1986 Alberta general election
The 1986 Alberta general election was the twenty-first general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on May 8, 1986, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
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83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 42 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 47.25% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Peter Lougheed, who had created the modern Alberta Progressive Conservatives, led it to power in 1971, and served as premier of Alberta for fourteen years, retired from politics in 1985. The PC Party elected Don Getty as its new leader.
Getty was not able to gain the confidence of Albertans as Lougheed had, and the party's popular vote fell by ten percentage points. The PCs were still, however, able to win a fifth term in government, with over half the votes in the province, and 61 of the 83 seats in the legislature. While the PC's continued to dominate in Calgary and rural Alberta, unlike previous PC victories the party was badly routed in the provincial capital Edmonton where it won only four seats.
The New Democratic Party, now led by Ray Martin, was able to make itself the focus of opposition to the PC government, winning almost 30% of the vote, and sixteen seats in the legislature (up from two in the 1982 election), mostly in Edmonton where they became the dominant political party. This was a salutary result after the tragic death of its leader, Grant Notley, in 1984. It would again take 16 seats in the next election. These two elections were the NDP's best result in any election until it won government in the 2015 election.
The Liberal Party of Nicholas Taylor returned to the legislature for the first time since 1969 with four seats. Two seats were won by former Social Credit members who had formed the Representative Party of Alberta after winning re-election in 1982 as independents.
Western Canada Concept, a western separatist party that had won almost 12% of the vote in 1982, collapsed under the leadership of Jack Ramsay, who later served as a Reform Party of Canada Member of Parliament.
The Social Credit Party of Alberta nominated no candidates. The party had governed Alberta for 36 years before getting bounced out of power by the Tories in 1971.
The 22-member opposition in the Alberta Legislature was the largest since 1971. Although the opposition MLAs were still outnumbered three to one by Conservative MLAs, they presented a significant competitive voice to the dominant Conservative Party. The NDP, long the most able, visible and popular opposition group in the Legislature now were granted status of Official Opposition. The existence of the moderately large opposition is counter to the pattern of Alberta both before and after of having miniscule opposition in the Legislature, one party dominance for a long period followed by landslide in favour of a new party.
Thus the 1986 Legislature was part of a break, short lived as it happened, in the usual pattern of Alberta politics that some describe as ideologically conservative, anachronistic, odd and unpredictable. It was thought by some that Alberta politics was beginning to resemble that of Canada's other provinces.
UofA prof Allan Tupper said the rise of a new, competent opposition was a healthy development in Alberta's politics and would likely contribute positively to Alberta's economic and social well-being.[1]
However in 1993, the NDP caucus was obliterated, and the Liberal became the Official Opposition. And Conservatives received 61 percent of the seats (although with only 45 percent of the votes) and thus still held overwhelming dominance in the Legislature, with a three to two ratio of seats over the opposition.
Results
Overall voter turnout was 47.25%.[2]
| Party | Party leader | Candidates | Seats | Popular vote | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Elected | % Change | # | % | % Change | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 83 | 75 | 61 | -18.7% | 366,783 | 51.40% | -10.88% | |
| New Democratic | Ray Martin | 83 | 2 | 16 | +700% | 208,561 | 29.22% | +10.47% | |
| Liberal | Nicholas Taylor | 63 | - | 4 | 87,239 | 12.22% | +10.41% | ||
| Representative | Raymond Speaker | 46 | * | 2 | * | 36,656 | 5.15% | * | |
| Independent | 20 | 2 | - | -100% | 6,134 | 0.86% | -3.01% | ||
| Western Canada Concept | Jack Ramsay | 20 | - | - | - | 4,615 | 0.65% | -11.11% | |
| Confederation of Regions | Elmer Knutson | 6 | * | - | * | 2,866 | 0.40% | * | |
| Heritage | Mike Pawlus | 6 | * | - | * | 601 | 0.08% | * | |
| Communist | David Wallis | 6 | - | - | - | 199 | 0.03% | -0.01% | |
| Total | 333 | 79 | 83 | - | 713,654 | 100% | |||
| Source: Elections Alberta | |||||||||
Note:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
Members elected
For complete electoral history, see individual districts
Note:
1Nancy Betkowski later changed her last name to Nancy MacBeth.
See also
References
- Allan Tupper, "New Dimensions Of Alberta Politics." Queen's Quarterly 1986 93(4): 780-791.
- Election Alberta (July 28, 2008). 2008 General Report (PDF). p. 158. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
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| Referendums | |
See also: Elections in Canada | |