This was only the fourth change of government in Alberta since Alberta became a province in 1905, and one of the worst defeats a provincial government has suffered in Canada. April 23, 2015: Televised leaders' debate. The election is sometimes called the "Orange Chinook", a reference to the province's dramatic swing to the NDP, the NDP's orange colour and the weather shifts occasioned by strong "winds of change" that southern Alberta commonly experiences. The NDP formed Government for the first time in Alberta history, ousting the PCs, who were reduced to third place in seats. In Calgary McCall an NDP candidate won with less than 30 percent of the vote; in Calgary Shaw an NDP candidate won with but 31 percent of the vote; in Calgary South-East a PC won with only 32.5 percent of the votes cast. In response to its financial troubles, the party received significant financial transfers from some of its wealthier constituency associations, including $30,000 from Edmonton-Whitemud, $25,000 from Calgary-Elbow, $20,000 from each Calgary-Varsity and St. Albert, and $15,000 from Whitecourt-Ste. Wonder if this (in part) explains the Tories’ unwillingness to protect farm workers? All opposition candidates won with less than half the votes in the riding where they ran, except for When the NDP took over in 2015, Alberta’s debt totalled $11.9-billion. [9], Prentice, who succeeded former premier and interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives Dave Hancock in September 2014, was not obligated to call an election until 2016. It’ll mean another term for the NDP for sure. Episode 61: Don Iveson on being a Mayor during COVID and his plan to end homelessness, UCP advisors erase Residential Schools and inject Anglophilia into primary grades’ Social Studies curriculum, show leaked documents, NDP and UCP nearly tied in 2020 third quarter fundraising. With a few exceptions, their support in the cities transferred to the NDP, while their rural support moved to the Wildrose. In Calgary Glenmore the winning candidate won with a lead of six votes over her leading contender. I encourage these unite the right wing nuts to keep on doing what they’re doing. The result in Calgary-Glenmore remained unresolved on election night, as incumbent PC MLA Linda Johnson and NDP challenger Anam Kazim finished the vote count in an exact tie of 7,015 votes each,[17] necessitating a recount process. Colour band in gulley indictes winner of the election. Security on the loan includes a personal guarantee of $1,455,000 from a former director, who is unnamed in the document. The Alberta Liberal Party lost four seats, only returning interim leader David Swann to the Legislative Assembly. The Progressive Conservatives' run of nearly 44 years as government ends with a third-place finish of 10 seats. It was only the fourth time in provincial history that saw a change of government, and was the last provincial election for both the Alberta Progressive Conservative and Wildrose Parties, which would merge in 2017 to form the United Conservative Party (although each would run a token candidate in the 2019 election). It also marked the first time a left-of-centre political party had formed government in Alberta since the defeat of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1935 and the Depression-era radical monetary reform policies of William Aberhart's Social Credit government.[4].

The opinions expressed on this blog represent my own and not those of my employer or any organization I may be affiliated with. Contact him at david.cournoyer@gmail.com.

Why does this smack of Americans for Prosperity? Popular vote by riding. Premier Prentice announces resignation as PC leader and as, This page was last edited on 10 July 2020, at 17:52. The Alberta Liberal Party and Alberta Party each won a single seat with Alberta Party leader Greg Clark becoming the party's first MLA. In the 2015 general election, the party rebounded to 21 seats and retained Official Opposition status. Having two right wing parties will ensure the NDP wins again – this group is clearly on the right track and the PC and Wildrose elite are off base. Prentice disclaimed his victory on election night, leaving the seat vacant. Here are several charts breaking down Alberta’s debt position from 1981-2018 (note 2015-2018 data is based on provincial government projections): *2013-14 figures onwards are presented on a consolidated basis as current Alberta government framework. The NDP received the most votes, receiving 40.6 percent of the vote and capturing 62 percent of the seats.

NDP support remained relatively lower in rural Alberta, where they won only a handful of ridings in the north of the province, as well as some rural ridings around Edmonton. May 3, 2012:The election results are certified and made official. The NDP also won 15 of the 25 seats in Calgary, the power base of the PCs for most of the previous four decades. This also held true for Calgary Mountain View where a Liberal was elected. Learn how your comment data is processed. © The following media outlets endorsed the Progressive Conservatives during the campaign: No media endorsements were made for any of the other parties. May 5, 2015: Election results - the NDP win a majority of seats (53), and the Wildrose finish second with 21 seats. NDP candidates received over 50% of the votes in all Edmonton ridings as well as the ridings of Sherwood Park, St. Albert and Lethbridge-West. The PCs were reduced to their smallest presence in the Legislative Assembly since 1967. In many ridings no Liberal ran, which probably aided the NDP victory in those ridings. Subscribe to the Daveberta Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. The group is headed by Barry McNamar, a former vice-president of the right-wing Fraser Institute and director of the Calgary School of Public Policy. Data sourced from RBC fiscal tables. Lots of big value farm support for the Tories. October 27, 2014: Four PC MLAs are elected in by-elections: March 26, 2015: Premier Jim Prentice tables his government's 2015-16 budget. Alberta’s debt climbed by more than $3 billion in 2014-15 — to $11.9 billion from $8.7 billion — and that boosted annual debt service costs to $714 million from $590-million. The PCs will hold their annual general meeting in spring 2016 and have launched a 500-Day Plan to prepare the party for the 2019 provincial election. The Wildrose Party under leader Brian Jean remained the Official Opposition, gaining four seats since 2012 despite winning 81,814 fewer votes and a 10.1% lower share of the popular vote than in the previous election.

The PCs are expected to choose a permanent leader in early 2016. The provincial Election Act fixed the election date to a three-month period between March 1 and May 31 in the fourth calendar year after the preceding election day – in this case, April 23, 2012. It is unclear who is providing financial support for the Fund.

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, 2016 Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership race. The 2015-16 budget tabled Thursday increases taxes and fees virtually across the board and runs the largest deficit in Alberta’s history at $5 billion. [2], The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (PCs) had a majority in the outgoing Assembly. In accordance with Canadian constitutional practice, Ethell granted the request, beginning a month long campaign. Reports of the death of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta might only be slightly exaggerated. [8] On September 4, 2014, the PCs became the longest serving political dynasty in Canadian history, at 43 years, 5 days. The Tea Party comes to Alberta. Mr. Norquist is known for his role in pushing the Republican Party further to the political right, contributing to the deep political division in America. [5][6], Following the election, Notley and her cabinet were sworn in on May 24, 2015. However, the Act does not affect the powers of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislature before this period. As a result of the election, the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) were elected to a majority government under leader Rachel Notley. The 2015 Alberta general election (formally the 29th general election), took place on May 5, 2015, following a request of Premier Jim Prentice to the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Donald Ethell to dissolve the Legislative Assembly on April 7, 2015. According to a report from the Calgary Herald, a new group calling themselves “ The Alberta Prosperity Fund” has launched the latest bid to unite the two main conservative parties in Alberta. However, in a result that exceeded even the most optimistic projections for the NDP, Edmonton swung dramatically to support Notley, who represents an Edmonton riding. [18], Notley later said that she had known a week before the election that the NDP would win. [10] The early election call was criticized by some as unethical, as it violated the fixed election dates specified in the Elections Act, but it was constitutionally valid and followed the general practice of the reserve powers of the Crown, specifically the constitutional convention of following the advice of the premier.[11]. Candidate names appear as they appeared on the ballot. I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. Interim leader Ric McIver initially denounced the ban, but later stood with the entire nine member PC caucus in voting in favour of the bill. The Wildrose had its legislative caucus greatly reduced in 2014 when then-leader and Leader of the Official Opposition Danielle Smith and all but 5 Wildrose MLAs crossed the floor to sit with the governing PCs.

The NDP took every seat in the city, all by very large margins (4,000 votes or more with absolute majority support). The disclosure report provides information about a $2,000,000 loan secured by the PC Party from the Canadian Western Bank with an outstanding balance of $1,544,866 as of July 5, 2015. Her original plan would have not only resulted in her looking extremely haggard in her first speech as premier-elect, but would have left her without time to begin a transition.[19].