2008 Alberta general election

2008 Alberta general election
← outgoing members members →
83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta ; 42 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	40.59%
	Popular vote by riding. As this is a first-past-the-post election, seat totals are not determined by total popular vote, but instead by results in each riding.
Premier before election; Ed Stelmach; Progressive Conservative	Premier after election ; Ed Stelmach; Progressive Conservative

The 2008 Alberta general election was held on March 3, 2008, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Quick Facts 83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 42 seats were needed for a majority, Turnout ...

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It was expected to be called early because the governing Progressive Conservatives held a leadership election on December 2, 2006, in which Ed Stelmach was elected to replace Ralph Klein as party leader and Premier. The election was called when Stelmach formally advised Lieutenant Governor Norman Kwong to dissolve the Legislature, which happened on February 4, 2008.^[1]

With 53% of the popular vote, the Progressive Conservatives won a decisive majority over the Liberal and other parties, despite early suggestions of a closer race.^{[citation needed]}

The 2008 election had the lowest voter turnout in the province's history, with only 40.59% of eligible voters casting a ballot.^[2]

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The Progressive Conservatives increased their majority at the expense of all other parties in the legislature. The Tories also increased their share of the popular vote, and even though their share of the vote was still significantly less than it was in 2001, they managed to win just two fewer seats than they won in that election. This was largely a result of their continued widespread support in rural areas, as well as divided opposition support in Calgary and Edmonton. The Conservative gains came mostly in and around Edmonton, where the party recorded its best results since 1982.

The Liberals held on to official opposition status but sustained a net loss of seven seats. Bucking historic trends, the party was reduced to only three seats in Edmonton, but was able to win five seats in Calgary (a net gain of one seat and the largest total won by that party in that city in the past 50 years). The Liberals also held their existing seat in Lethbridge to win a total of nine seats.

The other parties that were represented in the legislature also suffered losses on election night. The New Democrats lost two of their four Edmonton seats, and the Wildrose Alliance Party was shut out of the legislature as their leader Paul Hinman was narrowly defeated in his own constituency of Cardston-Taber-Warner.

For the first time in history, a majority of the Liberal caucus were from Calgary and the combined number of Liberal and NDP MLAs from Edmonton did not exceed the number of those two parties' MLAs from Calgary.

Summary

More information Party, Party leader ...

Summary of the March 3, 2008 Legislative Assembly of Alberta election results
Party		Party leader	Number of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
Party		Party leader	Number of candidates	2004	Dissol.	2008	% Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Progressive Conservative	Ed Stelmach	83	62¹	60	72	+20%	501,063	52.72	+5.92%
	Liberal	Kevin Taft	82	16¹	16	9	-43.8%	251,158	26.43	-2.96%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	83	4	4	2	-50%	80,578	8.48	-1.72%
	Wildrose Alliance	Paul Hinman	61	1	1	-	-100%	64,407	6.78	-1.92%²
	Greens	George Read	79	-	-	-	-	43,222	4.55	+1.80%
	Independent		7	-	1	-	-100%	7,635	0.80	+0.69%
	Social Credit	Len Skowronski	8	-	-	-	-	2,043	0.21	-1.02%
	Separation	Bruce Hutton	1	-	-	-	-	119	0.01	-0.52%
	Communist	Naomi Rankin	2	-	-	-	-	96	0.01	xx
	Alberta Party	Bruce Stubbs	1	-	-	-	-	42	0.00	-0.28%
	Vacant				1
Total			407	83	83	83	-	950,363	100.00

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Notes:

¹ Liberal Chris Kibermanis originally had a five-vote margin over Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk. A judicial recount on January 24, 2005, determined Thomas Lukaszuk the winner.
² Results change is compared to the Alberta Alliance in 2004.

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More information Popular vote ...

Popular vote

PC			52.72%
Liberal			26.43%
NDP			8.48%
Wild Rose Alliance			6.78%
Green			4.55%
Independents			0.80%
Others			0.23%

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More information Seat totals ...

Seat totals

PC			86.7%
Liberal			10.8%
NDP			2.4%

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Alberta Liberal Party

Immediate elimination of health care premiums
Increasing per capita spending on policy in Calgary from $16 to $20
Re-legislation of tuition policy so it is made in open session
Implementation of a public pharmacare program
Using tobacco taxes, spend approximately $200 million to create a Community Wellness Fund which will seek to expand Family & Community Support Services and fund healthy living and lifestyle programs
Redirect the $250 million Natural Gas Rebate Program towards incentives for energy efficiency
Triple funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Increase the number of health care workers
Investment of 30% of all natural resource revenues in:

investment in the Heritage Fund so that income taxes can remain permanently low
elimination of the infrastructure deficit by 2014
establishment of an uncapped endowment for post-secondary education
establishment of a $500 million endowment fund for arts, social sciences, and humanities

Elimination of the education section of the property tax for seniors (approx. $700 a year)
Increasing the tax credit for seniors' caregivers to $9,355 from $4,355.
Making both Calgary and Edmonton into independent cities via a "Big Cities" Charter
Hiring 300 more police officers for Calgary and Edmonton
Fixed election dates

Cost: Net costs are zero as a result of re-allocating existing dollars and increased royalty revenues.

New Democratic Party of Alberta

Making life affordable
- Create 4,000 new child care spaces.
- Cap rates of $25/day ($500/month) for infant care and $9/day ($180/month) for after school care.
- Regulate after-school care for children.
- Increase start-up grants for daycare centres and day homes.
- Provide additional sustainable grants to day cares to increase wages for childcare workers.
- Introduce rent controls.
- Introduce limits on condominium conversions.
Full value royalties
- Follow example set by Alaska and replace the royalty system.
- Create an all-party, special committee of the legislature to investigate royalties and report back in three months.
- Add a variable royalty structure that would increase the royalty revenues when oil prices pass a peak threshold.
- Increase royalties on other non-renewable resources such as coal.
Green energy plan
- Create a green energy fund that will receive $2 billion a year primarily through enhanced royalties. Use that money to fund energy efficient retro-fitting and alternative energy production systems for individual houses and building.
- Fund alternative power generation projects such as solar and wind farms.
- Place hard caps on greenhouse gas emissions with penalties for companies that exceed targets — details to be worked out later.
- Slow down the pace of development
Big dollar signs out of politics
- End campaign contributions from unions and corporations.
- Table legislation binding all leadership and nomination contests to the same disclosure rules and donation limits of political parties.
Immediately end health-care premiums.
Create a new pharmaceutical agency to purchase drugs in bulk, negotiate prices with drug companies and find less costly options to brand-name drugs.
Roll back tuition levels to 1999–2000 levels.
Cap interest for student loans at prime.
Invest $100 million in student housing immediately.
Eliminate fees and fund-raising for learning essentials.
Phase out funding for private schools.
Hire 800 additional police officers
Mandate basic value-added and upgrading for all bitumen mined in Alberta to be done in the province.
Add an interim per barrel tax on all bitumen exported outside the province.
Establish a bitumen pricing system.
Start a public automobile insurance system.
Provide stable funding for non-profit First Nation and Metis agencies.
Tie AISH and social assistance rates to a market basket measure.
Introduce $30 million in new funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Cost: $477 million surplus, based on increased royalty rates, bitumen royalty premium and reverse corporate tax cuts.

Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta

Elimination of health care premiums over four years
Increase the number of health care workers
Construct 18 new schools in Calgary and Edmonton, including health focused schools
$6 billion a year to build and improve urban transit, highways, schools, parks and seniors facilities
Tax credits to businesses and homeowners who renovate to utilize energy efficient appliances
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 200 megatons by 2050
Increase oil and gas revenue by $2 billion
Introduce royalty that would increase with the price of oil
Create a secretariat for action on homelessness
Create a new cultural policy that includes recreation and sport along with arts and performance
Double the tax credit for those supporting dependent family members

Cost: Total commitments represent 4.2 per cent of the budget for 2008–09 or $1.5 billion.

Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta

Immediately eliminate health care premiums
Raise the basic personal income tax exemption to $20,000
Cut the provincial corporate tax rate from 10% to 8%
Allow income splitting for taxpayers who care for dependents in times of medical or other crisis
Direct savings from slowing spending growth to the Heritage Fund so that personal income taxes can eventually be eliminated
Allow governance and service delivery at the municipal and community levels as much as possible
As part of the party's universal health care plan, implement a pilot program in one of the smaller health regions that will be modelled after funding following the patients rather than the per capita funding currently in place today. Similarly, establish a school choice voucher pilot.
Provide significant debt relief to Alberta-trained medical professionals who commit to practising in the province at least five years
Establish fixed election dates, allow for citizen initiatives via referendums, and enact the right to recall elected officials

Costs: Cost of promises not released.

Alberta Greens

Green tax shift (i.e. lower income and business taxes in exchange for higher resource taxes)
Community-based development
Balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility
Recovery of waste energy through co-generation
Assessing royalty waste on a reservoir by reservoir basis
Provide low interest loans to businesses for energy retrofits
Provide no interest loans to homes for energy conservation
Ban the use of cosmetic pesticides
Increase spending in the Child Welfare Department
Pass a Protected Lands Act that will clarify different land uses. The act will include:

Increase land designated as protected
Protect the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) corridor
Authority and resources to enforce the legislation for protected areas officers

Increasing the supply of affordable housing

More housing cooperatives and co-housing type developments
Ensuring units are maintained by organizations that have a vested interest in sustaining them

Working with the municipalities to make urban development plans that preserve farmland
Investing in public transit
Ensuring a continued supply of fresh water

Leader's statement

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More information Party name, Cgy. ...

Party name			Cgy.	Edm.¹	Leth.	R.D.	North	Central	South	Total
	Progressive Conservative	Seats:	18	13	1	2	10	20	8	72
	Progressive Conservative	Popular vote:	45.81%	42.74%	46.16%	55.46%	65.83%	65.13%	60.85%	52.66%
	Liberal	Seats:	5	3	1	0	0	0	0	9
	Liberal	Popular vote:	33.90%	33.47%	34.34%	25.30%	13.95%	16.60%	15.75%	26.37%
	New Democrats	Seats:	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
	New Democrats	Popular vote:	4.21%	18.01%	8.87%	5.79%	11.00%	5.59%	3.74%	8.52%
Total seats:			23	18	2	2	10	20	8	83
Parties that won no seats:
	Wildrose Alliance	Popular vote:	8.96%	1.51%	7.61%	7.74%	5.65%	5.86%	16.02%	6.77%
	Greens	Popular vote:	4.87%	3.16%	3.02%	5.71%	3.19%	6.12%	3.63%	4.58%
	Social Credit	Popular vote:	0.20%	0.06%	xx	xx	0.39%	0.54%	xx	0.22%
	Separation	Popular Vote:	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx	0.05%	xx	0.01%
	Communist	Popular vote:	0.02%	0.02%	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx	0.01%
	Alberta Party	Popular vote:	xx	0.02%	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx	0.01%
	Independents	Popular vote:	2.04%	0.96%	xx	xx	xx	0.12%	xx	0.87%

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¹ "Edmonton" corresponds to only the city of Edmonton. (Only the ridings whose names begin with "Edmonton".) The four suburban ridings around the city as listed below are grouped with central Alberta in this table.

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More information Polling Firm, Last Date of Polling ...

Polling Firm	Last Date of Polling	Link	Prog. Cons.	Liberal	New Democratic	Alliance	Greens
Election results	March 3, 2008		53%	26%	9%	7%	5%
Angus Reid Strategies	February 29, 2008		43%	28%	13%	10%	7%
Strategic Counsel	February 28, 2008		50%	25%	8%	10%	8%
Leger Marketing	February 25, 2008		55%	24%	7%	8%	6%
Angus Reid Strategies	February 20, 2008		42%	31%	9%	10%	8%
Ipsos-Reid	February 17, 2008		49%	28%	14%	5%	4%
Environics	February 7, 2008		52%	25%	10%	6%	7%
Leger Marketing	January 24, 2008		49%	28%	11%	5%	8%
Strategic Counsel	January 13, 2008		58%	19%	9%	5%	9%
Last election	22 November 2004		48.8%	29.4%	10.2%	8.7%	2.8%

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The following is a list of ridings that were narrowly lost by the indicated party in the 2004 election. For instance, under the Liberal column are the nine seats in which they came closest to winning but did not. Listed is the name of the riding, followed by the party which was victorious (in parentheses) and the margin, in terms of percentage of the vote, by which the party lost.

These ridings were likely targeted by the specified party because the party lost them by a very slim margin in the 2004 election.

Up to ten are shown, with a maximum margin of victory of 15%.

* Indicates incumbent not running again.

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta	Alberta Liberal Party
Cardston-Taber-Warner, (WA) 1.5% Edmonton-Meadowlark, (Lib) 1.8% Edmonton-Ellerslie, (Lib) 2.0% Edmonton-Manning, (Lib) 2.6% St. Albert, (Lib) 2.7% Edmonton-Calder, (NDP) 3.0% Edmonton-McClung, (Lib) 4.1% Lethbridge-East, (Lib) 5.0% Calgary-Varsity, (Lib) 5.3% Calgary-Currie, (Lib) 5.7%	Edmonton-Castle Downs, (PC) <0.1% Calgary-McCall, (PC) 4.1% Spruce Grove-Sturgeon-St. Albert, (PC) 4.4% Edmonton-Whitemud, (PC) 5.7% Edmonton-Mill Creek, (PC) 6.5% Calgary-Buffalo, (PC) 7.7% Edmonton-Calder, (NDP) 9.6% Red Deer-South, (PC) 10.8% Sherwood Park, (PC) 11.2%
Alberta New Democratic Party	Wildrose Alliance Party
Edmonton-Glenora, (Lib) 4.2% Edmonton Ellerslie, (Lib) 11.7% Edmonton Manning, (Lib) 14.2%	Dunvegan-Central Peace, (PC) 4.1%

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November 19, 2005 Paul Hinman, Cardston-Taber-Warner MLA is elected leader of the Alberta Alliance Party replacing Randy Thorsteinson at a leadership convention in Red Deer, Alberta.
March 29, 2006 Premier Ralph Klein is given a 55% leadership review, he later announced his retirement for the fall of 2006.
September 20, 2006 Premier Ralph Klein gives notice to the Progressive Conservatives, announces he will leave when a new leader is picked.
November 23, 2006 Dan Backs is removed from the Liberal caucus and is forced to sit as an Independent
December 15, 2006 Ed Stelmach replaces Ralph Klein as premier.
January 15, 2007 Former Premier Ralph Klein and former Deputy Premier Shirley McClellan resign their legislature seats.
June 12, 2007 By-elections are held in the seats vacated on January 15. While Jack Hayden easily holds the Drumheller-Stettler riding for the Progressive Conservatives, Craig Cheffins takes Premier Klein's old seat, Calgary Elbow, for the Liberals.
November 3, 2007 Len Skowronski is elected Leader of Social Credit replacing Lavern Ahlstrom
December 3, 2007 Gary Mar resigns his seat of Calgary Mackay after he was appointed as Alberta's representative to Washington, D.C.
January 19, 2008 The Wildrose Party of Alberta and the Alberta Alliance Party merge to form the Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta.
February 4, 2008 The writ is dropped.
February 21, 2008 Stelmach, Taft, Mason, and Hinman square off in a leaders' debate.
March 3, 2008, 8:22 p.m.: CTV Calgary declares a PC majority barely twenty minutes after the polls close. A CTV reporter asks Ed Stelmach about it, but the Premier has no real answer.
- 8:29 p.m.: Less than half an hour after the polls close, and less than 25 minutes after the first polling station reports, CBC News declares a PC majority; Ed Stelmach begins a brief speech thanking party workers in Calgary while the CBC anchor is making the declaration.
- 9:45 p.m.: Kevin Taft concedes victory. Despite the poor result, he announces his intention to remain party leader.
- 10:36 p.m.: Ed Stelmach formally claims victory in Edmonton.

More information Party, Seats ...

	Seats	Second	Third	Fourth
Progressive Conservative	72	11	0	0
Liberal	9	58	13	2
New Democratic Party	2	4	34	16
Wildrose Alliance	0	7	30	17
Greens	0	2	4	47
Independents	0	1	2	1

Party		Average # of votes
	Progressive Conservative	6,063
	Liberal	3,059
	Wildrose Alliance	1,055
	New Democrat	976
	Greens	551
	Social Credit	256
	Separation	120
	Alberta Party	51
	Communist	48

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Names in bold indicate party leaders and cabinet ministers. ^[3]