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 deadline of March 2006. This election was held in conjunction with the 2004 Alberta Senate nominee election.

When the election was called, it was expected to be anticlimactic, with Klein cruising to his fourth straight majority, the tenth for his Progressive Conservative Party.

Shortly after the drop of the writs, Klein's mother died and all parties suspended their campaigns for several days. After the campaign resumed, Klein avoided making any policy announcements and attended few events. One commentator called it "Kleinfeld: the campaign about nothing" (a reference to the television sitcom ''Seinfeld''). The Liberal Party, which had hoped to hold on to the five seats it had and regain the two seats that it had lost to resignations, began to pick up momentum and became far more optimistic.

In the end, the Conservatives were re-elected, despite losing 11 seats and 15% of the popular vote. The Liberals more than doubled their seats by electing 17 MLAs on election night while dominating Edmonton, and making strong inroads in Calgary. The Alberta New Democrats (NDP) held on to their two seats and gained two more, all in Edmonton. The Conservatives swept rural Alberta except for one seat that went to the Alberta Alliance, which placed second in a number of rural ridings. The Alberta Greens gained in the popular vote, jumping from 0.3% in the 2001 election to 2.8%, and placed third in some places. Although placing second in the riding of Drayton Valley-Calmar ahead of the Liberals, it was unable to win any seats, however. Social Credit placed third in a number of ridings, and its leader tied for second in Rocky Mountain House. The Conservative, Liberal and NDP leaders all easily held onto their own seats.

Election night summary

Overall voter turnout was 45.12%.

Note:
:* The Alberta Alliance and Alberta Party did not contest the 2001 election.
:¹ The Separation Party results are compared to the Alberta First Party.
:² A judicial recount changed the results in Edmonton Castle Downs, Liberal. Chris Kibermanis lost to Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk.

Results by region

¹ "Edmonton" corresponds to only the city of Edmonton. (Only the ridings whose names begin with "Edmonton".) The four suburban ridings around the city as listed below are grouped with Central Alberta in this table.

Results by riding

Results by riding

Names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers.

Northern Alberta

Western and Central Alberta

East Central Alberta

Central Edmonton

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Beverly Clareview
,
, Julius Yankowsky
3,059
,
, Sam Parmar
1,166
, ,
, Ray Martin
5,268
,
, Phil Gamache
457
,
, Benoit Couture
141
,
, Ken Shipka (Soc. Cred.)
283
, ,
, Julius Yankowsky
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Centre
,
, Don Weideman
2,622
, ,
, Laurie Blakeman
6,236
,
, Mary Elizabeth Archer
1,538
,
, Tony Caterina
264
,
, David J. Parker
336
,
, Linda Clements (Soc. Cred.)
111
, ,
, Laurie Blakeman
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton-Glenora
,
, Drew Hutton
3,758
, ,
, Bruce Miller
4,610
,
, Larry Booi
4,059
,
, Blaine Currie
307
,
, Peter Johnston
272
,
, Walter Schachenhofer (Soc. Cred.)
112
, ,
, Drew Hutton
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Gold Bar
,
, Manjit Dhaliwal
2,574
, ,
, Hugh MacDonald
8,794
,
, Keith Turnbull
1,966
,
, Delmar Hunt
538
,
,  
,
, Dave Dowling (Ind.)
167
, ,
, Hugh MacDonald
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Highlands-Norwood
,
, Terry Martiniuk
2,209
,
, Jason Manzevich
1,035
, ,
, Brian Mason
6,053
,
, Ray Loyer
315
,
,  
,
, Dale W. Ferris (Ind.)
66
, ,
, Brian Mason
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Mill Creek
, ,
, Gene Zwozdesky
5,071
,
, Aman Gill
4,286
,
, Nathan Taylor
1,709
,
, Robert Alford
523
,
, Eric Steiglitz
386
,
, Cameron Johnson (Ind.)
72
, ,
, Gene Zwozdesky
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton-Mill Woods
,
, Naresh Bhardwaj
2,989
, ,
, Weslyn Mather
5,014
,
, Lloyd Nelson
1,565
,
, Charles Relland
816
,
,  
,
, Naomi Rankin (Communist)
42
, ,
, Don Massey
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Riverview
,
, Fred Horne
3,571
, ,
, Kevin Taft
10,279
,
, Donna Martyn
1,053
,
, David Edgar
315
,
, John Lackey
355
,
, Dave W. Power (Soc. Cred.)
111
, ,
, Kevin Taft
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Rutherford
,
, Ian McClelland
4,173
, ,
, Rick Miller
7,217
,
, George A. Slade
995
,
, R. J. (Bob) Ewart
516
,
,  
,
, Anit Ashmore (Soc. Cred.)
210
, ,
, Ian McClelland
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton-Strathcona
,
, Shannon Stubbs
2,256
,
, Steven Leard
1,850
, ,
, Raj Pannu
7,430
,
, Jeremy Burns
275
,
, Adrian Cole
287
,
, Kelly Graham (Soc. Cred.)
162
, ,
, Raj Pannu

Suburban Edmonton and Environs

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton-Calder
,
, Brent Rathgeber
3,680
,
, Brad Smith
3,028
, ,
, David Eggen
4,055
,
, Vicki Kramer
526
,
,  
,
,  
, ,
, Brent Rathgeber
, -
, rowspan=2 bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Castle Downs

,
, Thomas Lukaszuk
5,014
, ,
, Chris Kibermanis
5,019
,
, Peter Cross
1,317
,
, Colin Presizniuk
583
,
,  
,
, Ross Korpi (Soc. Cred.)
78
, rowspan=2 ,
, rowspan=2, Thomas Lukaszuk
, -
, ,
, 5,022
,
, 5,019
,
, 1,314
,
, 586
,
,
,
, 78
, -
, rowspan=3 bgcolor=whitesmoke, Edmonton Decore
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Walter Szwender
3,033
, rowspan=3 ,
, rowspan=3, Bill Bonko
4,418
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Shirley Barg 1,524
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Gary Masyk
830
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3,  
, rowspan=3,
, rowspan=3, Geoffrey Chevrier (Soc. Cred.)
94
, ,
, Bill Bonner
, -
, colspan=2 align="center", ''merged district''
, -
, ,
, Gary Masyk
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Edmonton Ellerslie
,
, Gurnam Dodd
3,245
, ,
, Bharat Agnihotri
3,444
,
, Marilyn Assheton-Smith
2,257
,
, Eleanor Maroes
985
,
,  
,
, Amelia Maciejewski (Soc. Cred.)
238
, ,
, ''vacant''
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Edmonton-Manning
,
, Tony Vandermeer
3,646
, ,
, Dan Backs
3,873
,
, Laurie Lang
2,371
,
, Mike Pietramala
515
,
, Ross Adshead
240
,
, Sean Tisdall (Soc. Cred.)
130
, ,
, Tony Vandermeer
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Edmonton McClung
,
, Mark Norris
5,331
, ,
, Mo Elsalhy
5,864
,
, Lorne Dach
1,362
,
, Reuben Bauer
401
,
,  
,
, Patrick Conlin (Soc. Cred.)
104
, ,
, Mark Norris
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Edmonton Meadowlark
,
, Bob Maskell
4,243
, ,
, Maurice Tougas
4,436
,
, Lance Burns
1,303
,
, Aaron Campbell
444
,
, Amanda Doyle
245
,
, Peggy Morton (Ind.)
77
, ,
, Bob Maskell
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Edmonton-Whitemud
, ,
, Dave Hancock
7,493
,
, Donna L. Smith
6,567
,
, Brian Fleck
1,634
,
, Kathy Rayner
469
,
,  
,
, John Andrews (Ind.)
76
, ,
, David Hancock
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Sherwood Park
, ,
, Iris Evans
7,276
,
, Louise Rogers
5,587
,
, Tim Sloan
994
,
, Cora LaBonte
444
,
, Lynn Lau
362
,
, Gordon Barrett (Soc. Cred.)
474
, ,
, Iris Evans
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert
, ,
, Doug Horner
6,140
,
, Ray Boudreau
5,559
,
, Dale Apostal
1,020
,
, Tim Friesen
740
,
,  
,
, Glen Blaylock (Soc. Cred.)
170
, ,
, Doug Horner
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke , St. Albert
,
, Mary O'Neill
6,064
, ,
, Jack Flaherty
6,474
,
, Travis Thompson
1,652
,
, Michaela Meldrum
591
,
, Conrad Bitangcol
407
,
,  
, ,
, Mary O'Neill
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Strathcona
, ,
, Rob Lougheed
6,838
,
, Jon Friel
4,115
,
, Tom Elchuk
1,177
,
, Ryan Seto
466
,
,
,
, Bruce Stubbs (Ab. Pty.)
775
Brian Rembowski (Soc. Cred.)
327
Roberta McDonald (Separation)
297
,
, ''Recreated District''

Southern Alberta

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Airdrie-Chestermere
, ,
, Carol Haley
6,842
,
, John Burke
1,633
,
, Grant Massie
569
,
, Bradley Gaida
758
,
, Angela Scully
434
,
, Jeff Willerton (Alberta Pty.)
1,036
Bob Lefurgey (Separation)
394
Jerry Gautreau (Soc. Cred.)
178
, ,
, Carol Haley
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Cardston-Taber-Warner
,
, Broyce Jacobs
3,753
,
, Paula Shimp
783
,
, Luann Bannister
185
, ,
, Paul Hinman
3,884
,
, Lindsay Ferguson
225
,
,  
, ,
, Broyce Jacobs
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Cypress-Medicine Hat
, ,
, Leonard Mitzel
4,623
,
, Stuart Angle
2,234
,
, Cliff Anten
345
,
, Dan H. Pierson
651
,
,  
,
, Eric Solberg (Soc. Cred.)
561
, ,
, Lorne Taylor
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Highwood
, ,
, George Groeneveld
6,782
,
, Lori Czerwinski
1,843
,
, Catherine Whelan Costen
432
,
, Brian Wickhorst
733
,
, Sheelagh Matthews
547
,
, Cory Morgan (Separation)
299
, ,
, Don Tannas
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Lethbridge-East
,
, Rod Fong
4,703
, ,
, Bridget Pastoor
5,340
,
, Gaye Metz
607
,
, Brian Stewart
1,472
,
, Erin Matthews
360
,
, Darren Popik (Soc. Cred.)
251
, ,
, ''vacant''
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Lethbridge-West
, ,
, Clint Dunford
4,416
,
, Bal Boora
3,675
,
, Mark Sandilands
1,316
,
, Merle Terlesky
949
,
, Andrea Sheridan
368
,
, Scott Sawatsky (Soc. Cred.)
357
, ,
, Clint Dunford
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Little Bow
, ,
, Barry McFarland
4,894
,
, Arij Langstraat
1,965
,
, Hugh Logie
327
,
, Jay Phin
859
,
,  
,
, Brian Cook (Soc. Cred.)
556
Grant Shaw (Separation)
432
, ,
, Barry McFarland
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Livingstone-Macleod
, ,
, David Coutts
5,095
,
, Craig Whitehead
2,030
,
, Joyce Thomas
626
,
, George Lyster
1,493
,
, Chris Watts
468
,
, Jim Walker (Separation)
339
, ,
, David Coutts
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Medicine Hat
, ,
, Rob Renner
5,392
,
, Karen Charlton
3,482
,
, Diana Arnott
560
,
, Scott Cowan
1,073
,
,  
,
, Jonathan Lorentzen (Soc. Cred.)
246
, ,
, Rob Renner
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Strathmore-Brooks
, ,
, Lyle Oberg
6,051
,
, Carol Jacques
1,055
,
, Don MacFarlane
405
,
, Mark D. Ogden
852
,
,  
,
, Jay Kolody (Separation)
559
Rudy Martens (Soc. Cred.)
313
, ,
, Lyle Oberg

Suburban Calgary

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Bow
, ,
, Alana DeLong
6,097
,
, Kelly McDonnell
3,509
,
, Jennifer Banks
1,135
,
, James Istvanffy
1,015
,
, Marie Picken
713
,
, Margaret Askin (Independent)
98
Doug Picken (Soc. Cred.)
97
, ,
, Alana DeLong
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Cross
, ,
, Yvonne Fritz
3,763
,
, Raleigh DeHaney
1,452
,
, Jeanie Keebler
391
,
, Gordon Huth
648
,
, Ryan Richardson
271
,
,  
, ,
, Yvonne Fritz
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Foothills
, ,
, Len Webber
5,820
,
, Stephen Jenuth
3,559
,
, Malcolm Forster
407
,
, Vincent S. Jansen-Van Doorn
472
,
,  
,
,  
, ,
, Pat Nelson
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Fort
, ,
, Wayne Cao
4,136
,
, Gerry Hart
1,784
,
, Elizabeth Thomas
583
,
, Travis Chase
589
,
, Tyler Charkie
440
,
, Leo Ollenberger (Separation)
212
, ,
, Wayne Cao
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Hays
, ,
, Arthur Johnston
5,529
,
, Sharon Howe
1,952
,
, Rachel Weinfeld
298
,
, Robert Wawrzynowski
534
,
, Bernie Amell
378
,
,  
, colspan=2, ''new district''
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Lougheed
, ,
, David Rodney
6,334
,
, Allan Pollock
2,971
,
, Matthew Koczkur
365
,
, Tariq Khan
445
,
, Ryan Boucher
471
,
,  
, ,
, Marlene Graham
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Mackay
, ,
, Gary Mar
5,640
,
, Darryl Hawkins
2,615
,
, Giorgio Cattabeni
395
,
, Shawn Hubbard
640
,
, David McTavish
443
,
, Paul Martin (Independent)
193
, ,
, Gary Mar
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-McCall
, ,
, Shiraz Shariff
3,203
,
, Darshan Kang
2,958
,
, Gurpreet (Preet) Sihota
264
,
, Ina Givens
573
,
, Sean Robert Brocklesby
359
,
,  
, ,
, Shiraz Shariff
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Montrose
, ,
, Hung Pham
3,318
,
, Arthur Danielson
1,651
,
, Jason Nishiyama
434
,
, Cyril Collingwood
674
,
, Kevin Colton
355
,
,  
, ,
, Hung Pham
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-North West
, ,
, Greg Melchin
7,768
,
, Judy Stewart
4,488
,
, Bob Brunet
518
,
, Jenell Friesen
622
,
, Jeffrey Krekoski
636
,
,  
, ,
, Greg Melchin
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Shaw
, ,
, Cindy Ady
6,732
,
, John Roggeveen
2,373
,
, Jarrett Young
300
,
, Barry Chase
620
,
, Rick Papineau
380
,
, Daniel Doherty (Separation)
171
, ,
, Cindy Ady
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-West
, ,
, Ron Liepert
6,964
,
, Derek Smith
4,286
,
, Chantelle Dubois
434
,
, John Keyes
988
,
, James Kohut
732
,
,  
, ,
, Karen Kryczka

Central Calgary

, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Buffalo
, ,
, Harvey Cenaiko
3,370
,
, Terry Taylor
2,777
,
, Cliff Hesby
455
,
, Nadine Hunka
290
,
, Grant Neufeld
656
,
, Elizabeth Kaur Fielding (Soc. Cred.)
71
Carl Schwartz (Alberta Pty.)
58
, ,
, Harvey Cenaiko
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Currie
,
, Jon Lord
4,413
, ,
, Dave Taylor
4,984
,
, Robert Scobel
468
,
, Ken Mazeroll
348
,
, Kim Warnke
810
,
,  
, ,
, Jon Lord
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-East
, ,
, Moe Amery
4,492
,
, Bill Harvey
2,359
,
, Paul Vargis
461
,
, Brad Berard
605
,
, Rick Michalenko
367
,
, Bonnie-Jean Collins (Communist)
56
, ,
, Moe Amery
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Egmont
, ,
, Denis Herard
5,691
,
, Michael Queenan
2,371
,
, Christopher Dovey
599
,
, David Crutcher
1,657
,
, George Read
914
,
,  
, ,
, Denis Herard
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Elbow
, ,
, Ralph Klein
6,968
,
, Stephen Brown
4,934
,
, Becky Kelley
343
,
, Diana-Lynn Brooks
485
,
, Allison Roth
666
,
, Trevor Grover (Soc. Cred.)
68
Lloyd Blimke (Ind.)
51
, ,
, Ralph Klein
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Fish Creek
, ,
, Heather Forsyth
6,829
,
, Tore Badenduck
2,801
,
, Eric Leavitt
794
,
, Mike Kuipers
780
,
, Chris Sealy
561
,
,  
, ,
, Heather Forsyth
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Glenmore
, ,
, Ron Stevens
6,257
,
, Avalon Roberts
4,360
,
, Holly Heffernan
550
,
, Ernest McCutcheon
572
,
, Evan Sklarski
531
,
, Larry R. Heather (Soc. Cred.)
135
, ,
, Ron Stevens
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Mountain View
,
, Mark Hlady
4,058
, ,
, David Swann
7,155
,
, John Donovan
711
,
, Ryan Cassell
589
,
, Mark MacGillivray
912
,
,  
, ,
, Mark Hlady
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-North Hill
, ,
, Richard Magnus
4,384
,
, Pat Murray
3,223
,
, Aileen L. Machell
630
,
, Brent Best
627
,
, Susan Stratton
1,264
,
,  
, ,
, Richard Magnus
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Nose Hill
, ,
, Neil Brown
4,369
,
, Len Borowski
2,605
,
, Dirk Huysman
552
,
, Bill McGregor
1,073
,
, John Johnson
584
,
, Raymond Hurst (Soc. Cred.)
163
, colspan="2", ''new district''
, -
, bgcolor=whitesmoke, Calgary-Varsity
,
, Michael W. Smyth
5,585
, ,
, Harry B. Chase
6,303
,
, Mark Gabruch
625
,
, Ron Beninger
763
,
, Richard Larson
753
,
, Len Skowronski (Soc. Cred.)
118
, ,
, Murray Smith

Electoral re-distribution

Alberta's electoral laws fix the number of legislature seats at 83. As a result of the Alberta Electoral Boundary Re-distribution, 2004, Calgary gained two seats. Edmonton lost one seat, and one "special consideration" division was eliminated. Dunvegan-Central Peace is the sole remaining "special" division - due to its isolation, it is allowed to have a population below 75% of the provincial average. Lesser Slave Lake is now considered to be a standard rural division as its boundaries were re-drawn so that its population is slightly above 75% of the provincial average. One urbanized division outside Calgary and Edmonton was added, and two rural seats were eliminated.

Political parties

For this election, there were 11 political parties registered with Elections Alberta.

Parties that elected MLAs in the previous election

''The parties are listed in descending order of number of MLAs elected in 2001.''

Progressive Conservative Party

Leader: Ralph Klein

In the 2001 election, the Progressive Conservatives recorded a result that was comparable to those achieved in their years of dominance under Peter Lougheed. The Tories received 627,252 out of 1,013,152 votes cast and won 74 seats, gaining 11 seats over and above their 1997 result at the expense of the Liberals. This result was achieved due to a resurgence of the party in Edmonton, where the Tories won a majority of seats for the first time since 1982. Premier Ralph Klein easily retained his Calgary-Elbow seat.

On April 8, 2002, Doug Griffiths retained the Tories' seat in Wainwright in the only by-election held since the 2001 election, albeit with a substantially reduced plurality. The Tories lost only one seat since the 2001 election, after Edmonton-Norwood MLA Gary Masyk crossed the floor to join the Alberta Alliance. As expected, the Tories nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election.
External link

Liberal Party

Leader: Kevin Taft

The 2001 election was generally regarded to be as a disaster for the Liberals. Although the Liberals retained Official Opposition status and received 276,854 votes, the party lost 11 seats to the Tories and won only seven seats, six of them in Edmonton. Leader Nancy Macbeth even lost her own seat in Edmonton-McClung - she resigned days after the election and was replaced by Ken Nicol, the Opposition's sole representative outside the capital.

Nicol eventually resigned as MLA for Lethbridge East and as Leader of the Opposition to run (unsuccessfully) for the Liberals in the federal election, as did Edmonton-Ellerslie MLA Debby Carlson. These seats remained vacant through dissolution. The Liberals were led in the 2004 election by Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft, who was elected to the position in March 2004. The Liberals had 82 candidates in the 2004 election - they were absent from the ballot in Drumheller-Stettler after failing to file papers for their expected candidate, Don McMann before the deadline.
External link

New Democratic Party

Leader: Brian Mason

In 2001, the New Democrats were unable to claim Official Opposition status from the floundering Liberals, but Leader Raj Pannu managed to hold the party's two existing seats—Pannu's own in Edmonton—Strathcona and Brian Mason's seat in Edmonton Highlands (later merged into Edmonton Highlands-Norwood). The "NDs", as they were then known, received 81,339 votes. Pannu resigned the leadership in July 2004, with Mason filling the role of interim leader before being elected to that position in September 2004. The party has also ceased abbreviating its name as "ND in favour of the more traditional "NDP" abbreviation. The NDP nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election.
External link

Other registered parties

''The parties are listed in descending order of number of candidates nominated in 2004.''

Alberta Alliance

Leader: Randy Thorsteinson

The Alberta Alliance was registered in October 2002 and held its founding convention in February 2003. Its leader, Randy Thorsteinson had led Social Credit through a modest rebirth before quitting that party in April 1999. The party's sole MLA, Gary Masyk (Edmonton-Norwood) crossed the floor from the governing Progressive Conservatives on June 29, 2004. The Alliance nominated a full slate of candidates for the 2004 election, the only other party besides the Tories and the NDP to do so.
External link

Greens

Leader: George Read

Also known as the "Green Party of Alberta", the Alberta Greens ran 10 candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 2,850 votes. In the 2004 election, the Greens nominated 49 candidates - more than 4 times the highest number of candidates they had previously run in an election.
External link

Social Credit Party

Leader: Lavern Ahlstrom

Prior to the 2001 election, the Social Credit Party was in turmoil following the departure of party leader Randy Thorsteinson. Under Lavern Ahlstrom, the party nominated 12 candidates in the 2001 election (down from 70 in 1997), and received 5,361 votes (down from 64,667). The party had 42 candidates for the 2004 election.
External link

Separation Party

Interim Leader: Bruce Hutton

The Separation Party of Alberta was founded in June 2004 taking over the rights of the Alberta First Party. Bruce Hutton became interim leader. As a separatist party, it is the separatist successor to the Alberta Independence Party, which ran some independent candidates in the 2001 election, but never achieved official party status. The separatist cause was first taken up by the Western Canada Concept in the early 1980s when Gordon Kesler won a by-election. The Separation Party had 12 candidates in the 2004 election. See Alberta separatism.
External Link

Alberta Party

Leader: Bruce Stubbs

The Alberta Party did not nominate any candidates in 2001, but nominated four candidates for the 2004 election.
External Link

Communist Party

Leader: Naomi Rankin

The Communist Party nominated two candidates in the 2001 election, who combined for 117 votes. They ran two candidates in the 2004 election.

The Equity Party

Leader: Emil van der Poorten

The Equity Party ran no candidates in this election, The party was de-registered after the Alberta government amended the Elections Act to force a party to run at least one candidate, the party failed to field a candidate and was de-registered.

Reform Party

Leader: David Salmon

The Alberta Party, Equity Party and the Reform Party did not run any candidates in the 2001 election. The Equity Party and Reform Party were also absent from the ballot in 2004. The party was de-registered after the Alberta government amended the Elections Act to force a party to run at least one candidate, the party failed to field a candidate and was de-registered.

De-registered parties

The Natural Law Party of Alberta was de-registered by Elections Alberta in 2001, after they stopped filing financial statements. In 2001 The Natural Law Party did not nominate any candidates.

Independent candidates

29 independent candidates ran in the 2001 election. These candidates won a total of 10,528 votes. 10 independents ran in 2004.

Standings in the 25th Legislature

Standings after the 25th general election

Standings at dissolution

Timeline

March 27, 2004 - Kevin Taft becomes leader of the Alberta Liberals.

June 29, 2004 - Gary Masyk crosses the floor from the Progressive Conservatives to the Alberta Alliance.

July 13, 2004 - Raj Pannu resigns as leader of the Alberta New Democrats. Brian Mason is appointed interim leader.

September 9, 2004 - Alberta Alliance kicked off five-city "I Blame Ralph" tour in Edmonton.
Ralph Klein announces Senate Election

September 18, 2004 - Brian Mason formally becomes leader of the Alberta New Democrats.

October 25, 2004 - At the request of Premier Ralph Klein, Lieutenant-Governor Lois Hole dissolves the legislature and sets the election day for November 22.

October 28, 2004 - Premier Klein is harshly criticized by opposition parties and activist groups after he claims that protestors on Alberta's Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) who had heckled him did not look severely disabled.

October 31, 2004 - Premier Klein's mother, Florence Gray dies at the age of 80 following a year-long illness. All major parties announce they will suspend their provincial campaigns while the premier mourns.

November 4, 2004 - Global Television Network re-iterates that they will not invite Alberta Alliance leader Randy Thorsteinson to their leaders debate, because his party did not elect any members in the previous election and their sole MLA crossed the floor. The decision sparks anger amongst Alliance members and even disappoints the other three leaders.

November 8, 2004 - Close of nomination's and the Global television leaders debate involving Klein, Taft and Mason.

November 13, 2004 - NDP leader Mason releases a brochure entitled ''Health Care for Dummies'' in an effort to mock the premier's reluctance to discuss health care in detail during the campaign.

November 18, 2004 - Advance polling stations open.

November 19, 2004, - Advance polling stations open, and Students across the province vote in Alberta Student Vote, 2004.

November 20, 2004 - Advance polling stations open.

November 22, 2004 - Voting day for the 26th Alberta general election.
* 8:00 p.m. local time: Polls close (03:00, November 23 UTC)
* 8:36 p.m.: CBC projects a PC majority (03:36, November 23 UTC)

December 9, 2004 - The Court of Queen's Bench rules that Chris Kibermanis (Lib.) won the election in Edmonton Castle Downs by three votes, upholding the result of the initial, election-night result. The PC candidate, Thomas Lukaszuk, appealed to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

January 24, 2005 - The Alberta Court of Appeal rules that Lukaszuk won the election in Edmonton Castle Downs by three votes, overturning the result of the first vote-count, which had given the seat to Kibermanis of the Liberals. Kibermanis accepted defeat and did not appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Poll numbers

* Ipsos-Reid, 2004-10-29: PC 50%, Lib 26%, NDP 10%, AAP 9%, Green 4%
* COMPAS Inc. / Calgary Herald, 2004-11-03, 2004-11-04: PC 61%, Lib 19%, NDP 16%, Green 3%, Separation 1%, Other 1%. The pollsters only prompted for the three "major" parties yet Green and Separation showed up over 1% in the results while the Alliance, which is contesting every riding and holds a seat in the legislature, did not

*Cameron Strategy Inc. / CanWest Global, Global News / Calgary Herald, 2004-11-08-11-16: PC 47%, Lib 21%, NDP 11%, AAP 9%, Green 5%
* Ipsos-Reid, 2004-11-12 to 2004-11-17: PC 44%, Lib 29%, NDP 12%, AAP 9%, Green 4% (800 adults, MoE 3.5%)

Works cited

References

Bibliography

*
*

Further reading

*
*
*

External links

Elections AlbertaAlberta Legislative Assembly

Media coverage

CBC Coverage: Alberta Votes 2004

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberta General Election, 2004
Alberta general
2004
2004 in Alberta
November 2004 events in Canada