Randy Thorsteinson (born November 8, 1956) is a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and businessman in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

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.

Early years

Thorsteinson was born in

Gimli, Manitoba Gimli is an unincorporated community in the Rural Municipality of Gimli on the west side of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The community's first European settlers were Icelanders who were part of the New Iceland settlement in Manitoba. The com ...

and spent his youth living in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

;

Edmonton, Alberta 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 anch ...

;

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

; and

Grande Prairie, Alberta Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), ...

Education

He attended St. Paul's High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thorsteinson attended Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho campus) for two years followed by two years at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

(Utah) majoring in business management.

Business ventures

Following university Thorsteinson spent three years as Retail Sales Manager for Travelaire Trailer Canada Ltd. in Red Deer, Alberta. He was one of the founders of Carlson Tours and Incentive Travel Ltd. in 1984 which subsequently changed its name to Cascadia Motivation Inc. Thorsteinson is the Chief Operating Officer of the company. Cascadia Motivation works with Canadian businesses to improve their performance levels and achieve their objectives.

Political career

Thorsteinson entered politics as president of the

riding association of the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protest ...

in 1988 and served in this position for three years. In 1988 Thorsteinson served as the campaign manager for Michael Roth, the Reform Party candidate in Red Deer riding. Roth finished second to Doug Fee (PC) with just under 10,000 votes.

Leader of Social Credit

Thorsteinson joined the

Alberta Social Credit Party 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 w ...

in 1991, and became leader the following year. Under Thorsteinson, Social Credit experienced the beginnings of a rebirth, and in the 1997 general election, the party nominated 70 candidates and collected 64,667 votes (almost seven per cent of the popular vote). This was Social Credit's best result since 1979, but it failed to win any seats 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 sin ...

. By 1999, however, Thorsteinson, a

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

, was at odds with his party after a movement within the party to limit the involvement of Latter-day Saints. Thorsteinson quit the party in April 1999 and was a founder 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) ...

but was not active in the party.

Leader of the Alberta Alliance

In 2002 Thorsteinson was the founder of the

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 ...

(which changed its name to

Wildrose Alliance The Wildrose Party (legally Wildrose Political Association, formerly the ''Wildrose Alliance Political Association'') was a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The party was formed by the merger in early 2008 of the Alb ...

in 2008). The party met the registration requirements and he became the party's leader at the Party Founding Convention in February 2003. Thorsteinson's new party gained momentum immediately following the 2004 federal election when

Edmonton Norwood Edmonton-Norwood 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 1959 to 2004. History The Edmonton-Norwood e ...

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. ...

(MLA) Gary Masyk

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to join the Alberta Alliance, bringing Alberta Alliance representation into the legislature. Later that year in the 2004 provincial election, Thorsteinson placed second in votes in his riding of

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake Innisfail-Sylvan Lake is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 87 current districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The distri ...

, failing to become a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). His party garnered 77,506 votes and won one seat in the election;

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 ( ...

was elected MLA for the riding 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 ...

. On March 7, 2005, Thorsteinson announced his resignation as leader of the Alberta Alliance, saying he would not be able to devote the time and energy into the party that was required of a leader. Paul Hinman, the lone Alliance MLA in the Legislature succeeded Thorsteinson as leader. Randy was elected as President of the Alberta Alliance at the 2007 Annual General Meeting held on March 24, 2007 in Edmonton Alberta. He had been serving a short stint as interim president of the party after former president John Murdoch stepped down. With the merger of the Alberta Alliance Party and the non registered Wildrose Party of Alberta on January 19, 2008, Thorsteinson declined to be a member of the new party and has had no involvement with the renamed Wildrose Alliance Party.

Strong and Free Alberta PAC

Thorsteinson is the Chairman of the Strong and Free Alberta Political Action Committee which derives its name from the Alberta provincial motto "Fortis et Liber" (strong and free). The Strong & Free Alberta Political Action Committee is a political organization promoting conservative fiscal and social policies.

Leader of the Reform Party of Alberta

In 2016,

Elections Alberta Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, referendums within the province. This is in accordance with the Alberta Election Act ...

recognized the registration of a new Reform Party of Alberta, with Thorsteinson as its leader. It is the third provincial political party he has led. The party is socially conservative and intends to run a full slate in the

30th Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 s ...

in 2019. He will again run as a local candidate in the

by-election, which will be held on July 12, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorsteinson, Randy Alberta Social Credit Party leaders Alberta Social Credit Party candidates in Alberta provincial elections Alberta Alliance Party candidates in Alberta provincial elections Canadian Latter Day Saints Living people Canadian people of Icelandic descent Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University–Idaho alumni 1956 births 21st-century Canadian politicians