The Reform Party of Alberta is a defunct
provincial political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
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, that was registered with
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 ...
. Its leader was David Salmon.
Early history
The party was registered by members of the former
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- ...
on August 24, 1989 not to contest
general elections
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
, but to contest
elections held by the Government of Alberta to select nominees for the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...
, a body that is appointed by the
Governor General of Canada
The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...
on the recommendation of the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
.
The party contested Senate nominee elections, the
1989 Senate election and the
1998 Senate election. The Reform Party of Alberta nominated and ran only three candidates in its history:
Stanley Waters,
Ted Morton and
Bert Brown.
The other and primary purpose was to keep Reform focused as a federal party instead of being distracted by provincial campaigns. Nonetheless, there was considerable agitation at this time by some Albertan Reform members to form an active provincial party that could challenge
Don Getty
Donald Ross Getty (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian athlete, businessman, and politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992.
Before entering politics, Getty had been a quarterback for the Edmon ...
's unpopular
Progressive Conservative government. In some opinion polls, the dormant Reform Party actually placed ahead of the Tories. When
Ralph Klein
Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2 ...
was elected to lead the PCs in 1992, enthusiasm for an alternative
right wing
Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...
party that might
split the vote with the Tories and benefit the surging
Liberals quickly faded.
The Reform Party did not nominate any candidates in the
2004 Alberta general election or the
2004 Alberta Senate nominee election
The 2004 Alberta Senate nominee election, formally the 3rd Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on November 22, 2004, to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with the 2 ...
. As a result, the Reform Party was deregistered by
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 ...
for failing to endorse a candidate.
The federal Reform Party's successor, the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...
, was also not interested in forming provincial wings, but unlike Reform, the CA did not register the Alliance name with provincial electoral officers during its short history. As a result, a section of the Albertan CA membership formed the
Alberta Alliance
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 f ...
in 2002. Unlike Reform, the Alberta Alliance was an active political party—it fielded a full slate of candidates in the 2004 general election, and won one seat in the Legislature.
The Reform Party of Alberta was deregistered after the election, along with the
Equity Party.
List of leaders
*David Salmon (2000 - 2004)
1989 Senatorial financial statement
According to the official archives of Elections Alberta, in the 1989 Senate election, the Stan Waters campaign received $147,822 in campaign donations, $19,000 transferred from the Reform Party of Alberta, and $23,558.96 was from fundraising functions, for a total of $190,380.96 in campaign period revenue.
Expenses for the campaign were $197,641.00, resulting in a deficit of $7,260.04.
Note: Future party leader David Salmon was Stan Waters official agent.
See also
*
Reform Party of Ontario
*
List of Alberta political parties
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reform Party of Alberta (1989-2004)
Provincial political parties in Alberta
Political parties established in 1989
Political parties disestablished in 2004
Defunct political parties in Canada
Conservative parties in Canada
Reform Party of Canada
1989 establishments in Alberta
2004 disestablishments in Alberta