John Reil (born 1949) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

provincial level politician. He served as leader of the

Alberta First Party The Alberta First Party french: Alberta d'abord) was an Albertan separatist political party in Alberta, Canada. It went through several iterations before becoming its current incarnation as the Freedom Conservative Party. History (1999–2018) ...

Political career

Reil ran as a candidate for the

Social Credit Party of Alberta Alberta Social Credit was a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on social credit monetary policy put forward by Clifford Hugh Douglas and on conservative Christian social values. The Canadian social credit movement ...

in the

1997 Alberta general election The 1997 Alberta general election was held on March 11, 1997, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ralph Klein's Conservatives were re-elected, with increased number of seats in the Legislature. Liberal Official Opposition los ...

. He ran in the electoral district of St. Albert and was defeated by

Mary O'Neill Mary O'Neill may refer to: * Mary O'Neill (Canadian politician), member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta * Mary Devenport O'Neill, American poet * Mary O'Neill (fencer), American Olympic fencer * Mary-Anne O'Neill, Australian politician See a ...

who picked up the district for the Progressive Conservatives over incumbent Len Bracko. Reil had been serving as the Social Credit party President until he left in 1999 along with 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; ...

and helped to found the

. This move came after the Socreds restricted involvement of Mormons in running the party. Reil served as Alberta First's founding President until he was elected as the leader for the party at a convention held on January 22, 2000. In June of that year he contested a by-election held after Pam Barrett resigned after her near-death experience in the dentist chair. Reil managed to take 3% of the popular vote, but was soundly defeated by

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

candidate Brian Mason. Reil contested the 2001 Alberta general election in the electoral district of

Cardston-Taber-Warner Cardston-Taber-Warner 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 1996 and 2019. The district was created ...

. He finished second with a respectable showing to

Broyce Jacobs Broyce G. Jacobs (born July 29, 1940) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Cardston-Taber-Warner as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Jacobs was born in Cardsto ...

. Reil left the

and ran for the leadership of the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

in 2004. He was defeated in a three-way race by

Kevin Taft Kevin Taft (born September 9, 1955) is an author, consultant, speaker, and former provincial politician in Alberta, Canada. Prior to his election, he worked in various public policy roles (1973-2000) in the Government of Alberta, private and no ...

References

1949 births Living people Alberta Social Credit Party candidates in Alberta provincial elections Alberta First Party candidates in Alberta provincial elections {{Alberta-politician-stub