2004 Alberta Senate nominee election
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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 2004 Alberta general election.
The 3rd Senate nominee election took place six years following the 2nd Senate nominee election held in 1998, and 15 years after the first Senate nominee election held in 1989.
The election came five months following the
Background
In the late-1980s, the Government of Alberta under
Waters time in the Senate was cut short when he was diagnosed with brain Cancer in the Summer of 1991, and died months later in Calgary on September 25, 1991, at the age of 71, four years before the mandatory retirement age for Canadian senators.[6]
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed four senators from Alberta prior to the 1998 Alberta Senate nominee election, including Nicholas Taylor on March 7, 1996,[7] Jean Forest on May 17, 1996,[8] Thelma Chalifoux on November 26, 1997,[9] and Douglas Roche. Roche, a former Member of Parliament for the Progressive Conservative Party was appointed to the Senate on September 17, 1998, one month before the 1998 Alberta Senate nominee election was held.[10] Former Prime Minister Joe Clark criticized the appointment as a "cynical, provocative and wrong".[10] Alberta Premier Ralph Klein penned an open letter to Chrétien criticizing the appointment and calling for Senate reform.[11] Klein went on to criticize Chrétien stating "the prime minister of this country is saying that democracy is a joke".[1]
Candidates
Both of Alberta's opposition parties, the
In early October, Progressive Conservative Premier Ralph Klein promised that the Progressive Conservative Party would not run a candidate in the Senate nominee election,[12] which he reversed after pressure from caucus. Klein's rationale for the boycott was that the Senate was a "federal thing".[13] Five candidates were nominated from the Progressive Conservative Party, including the 1998 Senate election winner Bert Brown. The second nominee from the 1998 election, Ted Morton declined to run, and instead contested a seat in the Legislative Assembly as a Progressive Conservative.[14] The other Progressive Conservative candidates were Betty Unger, a home-care nurse and conservative party supporter; Cliff Breitkreuz, a farmer and former Reform and Alliance Member of Parliament for Yellowhead; Jim Silye, President of an oil exploration company and former Calgary Stampeders player; and David Usherwood, a farmer and financial advisor.[15]
Three candidates were nominated under the Alberta Alliance Party, including Michael Roth, a small business owner from Lacombe; Vance Gough a Calgary entrepreneur and business instructor at Mount Royal University who previously finished fourth of four candidates in 1998; and Gary Horan, a small business owner from Edmonton.[15]
Two independent candidates contested the election, Link Byfield, the former publisher of Alberta Report and western rights advocate; and Tom Sindlinger, an economist and former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Calgary-Buffalo.[15]
The
As of the date of the election, there were three vacant Alberta seats in the Senate of Canada, with another set to become vacant within six years. Voters could vote for up to four candidates, though many candidates encouraged their supporters to vote for only one, a legal option, to prevent the vote totals of their competitors from rising.
A total of 2,176,341 votes were cast (714,709 ballots).
Aftermath
Overall, Albertans were seen as uninterested in the Provincial election and Senate nominee election.
The Klein government sent the four senators-in-waiting on a cross-country trip following the election in Spring 2005 to promote Senate reform.[24] Although Klein refused to give the group of nominees the opportunity to speak at the August 2005 Council of the Federation meeting in Banff.[24]
Prime Minister Paul Martin refused to advise Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to appoint the elected Senate nominees to the Upper Chamber, instead putting forward three appointees of his choosing: Grant Mitchell, Elaine McCoy and Claudette Tardif on March 24, 2005.[25] After the announcement, Breitkreuz publicly admonished Klein for his perceived failure to advocate for Alberta's senators-in-waiting.[25]
On April 19, 2007, on the advice of newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General Michäelle Jean appointed Bert Brown to the Senate to fill the vacancy left by Daniel Hays' early retirement.[26]
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach decided to defer new Senate elections set to take place when the terms of senators-in-waiting ended, which was controversial. Senator-in-waiting Link Byfield decided to resign as he felt he lacked a mandate. Remaining candidates Breitkreuz and Unger both accepted the term extension. Unger was appointed to the Senate on January 6, 2012, after the mandatory retirement of Tommy Banks.
Results
Candidate | Party | Votes # | Votes % | Ballots % | Elected | Appointed | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bert Brown | Progressive Conservative | 312,041 | 14.3% | 43.7% | July 10, 2007 | ||
Betty Unger | Progressive Conservative | 311,964 | 14.3% | 43.6% | January 6, 2012 | ||
Cliff Breitkreuz | Progressive Conservative | 241,306 | 11.1% | 33.8% | Term ended March 26, 2012 | ||
Link Byfield | Independent | 238,751 | 11.0% | 33.4% | Resigned November 2010[27] | ||
Jim Silye | Progressive Conservative | 217,857 | 10.0% | 30.5% | |||
David Usherwood | Progressive Conservative | 193,056 | 8.9% | 27.0% | |||
Michael Roth | Alberta Alliance | 176,339 | 8.1% | 24.7% | |||
Vance Gough | Alberta Alliance | 167,770 | 7.7% | 23.5% | |||
Tom Sindlinger | Independent | 161,082 | 7.4% | 22.5% | |||
Gary Horan | Alberta Alliance | 156,175 | 7.2% | 21.9% |
Source: Elections Alberta
Note:
- For results by district please see districts listed in the 2004 Alberta general election.
References
- ^ ProQuest 2374349378.
- ^ McCormick 1995, p. 225.
- ^ a b McCormick 1995, p. 226.
- ^ ProQuest 2401434066.
- ProQuest 2266329097.
- ProQuest 2466288178.
- ProQuest 2263176127.
- ProQuest 2402420037.
- ProQuest 2466248907.
- ^ ProQuest 2374425831.
- ProQuest 2374348197.
- ProQuest 2402884103.
- ProQuest 2403077296.
- ProQuest 2402935737.
- ^ ProQuest 2263533933.
- ProQuest 2263513068.
- ProQuest 2402903216.
- ProQuest 2403014511.
- ^ Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer 2005, p. 7.
- ^ Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer 2005, p. 8.
- ^ Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer 2005, p. 28.
- ProQuest 2403023149.
- ProQuest 2403008539.
- ^ a b Barrie 2006, p. 124.
- ^ ProQuest 2402929721.
- ProQuest 2403897646.
- ^ "Senator-in-waiting Byfield resigns". CBC News. November 22, 2010. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- Notes
- ^ Rejected ballots are those not counted because the elector’s intent was unclear, or because no candidates or more than four candidates were selected, or because readily identifying marks were added. A declined ballot is one that was returned by an elector, who chose not to vote for any candidate listed on the ballot.
- Official reports
- Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2005). The Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Provincial Senate Nominee Election, Monday, November 22, 2004. Edmonton: Elections Alberta.
- Works cited
- Barrie, Doreen (2006). The other Alberta : decoding a political enigma. Regina: University of Regina, Canadian Plains Research Center. ISBN 978-0-88977-192-5.
- McCormick, Peter (1995). "Alberta". In Leyton-Brown, David (ed.). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1989. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 217–230. ISBN 978-0-8020-0714-8.