Lieutenant Governor of Alberta - History

History

Further information: List of lieutenant governors of Alberta

The office of Lieutenant Governor of Alberta came into being in 1905, upon Alberta's entry into Canadian Confederation, and evolved from the earlier position of Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories. Since that date, 17 lieutenant governors have served the province, amongst whom were notable firsts, such as Norman Kwong—the first Asian-Canadian Lieutenant Governor of Alberta—and Helen Hunley—the first female lieutenant governor of the province. The shortest mandate by a Lieutenant Governor of Alberta was Philip Primrose, from 1 October 1936 to his death on 17 March 1937, while the longest was John C. Bowen, from 23 March 1937 to 1 February 1950. In 1956, following his appointment, Lieutenant Governor John J. Bowlen became the first provincial viceroy in Canada to be granted an audience with the Canadian monarch, starting a tradition that continues today for all of Canada's lieutenant governors.

One of the few examples in Canada of a viceroy exercising the Royal Prerogative against or without ministerial advice came in 1937, when John Bowen denied Royal Assent to three bills passed through the Legislative Assembly; two of the bills would have put the province's banks under the control of the provincial government, while a third, the Accurate News and Information Act, would have forced newspapers to print Cabinet rebuttals to stories the ministers objected to. All three bills were later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, though, in retaliation for this move by Bowen, his premier, William Aberhart, closed the viceregal residence, removed the Lieutenant Governor's secretary and support offices, and took away his official car. Nearly seven decades later, Lois Hole, who served as lieutenant governor from 2000 until her death in 2005, publicly stated that she wished to discuss with her premier, Ralph Klein, the proposed Bill 11, which was meant to allow private health care to compete with the public health care system. From this it was suspected that Hole might reserve Royal Assent to the bill; however, Hole eventually did allow the bill to pass.