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Albertans go to the Polls on Monday, November 22 to Elect MLA's and Senate Nominees

EDMONTON, Alberta, November 19, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Albertans will go to the polls this Monday to elect a new legislature. According to recently published opinion polls, the Alberta Progressive Conservatives, led by Ralph Klein, are set to win another big majority, with the Alberta Liberals and NDP far behind. Also contesting this election is the new Alberta Alliance Party, which is calling for the abortion and marriage issues to be put to a province-wide vote.

At dissolution, the legislature had 73 PCs, 5 Liberals, 2 NDP, 2 vacancies and one member of the Alberta Alliance (Gary Masyk, who was elected as a PC in the 2001 election and crossed the floor to become the province's first Alliance MLA). The Alberta PC Party has been in power since 1971, when the Peter Lougheed led PCs swept away the Social Credit regime of Preston Manning's father Ernest Manning. Lougheed was Premier from 1971 until 1986. He was succeeded for a short time by fellow PC Don Getty and then by Ralph Klein, who has already won three successive majorities since his first win in 1993.

This is expected to be Ralph Klein's last election as PC Party leader. There is wide speculation that, sometime after Alberta's centenary celebrations next year (Alberta became a province in 1905) Klein will retire from politics. The contest to replace him is expected to involve former Alberta finance minister Jim Dinning, who is already viewed as the frontrunner and clear favourite of the party establishment and assorted Alberta Red Tories. Though retired from politics, Dinning is widely rumoured to be interested in returning to politics should the leadership become vacant.

Dinning's main challenge from the right is expected to come from University of Calgary Professor Ted Morton, who is seeking to enter the Legislature this month as the new PC member for Foothills-Rockyview. Morton is well known in Alberta as a supporter of strong provincial rights and traditional family values, including support for the unborn and the traditional definition of marriage. Since 1998, Morton has been one of Alberta’s “Senators-in-waiting”.

Another prominent pro-life candidate running for the legislature is Edmonton MLA Julius Yankowsky (PC: Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview). In 2000, Yankowsky grabbed the attention of pro-life supporters across the country when he introduced a private members' bill that would have protected the right of health care workers to absent themselves from certain controversial procedures such as abortion. This bill would have become Canada's first successful example of "Conscience Legislation" but it was sidelined in the Ralph Klein controlled legislature and never came to a final vote. An MLA since 1993, Yankowsky’s re-election bid for the legislature is threatened this year by a strong local challenge from former Alberta NDP leader Ray Martin, who is attempting a return to provincial politics.

As a part of Monday’s provincial ballot, Albertans will also elect four new Senate nominees from a slate of ten candidates. Along with Ted Morton, Bert Brown was elected in 1998 as one of Alberta's Senate nominees, though neither Brown nor Morton was ever actually appointed to the Senate as the federal Liberals have chosen to disregard Alberta's Senate election process.

Brown is seeking “re-nomination” this year and faces opposition from at least four pro-life candidates: Cliff Breitkreuz (PC), a former Reform MP for Yellowhead; Link Byfield (Independent), former editor and publisher of Alberta Report Magazine; Betty Unger (PC), an Edmonton nurse who ran for the Canadian Alliance in 2000; and Dave Usherwood (PC), a farm and ranch consultant from Cochrane, Alberta. Other Senatorial candidates include former Reform MP Jim Silye (a pro-abortion PC candidate), Tom Sindlinger (independent) and three Alberta Alliance candidates: Mike Roth, Gary Horan and Vance Gough.

The Campaign Life Coalition/LifeSite Alberta Election 2004 web page presents information on where many local candidates stand on life issues.

CLC ELECTION 2004 AND CANDIDATE EVALUATIONS
http://www.lifesite.net/elections/provincial/alberta/2004/

See Alliance wants vote on abortion, same sex marriage
http://calgary.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/av04-abortion2004119.html

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