Politics of Alberta

The politics of Alberta are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces. The capital of the province is Edmonton, and here reside the premier, legislature, lieutenant-governor and cabinet. The legislature consists of one house -- the Legislative Assembly of Alberta -- of 83 members. Government is conducted after the Westminster model. The province's revenue, although including grants from the Federal government, is chiefly derived from management of the provincial resources. Alberta has a system of municipal government similar to that of the other provinces. The largest exception is that Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax (PST).

Albertan politics are more right-wing than those of any other Canadian province. The provincial government has been formed by a series of right-wing parties for decades, first with Social Credit and today with the Conservatives. The current premier of Alberta is Ralph Klein, who despite making many controversial statements and having had embarassing problems with alcohol, remains extremely popular in the province.

Alberta's political stability has lead to a series of political dynasties. In its history, Alberta has seen only four governments:

Alberta is the heartland of the former Reform Party of Canada and its successor, the Canadian Alliance. These parties were the second-largest political parties in the federal Parliament from 1997 to 2003, and the furthest to the political right. The Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form today's Conservative Party of Canada, which is led by Albertan Stephen Harper.

Both the provincial Progressive Conservatives and the Reform/Alliance parties reflect Alberta's more socially conservative nature than other provinces. Albertans tend to oppose social policies such as gay marriage, gun control, and abortion. Albertans are more likely to favour the death penalty, and support "law-and-order" policies.

Albertans continue to resent the imposition in the 1980s of the National Energy Program (NEP) by the Liberal federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau government. It was considered to be an intrusion by the federal government in an area of provincial responsibility that led some Albertans to consider separation of the province from Canada. There have been occasional surges in interest since then in the idea of separating from Canada, but this is generally considered to be a fringe movement. The NEP was ended when the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, led by Brian Mulroney, formed the federal governemnt following the 1984 election.

Albertans are the lowest taxed people in Canada, mostly because of the province's considerable oil and gas income. Alberta is one of the three provinces that do not receive equalization payments from the federal government. These payments are made to poorer provinces to ensure that all provinces are able to provide similar levels of public services. On a per capita basis, Albertans are the largest contributors to this system, contributing about twice as much as Ontarians.

Prior to the discovery of oil and gas in Alberta, the province was considered one of the poorest in the country.

See also

• List of Alberta Premiers
• List of Alberta general elections

See also: Politics of Alberta, 26th Alberta Legislative Assembly, Abortion, Alberta, Alberta Alliance Party, Alberta Electoral Boundary Re-distribution, 2004, Alberta Greens, Alberta Liberal Party, Alberta New Democratic Party