Randy Thorsteinson (born November 8, 1956) is a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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 (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada.

Early years

Thorsteinson was born in

Gimli, Manitoba Gimli is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in the Rural Municipality of Gimli on the west side of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. It is located 80 km north of the provincial capital Winnipeg. The community's first European settle ...

and spent his youth living in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

;

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

;

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

; and

Grande Prairie, Alberta Grande Prairie is a city in northwestern 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 Highwa ...

Education

He attended St. Paul's High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thorsteinson attended Ricks College (now

Brigham Young University-Idaho Brigham may refer to: Places * Brigham, Cumbria, England * Brigham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England * Brigham City, Utah, USA * Brigham, Wisconsin, USA * Brigham, Quebec, Canada People * Brigham (surname), including a list of people with ...

campus) for two years followed by two years at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(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 () was a right-wing populism, right-wing populist and conservative List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada- ...

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 C.H. Douglas, Clifford Hugh Douglas and on conservative Christian social values. The Canadian social credi ...

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. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

. By 1999, however, Thorsteinson, a convert to

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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, 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 but was not active in the party.

Leader of the Alberta Alliance

In 2002 Thorsteinson was the founder of the Alberta Alliance Party (which changed its name to Wildrose Alliance 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

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) Gary Masyk

crossed the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

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, 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 who is currently the leader of the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition. He was the leader of the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta from 2020 to 2022, and was the leader of the Wild ...

was elected MLA for the riding of Cardston-Taber-Warner. 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, and referendums within the province. This is in accordance with the Alberta Election ...

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 socially conservative party intended to run a full slate in the 30th Alberta general election in 2019, but it nominated only one candidate. He intended to run as a local candidate in the Innisfail-Sylvan Lake by-election held on July 12, 2018, but did not. He was, however, the party's sole candidate in the 31st Alberta general election in 2023.

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