Impress your friends with Alberta election night trivia
Impress your friends with Alberta election night trivia
With these facts you'll be the life of the party
It’s Election Day in Alberta! If you didn’t vote in the advance polls, voting stations are open today from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Whether you are planning to settle in for a quiet evening of results watching or heading to your local candidate’s campaign office for a victory party, I am happy to share some fun Alberta election trivia you can wow your friends and family with tonight.
Enjoy!
Dave
Alberta election night trivia
This is Alberta’s 31st provincial election and Albertans have only elected majority governments since the province was founded in 1905!
Only six parties have formed government in Alberta: the Liberals (1905-1921), the United Farmers of Alberta (1921-1935), the Social Credit Party (1935-1971), the Progressive Conservatives (1971-2015), the Alberta NDP (2015-2019), and the United Conservative Party (2019-?).
This is the first election in which a former premier, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley, is leading her party in an attempt to return to office. This is the second election in which the two main parties are led by women, Notley and United Conservative Party leader Danielle Smith (the first was in 2012, when Smith led the Wildrose Party against Alison Redford’s PCs).
By the numbers
Total number of candidates running in the 2023 election: 349
Total number of candidates running in the 2019 election: 492
Total number of votes in the 2023 election: TBD!
Total number of votes in the 2019 election: 1,894,985
Total number of votes in the Advance Polls in 2023: 758,550
Total number of votes in the Advance Polls in 2019: 700,476
Total votes for the United Conservative Party in 2019: 1,040,563
Total votes for the Alberta NDP in 2019: 619,921
Ridings with highest and lowest voter turnout in 2019: Grande Prairie-Wapiti (80.2%) and Calgary-East (45.8%).
Closest race in 2019: Calgary-Falconridge. UCP candidate Devinder Toor defeated NDP candidate Parmeet Singh Boparai by 96 votes.
Most votes and highest percentage of the vote for a candidate in 2019: Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre UCP candidate Jason Nixon earned 20,579 votes and 81.6% of the vote.
Youngest MLA in 2019: UCP candidate Miranda Rosin, 23-years old, was elected in Banff-Kananaskis.
Politicians making history
Ernest Manning was Alberta’s longest-serving Premier. He was the Social Credit Premier of Alberta from 1943 to 1968. That’s 25 years and 195 days.
Dave Hancock was the shortest-serving Premier. He was in office for 176 days in 2014.
Ray Martin was the longest serving Leader of the Official Opposition. He led the NDP Official Opposition from 1984 to 1993.
Gordon Taylor is Alberta’s longest serving MLA. He served as MLA for Drumheller from 1940 to 1979. He was a member of the Social Credit Party from 1940 to 1975 and sat as an Independent MLA from 1975 to 1979.
Leonard Halmrast was the last MLA to be acclaimed in an election. He was acclaimed as the Social Credit MLA for Taber-Warner in 1963. He served as MLA for Warner from 1945 to 1963 and Taber-Warner from 1963 to 1967.
Rachel Notley is the longest serving current MLA. She was first elected as the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona in 2008.
Louise McKinney was the first woman elected to a legislature in Canada and in the British Empire. She was MLA for Claresholm from 1917 to 1921.
Mike Cardinal was the first Indigenous person elected as an MLA in Alberta. He served as a Progressive Conservative MLA from 1989 to 2008.
Pearl Calahasen was the first Métis woman elected as an MLA in Alberta. She served as the PC MLA for Lesser Slave Lake from 1989 to 2015.
Larry Shaben was the first Muslim elected to the Legislature. He served as the PC MLA for Lesser Slave Lake from 1975 to 1989.
George Rogers was the first Black person elected to the Legislature. He served as a PC MLA from 2004 to 2015.
George Ho Lem was the first Chinese-Canadian elected to the Legislature. He served as a Social Credit MLA for Calgary-McCall from 1971 to 1975.
All in the Family
NDP leader Rachel Notley’s father Grant Notley was the MLA for Spirit River-Fairview from 1971 to 1984. He was leader of the Alberta NDP from 1968 to 1984.
Calgary-Cross UCP candidate Mickey Amery’s father Moe Amery was the PC MLA for Calgary-East from 1993 to 2015.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville NDP candidate Taneen Rudyk’s father Derek Fox was the MLA for Vegreville from 1986 to 1993.
Devin Dreeshen’s father is Earl Dreeshen, the Conservative MP for Red Deer-Mountain View.
Edmonton-Rutherford UCP candidate Laine Larson’s step-mother is former Conservative MP Deborah Grey.
Calgary-Acadia UCP candidate Tyler Shandro’s great-uncle Andrew Shandro was the Liberal MLA for Whitford from 1913 to 1922.
Drumheller-Stettler UCP candidate Nate Horner’s grandfather Jack Horner was a PC MP from for Crowfoot from 1958 until he crossed the floor in 1977 to become Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce (he was defeated as the Liberal candidate in Crowfoot in 1979). Nate’s cousin Doug Horner served as a PC MLA from 2001 to 2015 and Doug’s father Hugh Horner served as an MLA from 1967 to 1979.
Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre UCP candidate Jason Nixon and Calgary-Klein UCP candidate Jeremy Nixon are the first siblings to serve together in Alberta’s Legislative Assembly.
Don’t I recognize you?
A handful of candidates running in this election have run for different parties in past elections:
Edmonton-Whitemud UCP candidate Raj Sherman ran as a PC candidate in 2008 and a Liberal in 2012. He was leader of the Liberal Party from 2011 to 2015.
Alberta Party leader Barry Morishita ran as a Liberal in 2001. He’s running in Brooks-Medicine Hat in this election.
Edmonton-North West UCP candidate Ali Haymour ran for the NDP in 2008 and 2012 and the Alberta Party in 2019.
Lethbridge-East NDP candidate Rob Miyashiro ran for the Liberals in 2012.
Grande Prairie NDP candidate Kevin McLean ran for the Liberals in 2012, and 2015 and 2019.
Wildrose Loyalty Coalition leader Paul Hinman was the Wildrose MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner from 2004 to 2008 and Calgary-Glenmore from 2009 to 2012. He’s running in Taber-Warner this time.
Naomi Rankin has been leader of the Communist Party of Alberta since 1992 and as run in every provincial election since 1982. She’s running in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood in this election.
Daveberta on CBC’s The National
I joined Ian Hanomansing on CBC’s The National last night to share some thoughts about Alberta’s election and how the UCP and NDP have been competing for votes in Calgary and Edmonton area swing ridings like Sherwood Park.