Breaking the Peace: The Wildrose Alliance in Alberta Politics

Abstract

Party politics in Alberta can seem dull. Election after election the Conservative party is returned to power with a comfortable majority and campaigns are marked by little in the way of suspense (see Bell et al, 2007 and Stewart and Archer, 2000). The last time government changed hands in Alberta was 1971 when the Peter Lougheed led Progressive Conservatives eked out a narrow win over the Social Credit dynasty. Lougheed and the Conservatives positioned them- selves as safe, conservative change. This was also the case when the Progressive Conservatives faced their most serious challenge to date, in 1993. The Liberals, led by former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore, launched a fiscal attack on the Conservatives, presenting themselves as the safe, conservative alternative (Stewart, 1995). The Ralph Klein Conservatives beat back that challenge and the party has easily carried each subsequent election.