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Government and Politics in Alberta This page intentionally left blank Government and Politics in Alberta Edited by Allan Tupper and Roger Gibbins 3 The University of Alberta Press First published by The University of Alberta Press Athabasca Hall Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2E8 Copyright ® The University of Alberta Press 1992 ISBN 0-88864-243-1 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Government and Politics in Alberta Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-88864-243-1 1. Alberta—Politics and government—1971- I. Tupper, Allan, 1950- II. Gibbins, Roger, 1947- JL336.G69 1992 320.97123'09'045 C92-091396-2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans- mitted in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed on acid-free paper. Typesetting by Piece de Resistance Ltee., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Printed by Quality Color Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Contents Preface vii Acknowledgements ix Contributors xi Alberta Politics: Change and Continuity xv 1 The Political Executive and Political Leadership in Alberta 1 Leslie A. Pal 2 The Role of Government 31 Allan Tupper, Larry Pratt and Ian Urquhart 3 Alberta and the National Community 67 Roger Gibbins 4- Reconsidering Democracy in Alberta 85 Edward Bell D Voting Behaviour and Political Dominance in Alberta, 1971-1991 109 Keith Archer 6 The Legislature 137 Frederick C. Engelmann 1 Provincial-Municipal Relations 167 Jack Masson vi Contents O The Media and Politics in Alberta 197 Denise Savage-Hughes and David Taras 9 The Politics of Gender 219 Linda Trimble 10 Alberta and the Constitution 247 /. Peter Meekison 1 1 The Lubicon Lake Dispute 269 Tom Flanagan Index 305 Preface 1 he origins of this volume lie in a telephone conversation between the editors in the fall of 1989. At that time we lamented the absence of a readily available, relatively comprehensive and easily accessible volume on modern Alberta politics. Several themes were implicit in the wide- ranging discussion that followed—these themes remained central to our subsequent deliberations and thus exerted a marked influence on the shape of the book at hand. The first important notion was that Alberta's politics were changing dramatically as the 1980s were ending. And while we had many ideas about the source and possible consequences of these changes, we had seldom committed our thoughts to prose. Perhaps, we agreed, we should do something about it! At the same time, we also con- cluded that neither of us was prepared to undertake the large task of preparing a co-authored volume. A perhaps better approach was to bring together the specialized talents of our colleagues and to prepare a col- lection of essays on a range of important topics. Such an approach had several merits. First, it allowed us to bring to bear the views, talents and skills of a diverse group of Alberta's scholars. To a degree, therefore, we sought to encourage an interchange among each other. Second, the project brought together scholars from the province's two largest universities in an undertaking that led each of us to think deeply about at least one important aspect of Alberta's changing political landscape. Without any false modesty, several contributors, when first approached, remarked that they did not see themselves as Alberta politics "specialists" and hence were reluctant to contribute. Our standard response to this concern was twofold—none of us is really an Alberta "specialist'' and that we wanted vii viii Preface papers that, if possible, placed Alberta in a broader context of political, social and economic change. In other words, we asked contributors to ponder modern Alberta, not necessarily as a "special case," but in the light of their ongoing research and teaching interests. Our initially reluc- tant contributors rose to the occasion in every instance and enthusiasti- cally pursued their mandate. Our final concern was that we prepare a volume that would be accessible to diverse readers including university audiences especially at the senior undergraduate level, informed general readers and students of provincial and national politics. At the same time, we urged contributors to employ the accepted tools of our discipline as they saw fit and to avoid oversimplification even in the face of a broad and diverse audience. In this vein, we walked a familiar tightrope for social scientists as we struggled to communicate clearly sometimes com- plex ideas. We hope we have succeeded but we leave judgement on this question to our readers. Canadian political science has never accorded the study of provincial politics a status comparable to that conferred on the study of national events, although this state of affairs may finally be changing. Various factors account for this disciplinary bias but the neglect of provincial affairs is paradoxical given Canadian political science's incessant asser- tions about the political, social and economic significance of contem- porary provincial governments. Our book is not designed to enjoin the sometimes arcane debate about the relative political significance of fed- eral and provincial governments. But we hope that it will inspire fur- ther research into the complex politics of Alberta and the other provinces. A clearer understanding of the dynamics of provincial politics is valua- ble in its own right. It may also provide important insights into the behaviour of provincial governments on the national stage and hence par- tially illuminate the vexing problems of national unity that beset us as we write in 1992. Acknowledgements Many debts are accumulated in the preparation of a volume such as this one. The few words that follow are a decidedly modest tribute to the many contributors to the final result. First, our contributors deserve high praise for their commitment, their enthusiasm and their profession- alism. They diligently and good naturedly endured the demands of their several editors. Many of them put aside other pressing research projects to join with us in an important collective effort. The contribution of two, anonymous referees also merits high praise. Their reviews of the manuscript were thorough, fair and extraordinarily helpful. Their con- tributions added much to the ultimate quality of our volume and gave real meaning and substance to the badly overused phrase "constructive criticism." Many others contributed to the volume although their contributions are less obvious and less visible than those already cited. First, many Albertans assisted in the project by submitting to interviews with the individual authors. We extend a collective thank you to those who gave of their time, their expertise and their views in this way. And of course, our colleagues contributed to our deliberations, often unknowingly, dur- ing the incessant conversations and informal debates that characterize life in a university. As we all know, such contributions are very impor- tant yet hard to pinpoint and acknowledge formally. Our students are also important, yet seldom recognized, contributors to our intellectual undertakings. Our teaching and our research interact in complex ways. For example, important points are clarified, new research topics emerge and old ideas are routinely challenged in classroom discussions. Our ix x Acknowledgements many students are thus ongoing participants in our work even though they themselves might not realize their important contributions. We thank them for their thoughts, for their enthusiasm and for their com- mitment to scholarship. We formally acknowledge the financial contribution of the Alberta government through its program of grants, especially the Alberta Foun- dation for the Arts that provided funds towards this publication, the Canada Council for its general support of University presses and the University of Alberta for its continuing commitment to its Press and hence to scholarly publishing in this country. Norma Gutteridge, Director of the University of Alberta Press, sup- ported the project from its conception. Her commitment moved the project through to completion. Mary Mahoney-Robson, Editor of the University of Alberta Press, skillfully and energetically guided the volume through the editorial and production stages. Her good judgement, her helpful counsel, her tact and her knowledge were invaluable. She grasped our intellectual goals and made sure that technical considerations were always subordinate to, or meshed with, the broader purposes being pursued. We must thank our colleagues in support positions at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary who played a key role in the production of this book. In particular, the support staff in the Depart- ment of Political Science at the University of Alberta—especially Pam Ouimet, Bonnie Muirhead and Terry Brown ' 'word processed" the entire document through to its final form. Their expertise, their commitment and their good humour in the performance of their role merits formal recognition. Perhaps more often than ever the editors, they wondered whether "it" would indeed ever be done! Contributors Keith Archer is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Univer- sity of Calgary. He is the author of Political Choices and Electoral Con- sequences and articles on political parties and voting behaviour. His cur- rent research is on New Democratic Party conventions. Edward Bell is an SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary. His work has appeared in the Canadian Journal of Sociology and the Canadian Journal of Political Science. He is currently writing a book on the Social Credit movement in Alberta. Frederick C. Engelmann is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Alberta. He is the co-author of Canadian Political Parties: Origin, Character, Impact and of numerous chapters and articles. His current research focuses on Alberta, Canadian and Austrian politics. Thomas Flanagan is Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary.

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