The 2012 Alberta general election was held on April 23, 2012, to elect members of the 28th Legislative Assembly of Alberta. A Senate nominee election was called for the same day.
During the 2011 Progressive Conservative Association leadership election, eventual winner Alison Redford stated that if she became Premier she intended to pass legislation setting a fixed election date. After taking office, her government introduced a bill relating to the timing of elections, which was passed on December 6, 2011. Unlike other fixed election date legislation in Canada, the 2011 Election Amendment Act fixes the election to a three-month period, between March 1 and May 31 in the fourth calendar year. However, like other legislation, this does not affect the powers of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislature before this period. The writs of elections were dropped March 26, 2012.
Although the Wildrose Party led opinion polls for much of the campaign, on election night the Progressive Conservatives defied expectations to win 61 seats – a net loss of only five – en route to their 12th consecutive majority government. It is colloqually known as the "Lake of Fire" election for a series of controversies by Wildrose candidates, perceived to have hampered the party's campaign.
The victory made Redford the third woman elected in her own right as a provincial premier in Canada (after Catherine Callbeck in Prince Edward Island in 1993, and Kathy Dunderdale in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011), and the first woman elected premier in a province outside Atlantic Canada. On September 4, 2014, the Alberta PC Party became the longest-running provincial government in Canadian history. Wildrose leader Danielle Smith would later become the 19th premier of Alberta in October 2022, as leader of the United Conservative Party.
Overall, across the province, 1,290,352 valid votes were cast in this election.
Background.
27th Legislature.
The 27th Alberta Legislature saw a significant decline in the polls for the governing Progressive Conservatives (PCs) and the popularity of Premier Ed Stelmach.
The Wildrose Party was the primary beneficiary of voter migration in opinion polls from the governing PCs, after former leader Paul Hinman won a by-election, and the party elected Danielle Smith as leader. On January 4, 2010, the Wildrose caucus supplanted the New Democrats to become the third-largest in the legislature when PC MLAs Rob Anderson (Airdrie-Chestermere) and Heather Forsyth (Calgary-Fish Creek) joined Wildrose. Later in 2010, former PC cabinet minister Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo) joined, becoming the party's fourth MLA. However, their support has waned in the year following, as did polling fortunes for the Liberal Party, while the Alberta NDP was polling at double its result in the previous election.
The Liberals lost two MLAs during the 27th Legislature — Dave Taylor (Calgary Currie) who left to sit as an independent, before becoming the first MLA for the Alberta Party; and Bridget Pastoor (Lethbridge-East) who crossed the floor to join the PC caucus in November 2011. However, the Liberals gained one MLA in selecting Raj Sherman (Edmonton-Meadowlark) as their leader in September 2011, who had been ejected from the PC caucus in November 2010.
On January 25, 2011, Ed Stelmach abruptly announced that he would not seek re-election, and would resign as leader of the Progressive Conservatives and as premier after a successor was chosen. Alison Redford was chosen as Stelmach's successor on October 1, 2011, and following her election the PCs improved their results in opinion polls. Her new government presented six pieces of legislation, the most notable of which regarded fixed election dates, an investigation into health care, and tougher penalties for impaired driving. All six bills were passed in the fall 2011 sitting of the 27th Legislature. The 2012 election is a result of the fixed election legislation, which fixed the date of the next provincial election in Alberta between March 1 and May 31, 2012, and requires subsequent elections in that period in the fourth calendar year thereafter. The law does not affect the ability of Alberta's Lieutenant-Governor to dissolve the assembly and call an election before that time. However, that is not likely to occur during majority governments. The legislature was dissolved and the writs were dropped on March 26, 2012.
Green Party dispute.
A year after the previous general election the Alberta Greens became mired in an internal dispute that resulted in the collapse of the party, and its de-registration by Elections Alberta. Some of the former Green party executive, including former deputy leader Edwin Erickson, eventually joined the Alberta Party, while others regrouped and founded the Evergreen Party of Alberta.
Results.
As indicated on the maps, the rural vote split largely on regional lines. Wildrose support was concentrated largely in Southern Alberta while the party won only one seat north of the 53rd parallel, while the PCs were reduced to just one seat in rural Southern Alberta. Wildrose won only three urban seats (two in Calgary and one in Medicine Hat) while the PCs won the majority of seats in both Calgary and Edmonton, swept Edmonton's suburbs and swept the two seats contested in each of Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge and Red Deer. The Liberals were confined to the two largest cities, winning three seats in Calgary and two in Edmonton. The New Democrats won all four of their seats in Edmonton.
The PCs polled about 44 percent of the popular vote, and four cabinet ministers were defeated. The Wildrose won 17 seats to become the Official Opposition for the first time. It was a net increase of thirteen seats for the party, although two of the four Wildrose incumbents (Guy Boutilier and Paul Hinman) were defeated by their PC challengers. The party polled more than 34 percent of the popular vote, more than five times their share in the previous election, and finished a close second in dozens of constituencies.
The Liberals saw their share of the vote plummet by almost two thirds and polled under ten percent for the first time since 1982. The result therefore appeared to give credence to speculation that Liberal voters from last election voted "strategically" for moderate PC candidates to defeat the more conservative Wildrose Party. Nevertheless, the five Liberal incumbents seeking re-election all managed to do so, with the Liberals losing the three seats where their incumbents did not run again. It was the Liberals' lowest seat total since the 1986 election. The Liberals were relegated to third party status in the Legislature for the first time since 1993.
The New Democrats won four seats, double their previous total and enough to secure official party status in the Legislature. Both NDP incumbents were re-elected. The NDP polled just under ten percent of the vote, marginally less than the Liberals' share and a modest increase from the last election.
Summary.
Notes:
The voter turnout was 54%.
Gains, holds, and losses.
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Defeated incumbents.
Notes:
Opinion polls.
The following is a summary of opinion polls leading up to the 2012 election.
MLAs not running again.
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Nominated candidates.
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Bold indicates cabinet members, and "party leaders" are "italicized".
Works cited.
References.
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Bibliography.
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