The 2006 Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership election was held in November and December 2006 to choose a new leader for the
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (often referred to colloquially as Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta) was a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta that existed from 1905 to 2020. The party f ...
(and consequent
Premier of Alberta
The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022.
The ...
) to replace the retiring
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 ...
.
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speaks ...
emerged as the winner of an eight candidate field, despite placing third on the first ballot.
Timing
Klein announces resignation date
On March 14, 2006, 16 days before the PC Convention and leadership review, Klein announced his plan to tender his resignation on October 31, 2007, but remain as Premier for several months until a leadership election in early 2008. However, at a party convention March 31, he received only 55.4% support from party delegates, and consequently decided to submit his resignation September 20 and to leave office as soon as a successor was chosen.
Implications for Cabinet ministers
Shortly after announcing his timetable with regards to stepping down, the Premier instructed all current members of the Albertan Cabinet to resign and move to the
backbench
In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
by June 16, 2006, if they wanted to run for the leadership. Premier Klein's request is not unusual or unprecedented on his part - former Albertan Treasurer
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a Canadian former politician who led the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.
A provincial cabinet minister from Alberta, Day served as minister ...
was required to resign as Treasurer upon declaring his candidacy for leadership of the
in 2000. However, the lengthy notice Klein has demanded has proven controversial - after announcing his own resignation Klein's predecessor
Don Getty
Donald Ross Getty (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992. A member of the Progressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergo ...
also required cabinet ministers who wanted the leadership to resign, but Getty requested their resignations only a few months prior to the vote.
March 2006 leadership vote
On March 31, 2006, Premier Klein faced a mandatory leadership review when party delegates voted on the question of whether he should continue as leader of the party and, by extension, as premier. Although Klein was not widely expected to lose this vote, he had said he would resign leader quickly if he did not get an overwhelming majority. Klein had not publicly divulged what this threshold would be, but most political observers pegged it at 75%, far more than the 55.4% the premier actually received. In previous years, Klein had scored as high as 97% in support of his leadership.
There was known to be pressure from within the party to force Klein out sooner than planned. On March 23, 2006, Infrastructure and Transportation Minister
Lyle Oberg
Lyle Knute Oberg (born January 6, 1960) is an Albertan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly. He is also a physician and business executive.
Life and career
Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A physician by pro ...
was suspended from the party's legislative caucus for six months and dismissed from the Cabinet after he told constituents in
Brooks
Brooks may refer to:
Places
;Antarctica
*Cape Brooks
;Canada
*Brooks, Alberta
;United States
*Brooks, Alabama
* Brooks, Arkansas
*Brooks, California
*Brooks, Georgia
* Brooks, Iowa
* Brooks, Kentucky
* Brooks, Maine
*Brooks Township, Michigan
* ...
that he would not urge delegates at the March 31 leadership review to support Klein. Oberg had been considered a contender for the leadership prior to this decision, but described the premier's directive regarding the June 1 deadline as a "bombshell" and infuriated fellow Tories when he told constituents "If I were the premier, I wouldn't want me sitting as a backbencher... I know where all the skeletons are." Despite this, Oberg pressed on with his leadership campaign and was re-admitted to caucus on July 25, 2006.
Political analysts believe the result of the March 31 vote can be attributed to concerns over how a "long goodbye" by a sitting premier can affect governing parties. There were still fresh memories across Canada of former
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
's lengthy retirement notice and a belief that this delay was the cause of party infighting in 2004 followed by reduction to a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
in the 2004 federal election and then defeat in the 2006 election. In addition, many Albertans believed that crucial and decisive actions would need to be taken in the coming months as a result of Alberta's booming economy and massive budgetary surplus, thus they believed it was not the time for a lame duck premier to remain in office. Even worse for some, Premier Klein's retirement plans, had they been carried out as intended, would inevitably have resulted in him appointing lame duck
cabinet minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, â ...
s who would replace the leadership candidates only to face probable removal from the Cabinet following the leadership vote.
Format
The format for the 2006 election was identical to the previous leadership election held in 1992. It was a one-member-one-vote voting system in which the top three candidates from the first round were eligible to move on to a second round, in which
preferential voting {{short description, Election systems
Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems:
* Ranked voting methods, all election methods that involve ranking candidates in order of pr ...
would be used should all three eligible candidates stay in the race. At least one
polling station
A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building
was placed in each of Alberta's 83 electoral divisions - larger rural districts had multiple polling stations. In 1992, third-place candidate
Rick Orman
Richard D. "Rick" Orman (born June 9, 1948) is a businessman and former Canadian politician. Orman was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1948 as a fourth generation Albertan. He studied at the University of Calgary before graduating with honours fro ...
dropped out, leaving two candidates in the race:Klein and future
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
leader Nancy Betkowski. Klein then defeated Betkowski.
Compared to
Canadian political parties
This article lists political parties in Canada.
Federal parties
In contrast with the political party systems of many nations, Canadian parties at the federal level are often only loosely connected with parties at the provincial level, despite ha ...
in general, and especially governing parties, there were very few restrictions regarding membership and regarding eligibility to vote in a leadership election in Alberta's PC Party. First, Alberta PC party rules did not forbid members from holding
membership
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
in rival parties. Some other Alberta parties, notably the Liberals and
New Democrats
New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...
do forbid their members from being members of other parties although the
Alberta Alliance
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 ...
removed a similar restriction, possibly in response to
Ted Morton
Frederick Lee Morton (born 1949), known commonly as Ted Morton, is an American-Canadian politician and former cabinet minister in the Alberta government. As a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he represented the constituency of Fo ...
's PC leadership candidacy. Second and perhaps more significantly, the Progressive Conservatives, as in 1992, allowed anyone who wished to vote in the leadership election to purchase a five-
dollar
Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...
membership right up to the polling day—memberships were even available for purchase at the polling stations. This was very unusual in Canada—in fact no other major federal or provincial party is known to allow leadership voters to buy memberships on polling day. Even those parties that do not employ delegated
leadership convention {{Politics of Canada
In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader.
Overview
In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...
s and allow the general membership to vote for the leader usually have a deadline for purchasing memberships of no later than seven days prior to the vote.
The timing of the potential second ballot coincided with the start of the federal Liberal Party's
leadership election
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
.
Declared candidates
In order to be a declared candidate, the candidate had to have their nomination papers filled out and returned to the party by October 16, 2006. Eight candidates were declared. Of the nine initial candidates, six were former members of the Alberta Cabinet. Three of the candidates were not current MLAs; however, Premier Klein announced he will resign as the MLA for
Calgary Elbow
Calgary-Elbow is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. Its most recent MLA was Doug Schweitzer, who won the seat in the 2019 provincial election. Schweitzer stepped down on August 31, 2022 and the e ...
when he resigns as Premier, thus the new leader will have a vacant seat to contest in a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
should he need one.
In the order they filed their nomination papers, the candidates were:
Ed Stelmach
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speaks ...
, the former Intergovernmental Affairs minister, announced his resignation from cabinet in accordance with Klein's directive. He was the first declared candidate.
Website :Supporters in caucus: 13
Pearl Calahasen
Pearl Calahasen (born December 5, 1952) is a Canadians, Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district (Canada), electoral district of Lesser Slave Lake (electoral district), Lesser Slave Lake in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta ...
,
Ray Danyluk
Raymond Bruce "Ray" Danyluk (born 1952 or 1953) is a farmer and former provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2001 to 2012 with the Progressive Conservative caucus before ...
,
Iris Evans
Iris Sylvia Evans (born December 31, 1941) is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations for the Canadian province. From November 25, 2004 to December 15, 2006 she served ...
,
Hector Goudreau
Hector George Joseph Goudreau (born October 11, 1950) is a politician from Alberta, Canada. He is originally from the francophone area of Beaumont, Alberta, located just south of Edmonton's metro population.
Hector is a former member of the Leg ...
,
George Groeneveld
George Groeneveld (born 1940) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Highwood as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
Groeneveld was born in Blackie, Alberta. He se ...
Phil Klein
Phil William Klein (born April 30, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies; and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama D ...
,
Mel Knight
Melvyn Reginald Knight (born July 30, 1944) was the Minister of Energy of Alberta and a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
Early life
Mel Knight was born July 30, 1944 in Beaverlodge, Alberta. His fat ...
,
Fred Lindsay
Frederick Lindsay (born March 12, 1946) is a politician and was a provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Alberta, Canada.
Political involvement
Lindsay has been a longtime Progressive Conservative, having served on the Stony Pl ...
,
Luke Ouellette
Lucien "Luke" Ouellette (born July 22, 1953) is a Canadian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Innisfail-Sylvan Lake as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
Ouellette was bo ...
,
Lloyd Snelgrove
Lloyd Snelgrove (born March 27, 1956) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Vermilion-Lloydminster in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Political caree ...
,
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speaks ...
, Ivan Strang.
:Additional supporters in caucus after first ballot: 6
Guy Boutilier
Guy Carleton Boutilier is a Canadian politician, who sat as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1997 to 2012. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative, and served in several capacities in the Cabinet of Alberta under Premi ...
Doug Horner
Douglas Alan Horner (born January 17, 1961) is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Spruce Grove-St. Albert in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2001 until January 31, 2015. He was the President of t ...
,
Lyle Oberg
Lyle Knute Oberg (born January 6, 1960) is an Albertan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly. He is also a physician and business executive.
Life and career
Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A physician by pro ...
Lyle Oberg
Lyle Knute Oberg (born January 6, 1960) is an Albertan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly. He is also a physician and business executive.
Life and career
Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A physician by pro ...
, the former Transportation minister, had said he intended to resign from Cabinet by the June 1 deadline. However, as noted above Oberg was fired from Cabinet and suspended from Caucus on March 22, 2006. He pursued the leadership despite these events, and was re-admitted to caucus on July 25.
Website: http://www.lyleoberg.com
:Supporters in caucus: 3
Guy Boutilier
Guy Carleton Boutilier is a Canadian politician, who sat as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1997 to 2012. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative, and served in several capacities in the Cabinet of Alberta under Premi ...
,
Hung Pham
Hung Pham or Hung Kim Pham (born Phạm Kim Hưng; October 2, 1963 in Saigon) is a former politician and information expert in Alberta, Canada. He formerly served as a member of Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.
Early life
Born and growin ...
Lyle Oberg
Lyle Knute Oberg (born January 6, 1960) is an Albertan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly. He is also a physician and business executive.
Life and career
Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A physician by pro ...
.
Mark Norris
Mark Norris, a former MLA who became celebrated within the party when he defeated former Tory leadership candidate-turned-Liberal leader
Nancy MacBeth
Nancy MacBeth ( Elliott; born December 29, 1948) is a Canadian politician who was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2001. She was the first female opposition leader in the province's history.
Ear ...
in Edmonton McClung in 2001. However, Norris lost his seat in the 2004 election to Liberal candidate
Mo Elsalhy
Mo Elsalhy (born March 20, 1971) is a politician, pharmacist and businessman from Alberta, Canada. He received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Alberta in 1994.
Political career
Elsalhy contested the nomination for ...
.
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20060613190856/http://marknorris.ca/
:Supporters in caucus: 2 Carol Haley,
Doug Horner
Douglas Alan Horner (born January 17, 1961) is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Spruce Grove-St. Albert in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2001 until January 31, 2015. He was the President of t ...
.
Ted Morton
Ted Morton
Frederick Lee Morton (born 1949), known commonly as Ted Morton, is an American-Canadian politician and former cabinet minister in the Alberta government. As a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he represented the constituency of Fo ...
was first elected to the Alberta legislature in the
2004 Alberta general election
The 2004 Alberta general election was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
The election was called on October 25, 2004. Premier Ralph Klein decided to go to the polls earlier than the legislated dead ...
. He had previously served as a professor in the
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
department of the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
where he was considered to be member of the conservative
Calgary School
The ''Calgary School'' is a term coined by Ralph Hedlin in an article in the now defunct ''Alberta Report'' in reference to four political science professors – Tom Flanagan (political scientist), Tom Flanagan, Rainer Knopff, Ted Morton, and ...
of professors. Morton served a six-year term as a senator-in-waiting between 1998 and 2004 after he was elected by Albertans in the
1998 Alberta Senate nominee election
The 1998 Alberta Senate nominee election, formally the 2nd Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on October 19, 1998, to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with Alberta ...
and used this position to advocate for democratic reform. Although Ted Morton was a backbencher, he was considered a strong contender for the leadership because of his high profile in the former Reform Party and Canadian Alliance. Morton was considered to be on the right of the political spectrum, and supported allowing people to pay for non-emergency health care services such as hip and knee replacements. Ted Morton also presented a private members bill in the Alberta legislature which would have allowed marriage commissioners who objected to same-sex marriage to opt out of performing same-sex marriages. Morton became one of two senators-in-waiting chosen by Albertans in a 1998 election.
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20050422165319/http://www.tedmorton.ca/
:Supporters in caucus: 2
Ted Morton
Frederick Lee Morton (born 1949), known commonly as Ted Morton, is an American-Canadian politician and former cabinet minister in the Alberta government. As a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he represented the constituency of Fo ...
,
Hung Pham
Hung Pham or Hung Kim Pham (born Phạm Kim Hưng; October 2, 1963 in Saigon) is a former politician and information expert in Alberta, Canada. He formerly served as a member of Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.
Early life
Born and growin ...
:Supporters in Alberta Alliance caucus: 1
Paul Hinman
Paul Hinman (born 1959) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is the former leader of the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta since 2020 and was formerly the leader of the Wildrose Alliance (2008–2009) and Alberta Alliance Party (20 ...
:Supporters in Federal
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
caucus: 3
Rob Anders
Robert J. "Rob" Anders (born April 1, 1972) is a Canadian former politician. He represented the riding of Calgary West from 1997 until 2015 and was a founding member of the Conservative Party of Canada.
On April 12, 2014, Anders was defeated by ...
,
Myron Thompson
Myron D. Thompson (April 23, 1936 – January 5, 2019) was a Conservative Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada. He represented the riding of Wild Rose in Alberta.
Early life and education
A dual citizen of Canada and the Un ...
,
Jason Kenney
Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022 and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member of ...
.
Dave Hancock
David Hancock, former Advanced Education Minister, was one of three
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 ...
MLAs to retain their seats for the Tories in the 2004 general election. He was first elected in 1997 and has held the International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs portfolio as well and Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Until his resignation from Cabinet to run for leader, Hancock was the Government House Leader and Minister of Advanced Education. At that time, Hancock was also the only MLA to sit on both Agenda and Priorities and the Treasury Board committees. He is the author of the Government of Alberta 20 Strategic Business Plan setting the long range framework for the future of the province. He resigned from Cabinet in April 2005 to pursue his leadership bid on a full-time basis.
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20060615210425/http://www.davehancockcrew.ca/
:Supporters in caucus: 1 David Hancock
:Supporters in Federal
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
caucus: 1
Laurie Hawn
Laurie Daniel Hawn PC CD (born May 11, 1947, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force, businessman, and former federal politician from Edmonton, Alberta. He was the Member of Parliament for Edmo ...
.
Jim Dinning
Jim Dinning
James Francis Dinning (born December 4, 1952) is a Canadian Progressive Conservative politician and businessman. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (1986–1997), and now serves on the board of directors of a variety of Canad ...
, Alberta's former
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
, was not a current MLA but was (and remains) on the board of directors of each of a number of major corporations and some other organisations, mostly concerned with public policy research.
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20060613192108/http://jimdinning.ca/
:Supporters in caucus: 38
Cindy Ady
Cindy Lou Ady is a Canadian politician and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. She served in this capacity from the 2001 provincial election, being re-elected in both the 2004 provincial election and 2008 provincial electio ...
Mike Cardinal
Melvin Percy Joseph Cardinal (July 17, 1941 – January 12, 2023) was a Canadian politician from Alberta. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1989 until 2008 as a Progressive Conservative representing the electora ...
,
Harvey Cenaiko
Harvey Cenaiko (born July 15, 1956 in Wakaw, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian former police officer and one-time Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety for the Province of Alberta. Cenaiko was elected to his second term as Member of the Le ...
,
David Coutts
David Conrad Coutts Encyclopedia.com is a
,
Alana DeLong
Alana Suzanne DeLong (born c. 1949) is a Canadian politician who was the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford federal riding in the 2019 general election. She is a former member of the Legislative Assem ...
,
Clint Dunford
Clinton Earl Dunford (February 21, 1943 – October 14, 2021) was a Canadian politician in Lethbridge, Alberta. He was first elected in 1993 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lethbridge West, and elected to his fourth term on Novemb ...
,
Heather Forsyth
Heather Mae Forsyth (born August 1, 1950) is a former Canadians, Canadian politician. She was named Interim leader (Canada), interim leader of the Wildrose Party on December 22, 2014, following the defection of the previous leader, Danielle Smit ...
,
Yvonne Fritz
Yvonne Marie Fritz (born September 17, 1950) is a Canadian politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Cross as a Progressive Conservative.
She designed the flag of Calgary al ...
Doug Griffiths
Douglas Gordon Griffiths (born October 26, 1972) is the president and chief executive officer of 13 Ways, Inc., a company he founded to provide consultation to struggling North American communities. He is a public speaker and co-author of the ...
,
Denis Herard
Denis Herard (born March 28, 1944) is a politician from Alberta, Canada, and is the former Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLA for Calgary-Egmont. He is French-Canadian, with fore-fathers coming majorly from Quebec.
Herard was ...
,
Mary Anne Jablonski
Mary Anne Jablonski (born c. 1952) is a Canadian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Red Deer North as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
Jablonski was born and raised wit ...
,
Art Johnston
Arthur "Art" Johnston (born August 3, 1947) is a Canadian politician. Johnston was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Hays as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
Johnston was born Augu ...
,
Ken Kowalski
Kenneth Reginald Kowalski (born September 27, 1945) is a politician and former teacher from Alberta, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, where he served from 1979 to 2012, sitting with the governing Progressive Conse ...
,
Ron Liepert
Ronald Liepert (born October 8, 1949) is a Canadian politician who serves as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Signal Hill in the House of Commons of Canada. He previously served in the Cabinet of Alberta as Minister of Finance, Energy, Heal ...
Ty Lund
Tyrone Orville Lund (March 31, 1938 – February 28, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Rocky Mountain House (electoral district), Rocky Mountain House (n ...
,
Richard Magnus
Richard Magnus (born July 31, 1950) is a Canadian politician currently living in Alberta, Canada.
Magnus served as a municipal alderman for Calgary City Council representing Ward 4 from 1989 until his resignation in 1993. He was elected to the L ...
,
Gary Mar
Gary Glen Mar , (; born July 26, 1962) is a Canadian businessman and former politician in Alberta. He is currently the President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation.
Mar had served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 ...
Barry McFarland
Barry McFarland (born April 22, 1948) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Little Bow as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
McFarland was born and raised near C ...
,
Greg Melchin
Gregory Knowles Melchin (born December 14, 1953) is a politician and accountant who formerly served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and Cabinet Minister in the Alberta government.
Early life
Melchin was born in Raymond, Albe ...
,
Len Mitzel
Leonard Wendelin Mitzel (February 18, 1946 – March 19, 2017) was a Canadian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Cypress-Medicine Hat as a Progressive Conservative.
Early ...
Ray Prins
Raymond Frank "Ray" Prins (born April 15, 1951) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Lacombe-Ponoka as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
Prins was born April ...
,
Rob Renner
Robert William Renner (born October 6, 1954) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the constituency of Medicine Hat as a Progressive Conservative.
Early life
Renner was born October 6, 1954 in ...
,
Dave Rodney
David Anthony Rodney (born June 27, 1964) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Lougheed, first as a Progressive Conservative and then the United Conservative ...
Shiraz Shariff
Shiraz Shariff (born March 1, 1954) is a politician from Alberta, Canada. He is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the riding of Calgary-McCall from 1995 to 2008 as a Progressive Conservative. He was born in Ta ...
,
Ron Stevens
Ronald Gordon "Ron" Stevens, Q.C. (September 17, 1949 – May 13, 2014) was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore as a Progressive Conservative until ...
Len Webber
Leonard Warren Webber (born November 10, 1960) is a Canadian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Calgary Confederation since 2015 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. During the 43rd Canadian Par ...
,
Gene Zwozdesky
Eugene Zwozdesky, (July 24, 1948 – January 6, 2019) was a Canadian politician in the province of Alberta. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 to 2015, and was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2015.
E ...
.
:Supporters in federal
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
caucus: 3
Deepak Obhrai
Deepak Obhrai (July 5, 1950 – August 2, 2019) was a Tanzania-born Canadian politician, representing the riding of Calgary East (until 2015) and Forest Lawn (from 2015) for the Reform Party of Canada and then the Conservative Party of Canada ...
Victor Doerksen
Victor Doerksen (born November 25, 1953) is a politician, accountant and former cabinet minister in Alberta, Canada.
Early life
Doerksen was born in Bassano, Alberta, Bassano, Alberta on November 25, 1953. He was employed by the Bank of Montrea ...
, the MLA for
Red Deer South
Red Deer-South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.
The district was created from Red Deer in 1986.
Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency borders Red Dee ...
and former Minister for Innovation and Science, announced his candidacy on August 17 after resigning from the Cabinet on August 15.
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20061024030954/http://www.voteforvictor.ca/
:Supporters in caucus: 1
Victor Doerksen
Victor Doerksen (born November 25, 1953) is a politician, accountant and former cabinet minister in Alberta, Canada.
Early life
Doerksen was born in Bassano, Alberta, Bassano, Alberta on November 25, 1953. He was employed by the Bank of Montrea ...
.
Gary McPherson
Gary McPherson, former chair of the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, was a quadriplegic since a childhood bout with polio. He announced his candidacy on August 18.
Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20070929080918/http://www.teammcpherson.com/blog/
:Supporters in caucus: 0 .
First-round results
Second-round voting
No candidate achieved the more than the 50% requirement in the first round of voting, so the top three candidates - Jim Dinning, Ted Morton and Ed Stelmach - headed for a second round held on December 2. Lyle Oberg, Dave Hancock, and Mark Norris threw their support behind Ed Stelmach after failing to advance to the second round. McPherson threw his support to Dinning, and Doerksen chose not to endorse any of the three remaining candidates.
Voters indicated their first and second choice on a
preferential ballot
The term ranked voting (also known as preferential voting or ranked choice voting) refers to any voting system in which voters rank their candidates (or options) in a sequence of first or second (or third, etc.) on their respective ballots. Ran ...
. As no candidate received 50% plus one of votes cast after first preferences were counted, the third place candidate, Morton, was dropped and the second choices of his voters were apportioned to the two remaining candidates. These second choices overwhelmingly favoured Stelmach, making him leader of the party and incoming premier of Alberta.
Instant runoff results
Withdrawn candidates
Alana DeLong
Alana DeLong
Alana Suzanne DeLong (born c. 1949) is a Canadian politician who was the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford federal riding in the 2019 general election. She is a former member of the Legislative Assem ...
was a Calgary
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 ...
(MLA), and the only woman in the race. She dropped out before handing in her nomination papers on October 11 and endorsed Dinning.
Timeline
*March 14, 2006 - Premier Klein announces that he intends to tender his resignation on October 31, 2007, but remain premier until early 2008.
*March 15 - Klein orders all cabinet ministers who intend to run in the leadership election to succeed him to resign from cabinet by June 1, 2006.
*March 22 - Transport Minister
Lyle Oberg
Lyle Knute Oberg (born January 6, 1960) is an Albertan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly. He is also a physician and business executive.
Life and career
Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A physician by pro ...
, a possible contender for the party's leadership, is ousted from Cabinet and suspended from caucus for six months after making critical comments about Klein to his riding association and saying he won't ask delegates from his riding to support Klein in the March 31 leadership review.
*March 31 - 1,500 delegates to the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party convention vote on Klein's leadership in a secret ballot. Klein had indicated he'd resign immediately if he does not receive a "substantial majority" in the leadership review. Klein's leadership is endorsed by only 55.4% of delegates, described as a "crushing blow" to the Premier who asks for a few days to decide whether to submit his resignation.
*April 4 - In a press conference, Klein announces that he will write party officials a formal letter in September asking them to commence a leadership election. He stated that he expects a new leader will be chosen in October or November 2006 and that he would leave office in December.
*May 17 - Former
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942) is a Canadian retired politician. He was the founder and the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance in 2000 which in tur ...
announces he will not be a candidate. Manning had been widely expected to be the frontrunner in the race.
*July 25 - Leadership candidate Oberg is re-admitted to caucus.
*August 15 - Innovation and Science Minister
Victor Doerksen
Victor Doerksen (born November 25, 1953) is a politician, accountant and former cabinet minister in Alberta, Canada.
Early life
Doerksen was born in Bassano, Alberta, Bassano, Alberta on November 25, 1953. He was employed by the Bank of Montrea ...
resigns from the Cabinet.
*August 17 - Former Innovation and Science Minister Doerksen announces his candidacy. Premier Klein confirms he will tender his resignation as leader on or around September 14, and that he will resign as the MLA for
Calgary Elbow
Calgary-Elbow is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. Its most recent MLA was Doug Schweitzer, who won the seat in the 2019 provincial election. Schweitzer stepped down on August 31, 2022 and the e ...
upon leaving the premiership.
*August 18 - Former chair of the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, Gary McPherson, announces his candidacy.
*September 20 - Klein resigns as leader of the party, officially opening the Conservative leadership election.
*October 16 - Nominations close at 5:00pm MST.
*November 25 - First ballot of the leadership election. Because no candidate received greater than 50% plus one of the votes, a second ballot will be held; Dinning, Morton and Stelmach will be on the second ballot.
*December 2 - Second ballot of the leadership election. Polls were open between 9:00am and 7:00pm MST. The election was between Dinning, Morton, and Stelmach. Stelmach finished first followed by Dinning. After the second choices of Morton's supporters were factored in Stelmach was declared the winner.
*December 14 - Klein formally tenders his resignation as Premier to Albertan Lieutenant Governor
Norman Kwong
Norman Lim Kwong (born Kwong Lim Yew; ; October 24, 1929 – September 3, 2016) was a Canadian football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also an active businessman ...
, who then invites Stelmach to form a government.
Trivia
* The Progressive Conservatives are the first party in Albertan history to have had four premiers. All of the previous governing parties (the Liberals, United Farmers and
Social Credit
Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...
) were defeated in the elections immediately following their third premiers' assuming the office.
See also
*
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership elections This page lists the results of leadership convention, leadership elections held by the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta or as it was known before 1958, the Conservatives.
1905 leadership convention
(Held on August 16, 1905)
*R.B. B ...
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...