Alberta First Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alberta First Party | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Former Provincial Party | |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Dissolved | 2004 |
| Leader | John Reil |
| President | Tony Ollenberger |
| Headquarters | n/a |
| Political ideology | Conservatism |
| International alignment | none |
| Colours | Yellow & Black |
| Website | none |
The Alberta First Party was a right-wing political party that operated in Alberta, Canada from 1999 until 2003. It was founded by former members of the Social Credit Party of Alberta. The party was registered with Elections Alberta on November 2, 1999. The first party leader was John Riel, who was elected leader at a convention in Edmonton on January 22, 2000.
The Alberta First Party was the first real attempt to establish a provincial party to appeal to Reform Party of Canada supporters: the policies of the two parties were very similar. Alberta First was ahead of its time, however, as the Alberta Progressive Conservatives were at the height of their popularity.
In the 2001 provincial election, Alberta First nominated 16 candidates, who won a total of 8,851 votes, or 0.87% of the provincial total. No candidates were elected. The party's best result came in Cardston-Taber-Warner, where leader John Riel picked up 2,500 votes, to the 5,000 by then incumbent Broyce Jacobs. Broyce would be defeated in the next election by Alberta Alliance Party candidate Paul Hinman, who had previously served on the Alberta First executive.
The party also contested three by-elections where it showed some of its best results.
The second best showing of the Alberta First Party came in a by-election in the electoral district of Wainwright on April 8, 2002, when Jerry Barber won 1,659 votes, 25.9% of the total, for a second place finish.
Alberta First was de-registered in 2003 by Elections Alberta after the party failed to file financial statements with the electoral office. The party was subsequently re-registered after filing after the filing deadline, then folded in 2004 when its leader resigned and its president moved to Saskatchewan. The party became the Separation Party of Alberta, which still holds the rights to the Alberta First name.
Most of the supporters and party officials joined the Alberta Alliance Party that was just starting up during the decline of the Alberta First Party.
