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, ...

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

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.

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

Early history

List of leaders

1989 Senatorial financial statement

See also

References