Alberta Alliance Party - Early History

Early History

The party was registered on October 25, 2002. and its founding convention was held for two days beginning on February 14, 2003, in Red Deer, Alberta.

Former Social Credit Party of Alberta leader Randy Thorsteinson was selected as the first leader of the party on the second day of the founding convention on February 15, 2003. Thorsteinson had previous experience in Alberta politics as he was former leader of Social Credit from 1992 to 1999. He left the party in April 1999 in protest of an internal party proposal to limit the involvement of Mormons within the Party.

The Canadian Alliance never formed provincial wings or forged formal links with existing provincial parties. In the case of the Canadian Alliance's predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada, an inactive Reform Party of Alberta had been formed by members of the federal party to keep the Reform name out of provincial politics. Unlike the Reform Party, the founders of the Alberta Alliance intended to form a very active party, and many members of the Alberta Alliance undoubtedly hoped the new party would be seen as the unofficial provincial wing of the Canadian Alliance.

The new party never sought a formal link with the Canadian Alliance, and had it done so, the overture would likely have been rebuffed, since many Albertan CA members continued to support the Progressive Conservatives. However, the Alberta Alliance used the same blue-and-green colours used by the CA, and its logo bears a striking resemblance to that of the federal party. The Alberta Alliance continued to grow following the Canadian Alliance's merger with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to form the new Conservative Party of Canada.

The Alliance gained its first Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (MLA) on June 29, 2004, when Gary Masyk crossed the floor, quitting the Progressive Conservative Party to protest Ralph Klein's handling of health care issues during the 2004 federal election. Masyk had represented the electoral district of Edmonton-Norwood since 2001.