campaign slogan: ''"Moving Forward"'' Paul Hinman: deputy leader of the Alberta Alliance and the party's only current

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

, representing

Cardston-Taber-Warner Cardston-Taber-Warner was a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-pos ...

. Believes that by having its leader in the legislature, the party will get more respect and attention in both the legislature and media. Has been endorsed by Lethbridge Conservative MP

Rick Casson Richard L. Casson (born December 30, 1948 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian politician. Casson was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Lethbridge from 1997 to 2011. Befor ...

and former

Little Bow Little Bow was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 2019. Throughout its history, this district has been dominated by agricultural activities ...

Member of the Legislative Assembly

Raymond Speaker Raymond Albert "Ray" Speaker, (born December 13, 1935) is a Canadian farmer and politician. Speaker was born and raised in Enchant, Alberta, where he farms to this day. He was an elected official at the federal and provincial levels for 34 years, ...

. :

Ed Klop

Campaign slogan: ''"Building Together"'' Ed Klop: Ed Klop is 38 years old from Red Deer; he ran for the Alberta Alliance in Lacombe-Ponoka. Ed achieved second place taking 18% of the vote. Ed Klop has focused his platform around party building. His platform includes building constituency associations and the provincial council committees. Klop wants to increase communication through the various organizations in the party, as well as more communication with the membership at large. Ed believes in building a solid base of conservative policies through regional policy development sessions all over the province, as well as working to increase fundraising and party membership.

Candidates leadership debates

During the leadership election, two debates took place. The debate was hosted by the Freedom Radio Network, a radio show that was broadcast on AM 1140 in southern Alberta. The entire audio of the debate was broken down into two parts to be rebroadcast later. The debate itself was taped before a live studio audience who purchased tickets beforehand. Candidate Ed Klop joined the race after the debate and is not featured.
Debate part 1Debate part 2
The second debate was held on October 18, 2005, in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. All four candidates participated. The second debate was held by the party and moderated by

Eleanor Maroes Eleanor Maroes is a former politician and life insurance agent from Alberta, Canada. She served as interim leader of the Alberta Alliance Party in 2005. Political activities Maroes ran for a seat to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1997 Canad ...

Campaign controversies

The election race's major developments in October 2005 centred on

and David Crutcher, whom many Alberta Alliance members began increasingly attacking for what they viewed as undesirable spin and campaign tactics. These tactics included attacking leadership candidates, former election, some party policies and the provincial council. The Crutcher team believes many on the council, including

, the interim leader, are actively campaigning for other candidates against party rules. The first blow to the

campaign came on October 18, 2005 when Travis Chase, a former Alberta Alliance candidate in

Calgary Fort Calgary-Fort was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1997 to 2019. History The Riding covers some of th ...

issued a public statement removing himself from being associated with Craig Chandler and David Crutcher. He announced his support for Marilyn Burns. The result prompted the Craig Chandler campaign to threaten legal action against Travis Chase. On October 25, 2005 Travis responded by issuing a press release, On October 25, 2005, former party leader

broke his silence and endorsed Ed Klop, and attacking the Chandler campaign. The Crutcher camp responded with a

deamon dialer A demon is a malevolent supernatural being in religion, occultism, mythology, folklore, and fiction. Demon, daemon or dæmon may also refer to: Entertainment Fictional entities * Daemon (G.I. Joe), a character in the G.I. Joe universe * Dæmo ...

phone message attempting to dismiss the statements as campaign propaganda. Craig Chandler responded with legal action against Randy Thorsteinson.

Speculated candidates

The following people had been mentioned as possible choices to run for leader: * Gary Horan: Senator-in-waiting candidate, had contemplated running, but backed Marilyn Burns. * Preston Manning: the former Reform Party of Canada leader. Manning had been helping out Paul Hinman in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

. This caused the rumour mill to circulate his name as a possible leadership candidate. *

Deborah Grey Deborah Cleland Grey, (born July 1, 1952) is a retired Canadian member of Parliament from Alberta for the Reform Party of Canada, the Canadian Alliance, and the Conservative Party of Canada. She was the first female leader of the Opposition in ...

: was also mentioned as a possible leadership candidate. * Ted Morton: some Alberta Alliance members believed that Randy Thorsteinson should have waited until after the Progressive Conservative Party chooses a successor to

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

, so that Ted Morton could have run for leader of the Alliance if he did not win the leadership of the PC party. Randy Thorsteinson felt that the Alberta Alliance should never be a fall-back position for anyone. He has stated "The Alberta Alliance is the home of principled conservatives. Those that truly believe in reforming the Alberta Government realize that trying to change the Progressive Conservatives from within is a lost cause. It has never happened and never will. We must ensure that principled conservatives have a home led by people of character and integrity not opportunists. I chose to step down early to allow the new Leader as much time as possible to prepare for the next election and to make leadership aspirants choose between the Progressive Conservative or the Alberta Alliance leadership races. You will be able to determine their commitment to principle by the leadership race they choose to enter".

Timeline of campaign developments

* April 15, 2005: Randy Thorsteinson steps down as leader of the Alberta Alliance * May 27, 2005: Alberta Alliance convention held in Calgary, four candidates make their intentions known * May 28, 2005: Day 2 of Alberta Alliance convention * July 20, 2005: Marilyn Burns launches her campaign with backing of Gary Horan * July 26, 2005: Marilyn Burns gains momentum after Paul Jackson publishes a column on her in the '' Calgary Sun'' * August 1, 2005: Convention registration opened * August 11, 2005: David Crutcher announces leadership bid. * August 29, 2005: Paul Hinman announces leadership bid. * September 12, 2005: Paul Hinman becomes the first candidate to officially be nominated. * September 16, 2005: David Crutcher becomes the second candidate to officially be nominated. * September 20, 2005: Marilyn Burns becomes the third candidate to officially be nominated. * September 20, 2005: Nominations close * September 22, 2005: Alberta Alliance leadership debate to be taped before a live audience * September 24, 2005: Alberta Alliance leadership debate part 1 on AM 1140 at 6:30 p.m. MST * September 28, 2005: Ed Klop officially announces leadership bid. * October 1, 2005: Alberta Alliance leadership debate part 2 on AM 1140 at 6:30 p.m. MST * October 6, 2005: Closing date for new members to vote for Leader. * October 17, 2005: 2nd leadership debate, Old Timers' Cabin in Edmonton * October 23, 2005: Randy Thorstienson endorses Ed Klop * November 18, 2005: Day 1 of leadership convention * November 19, 2005: Day 2 of leadership convention

References

Randy Thorsteinson endorses Ed Klop and condemns the Chandler campaign

Travis Chase makes a public statement on the election

Press Release from Travis Chase on legal threats by Craig Chandler

Randy Thorstienson responds to threats of legal action by Craig Chandler

External links

Campaign websites
Paul Hinman

David Crutcher

Marilyn Burns old siteArchived
2009-10-25)
Marilyn Burns new site

Ed Klop
News Articles on the Alberta Alliance leadership campaign

* ttp://www.prrecordgazette.com/story.php?id=181411 Paul Hinman announces Leadership Bid Peace River Gazette August 30, 2005
David Crutcher visits Nanton September 21, 2005

* ttp://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2005/10/25/1277515-sun.html Fledgling Alliance hosts leadership elections November 19 Edmonton Sun October 25, 2005
Tom Olsen Column the Alberta Alliance leadership convention November 20, 2005
Online Forums covering the Alberta Alliance Leadership election
Free Dominion.ca

Project Alberta
{{Wildrose Party Alberta Alliance Party leadership election

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Alliance Party leadership election Alberta Alliance Party leadership election Alberta Alliance Party leadership election