1997 Alberta general election

The 1997 Alberta general election was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

1997 Alberta general election

March 11, 1997 (1997-03-11)

83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout53.75%
  Majority party Minority party
 
LIB
Leader Ralph Klein Grant Mitchell
Party Progressive Conservative Liberal
Leader since December 14, 1992 November 13, 1994
Leader's seat Calgary-Elbow Edmonton-McClung
Last election 51 seats, 44.49% 32 seats, 39.73%
Seats before 52 31
Seats won 63 18
Seat change 11 13
Popular vote 483,914 309,748
Percentage 51.17% 32.75%
Swing 6.7 6.98%

  Third party Fourth party
 
NDP
SC
Leader Pam Barrett Randy Thorsteinson
Party New Democratic Social Credit
Leader since 1996 1993
Leader's seat Edmonton-Highlands ran in Red Deer-South (lost)
Last election 0 seats, 11.01% 0 seats, 2.41%
Seats before 0 0
Seats won 2 0
Seat change 2 0
Popular vote 83,292 64,667
Percentage 8.81% 6.84%
Swing 2.2% 4.43%

Premier before election

Ralph Klein
Progressive Conservative

Premier after election

Ralph Klein
Progressive Conservative

Ralph Klein's Conservatives were re-elected, with increased number of seats in the Legislature. Liberal Official Opposition lost some seats dropping from 22 to 18, but retaining the status of Official Opposition. NDP gained two, to have a grand total of two seats.

Background

The Progressive Conservative Association had governed Alberta since 1971, and premier Ralph Klein led the party into his second general election as party leader. The previous election in 1993 was the best result for the Liberal Party since its last electoral victory in 1917.

This was the second consecutive election fought on a new set of electoral boundaries, due to an Alberta Court of Appeal decision that was critical of the map created in 1992. The government amended the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, introducing the present system where the Commission is made up of a justice from the Court, two members appointed by the governing party, and two members appointed by the official opposition. A new Commission was created, which issued its recommendations for a new set of electoral boundaries in 1996.[1]

Results

Ralph Klein's second election as leader of the PCs was considerably more successful than his first. The party won over half the popular vote, and 63 of the 83 seats in the legislature for its eighth consecutive term in government. The party continued to dominate in Calgary and rural areas, and managed to regain a foothold in Edmonton where it won two seats.

The Liberal Party of Grant Mitchell lost about 7% of the popular vote it had won in the 1993 election. The party's legislative caucus was reduced from 32 members to 18.

Pam Barrett led the New Democratic Party back into the legislature with two seats (both in Edmonton), despite winning an even smaller share of the popular vote than in 1993.

The Social Credit Party also re-emerged, placing a strong second in several rural ridings, but did not win any seats.

Overall voter turnout was 53.75%.[2]

Party Party leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular vote
1993 Elected % Change # % % Change
Progressive Conservative Ralph Klein 83 51 63 +23.5% 483,914 51.17% +6.68%
Liberal Grant Mitchell 83 32 18 -43.8% 309,748 32.75% -6.98%
New Democratic Pam Barrett 77 - 2   83,292 8.81% -2.20%
Social Credit Randy Thorsteinson 70 - - - 64,667 6.84% +4.43%
Natural Law Maury Shapka 16 - - - 1,303 0.14% -0.37%
Green David Parker 7 - - - 1,039 0.11% -0.09%
  Independent 6 - - - 1,092 0.11% -0.82%
Forum William Finn 4 * - * 597 0.06% *
Communist Naomi Rankin 1 - - - 61 0.01% x
Total 347 83 83 - 945,713 100%  
Source: Elections Alberta

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x – less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Popular vote
PC
51.17%
Liberal
32.75%
New Democratic
8.81%
Social Credit
6.84%
Others
0.43%
Seats summary
PC
75.90%
Liberal
21.69%
New Democratic
2.41%

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

24th Alberta Legislative Assembly
District Member Party
  Athabasca-Wabasca Mike Cardinal Progressive Conservative
  Airdrie-Rocky View Carol Haley Progressive Conservative
  Banff-Cochrane Janis Tarchuk Progressive Conservative
  Barrhead-Westlock Ken Kowalski Progressive Conservative
  Bonnyville-Cold Lake Denis Ducharme Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Bow Bonnie Laing Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Buffalo Gary Dickson Liberal
  Calgary-Cross Yvonne Fritz Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Currie Jocelyn Burgener Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-East Moe Amery Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Egmont Denis Herard Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Elbow Ralph Klein Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Fish Creek Heather Forsyth Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Foothills Pat Black1 Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Fort Wayne Cao Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Glenmore Ron Stevens Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Lougheed Marlene Graham Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-McCall Shiraz Shariff Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Montrose Hung Pham Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Mountain View Mark Hlady Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-North Hill Richard Magnus Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-North West Greg Melchin Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Nose Creek Gary Mar Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Shaw Jon Havelock Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-Varsity Murray Smith Progressive Conservative
  Calgary-West Karen Kryczka Progressive Conservative
  Cardston-Taber-Warner Ron Hierath Progressive Conservative
  Clover Bar-Fort Saskatchewan Rob Lougheed Progressive Conservative
  Cypress-Medicine Hat Lorne Taylor Progressive Conservative
  Drayton Valley-Calmar Tom Thurber Progressive Conservative
  Drumheller-Chinook Shirley McClellan Progressive Conservative
  Dunvegan Glen Clegg Progressive Conservative
  Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview Julius Yankowsky Progressive Conservative
  Edmonton-Calder Lance White Liberal
  Edmonton-Castle Downs Pamela Paul Liberal
  Edmonton-Centre Laurie Blakeman Liberal
  Edmonton-Ellerslie Debby Carlson Liberal
  Edmonton-Glengarry Bill Bonner Liberal
  Edmonton-Glenora Howard Sapers Liberal
  Edmonton-Gold Bar Hugh MacDonald Liberal
  Edmonton-Highlands Pam Barrett NDP
  Edmonton-Manning Ed Gibbons Liberal
  Edmonton-McClung Grant Mitchell Liberal
  Edmonton-Meadowlark Karen Leibovici Liberal
  Edmonton-Mill Creek Gene Zwozdesky Liberal
  Edmonton-Mill Woods Don Massey Liberal
  Edmonton-Norwood Sue Olsen Liberal
  Edmonton-Riverview Linda Sloan Liberal
  Edmonton-Rutherford Percy Wickman Liberal
  Edmonton-Strathcona Raj Pannu NDP
  Edmonton-Whitemud David Hancock Progressive Conservative
  Fort McMurray Guy C. Boutilier Progressive Conservative
  Grande Prairie-Smoky Walter Paszkowski Progressive Conservative
  Grande Prairie-Wapiti Wayne Jacques Progressive Conservative
  Highwood Don Tannas Progressive Conservative
  Innisfail-Sylvan Lake Gary Severtson Progressive Conservative
  Lac La Biche-St. Paul Paul Langevin Progressive Conservative
  Lacombe-Stettler Judy Gordon Progressive Conservative
  Lesser Slave Lake Pearl Calahasen Progressive Conservative
  Leduc Albert Klapstein Progressive Conservative
  Lethbridge-East Ken Nicol Liberal
  Lethbridge-West Clint Dunford Progressive Conservative
  Little Bow Barry McFarland Progressive Conservative
  Livingstone-Macleod David Coutts Progressive Conservative
  Medicine Hat Rob Renner Progressive Conservative
  Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Richard Marz Progressive Conservative
  Peace River Gary Friedel Progressive Conservative
  Ponoka-Rimbey Halvar Jonson Progressive Conservative
  Red Deer-North Stockwell Day Progressive Conservative
  Red Deer-South Victor Doerksen Progressive Conservative
  Redwater Dave Broda Progressive Conservative
  Rocky Mountain House Ty Lund Progressive Conservative
  Sherwood Park Iris Evans Progressive Conservative
  St. Albert Mary O'Neill Progressive Conservative
  Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert Colleen Soetaert Liberal
  Stony Plain Stan Woloshyn Progressive Conservative
  Strathmore-Brooks Lyle Oberg Progressive Conservative
  Vegreville-Viking Ed Stelmach Progressive Conservative
  Vermilion-Lloydminster Steve West Progressive Conservative
  Wainwright Robert Fischer Progressive Conservative
  West Yellowhead Ivan Strang Progressive Conservative
  Wetaskiwin-Camrose LeRoy Johnson Progressive Conservative
  Whitecourt-Ste. Anne Peter Trynchy Progressive Conservative

Note:

  • 1 Pat Black later changed her last name to Nelson.

See also

References

  1. Stinson, Douglas (July 1, 1999). "Knowing Where to Draw the Line - Alberta Views - The Magazine for Engaged Citizens". albertaviews.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  2. Election Alberta (July 28, 2008). 2008 General Report (PDF). p. 158. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
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