Garth-Alphonse Turcott (July 30, 1930 – January 11, 2018) was a lawyer and a former provincial politician from

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. He served as a member of 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 ...

from 1966 to 1967 sitting as the first member of the New Democratic Party to be elected in Alberta and the only member of its caucus at that time.

Early life

Turcott went to the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

and graduated in 1956.

Political career

Turcott ran for a seat to the Alberta legislature in a by-election held on October 6, 1966, in the electoral district of Pincher Creek-Crowsnest. The by-election was hotly contested by all four candidates. Turcott ended up winning by just over 100 voters over

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 ...

candidate J.H. Hanrahan. This was the first election won by a candidate running under the Alberta NDP banner, although members of the NDP's predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation sat in the legislature continuously from 1942 to 1959. During the by-election and continuing after he took his seat Turcott along with NDP Leader

Neil Reimer Neil Reimer (July 3, 1921 – March 29, 2011) was an activist, trade unionist and politician in Canada. Reimer attended the University of Saskatchewan, but left in 1942 at the age of 19 to work at the Consumers Co-operative Refinery in Regina, Sa ...

leveled accusations of corruption against the Social Credit government, specifically that Edgar Hinman and

Alfred Hooke Alfred John "Alf" Hooke (February 25, 1905 – February 17, 1992) was a teacher, politician and writer from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1971 as a member of the Social Credit Party. He held numer ...

used their offices for personal gain. The

1967 Alberta general election The 1967 Alberta general election was held on May 23, 1967, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 16th Alberta Legislature. The election was called after the 15th Alberta Legislature was prorogued on April 11, 1967, and ...

would be called less than a year after Turcott was elected. He would run for a second term but was defeated finishing second to Social Credit candidate Charles Drain.

Late life

Turcott runs a legal practice in

Pincher Creek Pincher Creek is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located immediately east of the Canadian Rockies, west of Lethbridge and south of Calgary. History For centuries before European settlers reached this area and inhabited it, Indig ...

. He was also on the board of directors for the Pincher Creek Co-op Association. He died on January 11, 2018, at the age of 87.Turcott, Garth Alphonse
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References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turcott, Garth Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs University of Saskatchewan alumni Lawyers in Alberta 1930 births 2018 deaths