List of Alberta Premiers

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The list of Alberta Premiers consists of all twelve leaders of government of the Canadian province of Alberta, Canada. The Premier of Alberta is the leader of the political party with the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The premier is formally sworn in by the head of state known as the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. The premier then must pick a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Alberta. To date Alberta has had four political party dynasties.

Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every five years from the date of the last election, but the premier may ask for early dissolution of the legislative assembly. An election may also happen if the Governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion.

A leader of a party is decided upon by an internal constitution unique to each party that comprises a framework to elect or appoint a leader. The leader must then win a seat in a by-election or general election. If a leader of a governing party fails to win a seat, he must sit in the legislature gallery, with the public until a new leader is decided upon or by-election becomes available. While sitting in the gallery a premier can not exercise any legislative powers.

Liberal Party 1905–1921

Arthur Sifton would replace Rutherford as premier. Shortly before the 1913 election Sifton's Liberals jammed through a controversial bill greatly expanding the size of the legislative assembly. The bill was once again said to gerrymander boundaries in Liberals favor.[An Act to Amend an Act respecting the legislative Assembly of Alberta; Royal Assent March 25, 1913] accessed April 12, 2006[Southern Alberta given the raw deal on Governments Gerrymander; Calgary Herald March 21, 1913] accessed April 12, 2006 The press and opposition would term his reign as premier "Siftonism" implying that his reign was diesease on Alberta.[Siftonism will be killed in Alberta; Calgary Herald April 4, 1913] accessed April 12, 2006 Sifton would only last one term as premier as he left to pursue a career in federal politics. [Arthur Sifton Federal Parliamentary Experience] accessed April 12, 2006

Charles Stewart replaced Sifton and held the Liberal government through the lackluster 1917 election which a large portion of seats were held by acclamation. The opposition was the strongest ever. The Conservatives which formed the official opposition with 19 seats thought they had the upper hand on the waning Liberal government. Both would be surprised by the United Farmers who routed the Liberals and Conservatives in rural areas to form the government in the 1921 election.

United Farmers 1921–1935

Greenfield would resign four years later because he was often absent due to illness. John Brownlee, who had previously been offered the job, succeeded him. Brownlee's reign as government leader was troubled by the onset of the great depression. He resigned in scandal after he was accused of sexual acts with a minor in the Attorney General's office. This and another scandalous divorce by Oran McPherson, speaker of the legislative assembly, gave the United Farmers an image of moral decay.[Brownlee scandal; Great Alberta Law Cases] accessed April 12, 2006 In 1934 Richard Reid would replace Brownlee and lead the United Farmers government into total defeat at the hands of the new Social Credit party.

Social Credit 1935–1971

Aberhart died in 1943 and was replaced by Ernest Manning. Under Manning Social Credit moved away from the monetary theory of Douglas towards traditional conservatism. Manning would lead the party through seven straight massive majorities until he resigned in 1967. Harry Strom, a long time cabinet minister, would replace Manning. Strom would lead the party to defeat at the hands of Alberta Progressive Conservative Party and Peter Lougheed in the 1971 election. Strom and his government looked old and tired and out of touch compared to the new Progressive Conservatives.

Progressive Conservative 1971–present

Don Getty, one of Lougheed’s long time cabinet ministers, would return to politics to win the leadership of the party. His reign would become very unpopular as he led Alberta into large deficit spending, and marked an era of big government which the province could not afford. In the 1989 election he was defeated in his seat in Edmonton Whitemud while his party won a majority. He would be forced to sit in the gallery until he won a seat in a by-election in Stettler.[Don Getty Bio Alberta Legislature] accessed April 14, 2006 His refusal to leave as premier would lead Laurence Decore to help the Liberals sky rocket in popularity. Getty would resign and be replaced in a bitter leadership battle by Ralph Klein.[Ralph Klein Bio mapleleaf web] accessed April 14, 2006

Ralph Klein, the former mayor of Calgary, led the party into the 1993 election, promising a new era of debt reduction and fiscal accountability. He walked away with a slim majority. Ralph Klein's folksy appeal helped the Progressive Conservatives renew themselves. He would lead the party through two elections, gaining in popularity each time. In early 2004 he announced that the Alberta debt was paid in full.[Klein declares debt retired; CTV News] accessed April 14, 2006 He was rewarded with winning the 2004 election, despite running a campaign with no new policies brought forward. His party would lose a number of seats and during the campaign he stated this would be his last election. In 2006 at a Progressive Conservative convention delegates would force him to pick a retirement date by giving him low numbers in a leadership review. A leadership election will be held this fall.[Klein dealt a crushing blow in Leadership; Review CTV News] accessed April 14, 2006

Premiers of Alberta since 1905

1. Premier Haultain served as premier of Saskatchewan and Alberta on September 1, 1905 as the Executive Council of the Northwest Territories was not formally dissolved until new interim president of the executive councils was appointed on September 2, 1905.
2. Premier Rutherford and his government were not officially sworn in until September 9, 1905.[Alexander Rutherford government sworn in September 9, 1905; Alberta Gazette Vol 1 Issue 1] accessed April 12, 2006
3. Aberhart died unexpectedly, so another Premier was not chosen for a full week.

id:C      value:powderblue
id:L      value:coral
id:UF      value:green
id:SC     value:yellowgreen

bar:PRMs color:red width:50 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S

from:09/02/1905   till:05/26/1910   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:L   text:Rutherford
from:05/26/1910   till:10/30/1917   color:L   text:Sifton
from:10/30/1917   till:08/13/1921   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:L   text:Stewart
from:08/13/1921   till:11/23/1925   color:UF   text:Greenfield
from:11/23/1925   till:07/10/1934   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:UF   text:Brownlee
from:07/10/1934   till:09/03/1935   color:UF   text:Reid
from:09/03/1935   till:05/23/1943   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:SC   text:Aberhart
from:05/31/1943   till:12/12/1968   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:SC   text:Manning
from:12/12/1968   till:09/10/1971   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:SC   text:Strom
from:09/10/1971   till:11/01/1985   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:C   text:Lougheed
from:11/01/1985   till:12/13/1992   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:C   text:Getty
from:12/14/1992   till:end   shift:(-3.5,30)   color:C   text:Klein

See also

• Lists of incumbents

References