The Alberta Alliance was a right wing provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Many of its members were supporters of the defunct Canadian Alliance federal political party and its predecessor, the Reform Party of Canada. Members also joined from such other provincial fringe parties as the Alberta First Party, the Alberta Party and Social Credit. Alliance supporters tended to view themselves as "true conservatives", and believed the Progressive Conservative governments of Premiers Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach were out of touch with the needs of Albertans.
Paul Hinman was elected the party's leader at a leadership convention held on November 19, 2005.
On January 19, 2008, the party voted to change its name to the Wildrose Alliance Party when it absorbed the unregistered Wildrose Party of Alberta.
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 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 experience in Alberta politics as he was 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 (CA) never formed provincial wings or forged formal links with existing provincial parties. In the case of the CA'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 hoped the new party would be seen as the unofficial provincial wing of the CA.
The new party never sought a formal link with the CA, 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.
2004 election campaign
The Alliance nominated candidates in all 83 electoral divisions and three candidates for the senator-in-waiting, for the 2004 Alberta election, which was held on November 22, 2004. The party was excluded from Global Television Network's leaders' debate because it had not elected any members in the 2001 election, which was held before the party was founded. Some Alliance members noted that in the 1997 election, the Alberta New Democratic Party leader was allowed in the debate (as was then Social Credit leader Thorsteinson), even though the NDP had no MLAs at the time. They also noted that the NDP did not even have a full slate of candidates in the 1997 election.
The Alliance hired an American firm, Campaign Secrets, to help run its campaign. Campaign Secrets, which has extensive experience working on Republican campaigns, produced advertisements that were criticized by some Albertans for employing "U.S.-style" negative campaign tactics. The Alliance leadership defended its use of American strategists, claiming that most right-leaning Albertan consultants were already hired by the well-heeled Tories.
"I Blame Ralph" The Alberta Alliance Party devised a campaign strategy in September 2004 prior to election called "I Blame Ralph", the purpose of which was to court voters who were uncomfortable with Ralph Klein's behaviour, and highlight his tight controls over the government's decision making.