Michael Maccagno
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Michael (Mike) Maccagno was an Alberta politician. He is the first, and so far only, Italian-Canadian to lead a major political party in Canada.[1] He was first elected to the Alberta legislature in the 1955 provincial election representing Lac La Biche. In the 1959 provincial election his Alberta Liberal Party was reduced from 15 seats to a single seat and Maccagno became the sole Liberal in the legislature. When Liberal leader Dave Hunter failed to win his seat in the 1963 provincial election, Maccagno became interim leader of the now two person caucus and also Leader of the Opposition. Adrian Berry became Liberal leader in 1966 but resigned under mysterious circumstances leaving Maccagno to lead the party into the 1967 provincial election which saw the Liberals gain a third seat but fall behind the surging Progressive Conservatives who won six seats under new leader Peter Lougheed and displacing the Liberals to become the Official Opposition - Maccagno was the last Liberal to serve as Opposition Leader until Laurence Decore won the position after the 1993 provincial election. Nevertheless, Maccagno was the first Liberal leader to win a seat in the legislature since the 1955 election. Maccagno resigned his seat in the Alberta legislature and ran for the federal Liberals in Fort McMurray—Athabasca in the 1968 federal election but lost though he came within 1,200 votes of winning. He was subsequently appointed to the Parole Board of Canada.
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| Legislative Assembly of Alberta | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Grant MacEwan |
Leader of the Official Opposition in Alberta 1963-1967 |
Succeeded by Peter Lougheed |
| Preceded by Harry Lobay |
MLA Lac La Biche 1955–1968 |
Succeeded by D. Bouvier |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Dave Hunter |
Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party (interim) 1964-1966 |
Succeeded by Adrian Berry |
| Preceded by Adrian Berry |
Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party 1966-1969 |
Succeeded by John T. Lowery |
