2004 Alberta Senate nominee election

The 3rd Alberta Senate nominee election was held on November 22, 2004, in conjunction with the Alberta general election, 2004. Alberta is the only Canadian province to elect nominees for the Senate of Canada.

Background

Both of Alberta's opposition parties, the Liberal Party and the NDP, boycotted the election in demonstration of their opposition to the process. As a result, the only candidates to contest the election were representatives of the right-of-centre Alberta Progressive Conservatives, Alberta Alliance Party and Social Credit parties, and a number of independents. After much pressure from the Liberal and NDP camps (who did not want their supporters to feel compelled to vote for a right-of-centre candidate), polling officers were instructed to advise voters on election day that they did not have to vote in the Senate election.

The candidate nominated by Social Credit did not obtain the 1500 signatures required to get on the ballot, and the party therefore was not represented in the election.

As of the date of the election, there were three vacant Alberta seats in the Senate of Canada, with another set to become vacant within six years. Voters could vote for up to four candidates, though many candidates encouraged their supporters to vote for only one, a legal option, to prevent the vote totals of their competitors from rising.

A total of 2,176,341 votes were cast (714,709 ballots).

Election day

Many Liberal and NDP supporters were observed discarding their Senate nominee ballots, while the proportion of spoiled ballots was higher in ridings and polls where the Liberals and NDP did well in the concurrent Legislature election.

Appointments

Liberal Party of Canada Prime Minister Paul Martin refused to advise Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to appoint the elected Senate nominees to the Upper Chamber, instead putting forward three appointees of his choosing: Grant Mitchell, Elaine McCoy and Claudette Tardif on March 24, 2005.

Senate reform proponents actively decried the appointments, urging the new senators to vacate their seats for the elected senators-in-waiting. The new appointments left little hope of another vacancy for Alberta's Senate seats in the near future.

In the 2006 Canadian federal election Stephen Harper promised he would advise the Governor General to appoint the senators-in-waiting if his party won. On April 19, 2007, Harper appointed Bert Brown to the Senate after Daniel Hays retired early.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach decided to defer new Senate elections set to take place when the terms of senators-in-waiting ended, which was controversial. Senator-in-waiting Link Byfield decided to resign as he felt he lacked a mandate. Remaining candidates Breitkreuz and Unger both accepted the term extension. Unger was appointed to the Senate on January 6, 2012, after the mandatory retirement of Tommy Banks.

Results

	Candidate	Party	Votes #	Votes %	Ballots %	Elected	Appointed	Bert Brown	Progressive Conservative	312,041	14.3%	43.7%	X	July 10, 2007	Betty Unger	Progressive Conservative	311,964	14.3%	43.6%	X	January 6, 2012	Cliff Breitkreuz	Progressive Conservative	241,306	11.1%	33.8%	X	Term ended March 26, 2012	Link Byfield	Independent	238,751	11.0%	33.4%	X	Resigned November 2010	Jim Silye	Progressive Conservative	217,857	10.0%	30.5%			David Usherwood	Progressive Conservative	193,056	8.9%	27.0%			Michael Roth	Alberta Alliance	176,339	8.1%	24.7%			Vance Gough	Alberta Alliance	167,770	7.7%	23.5%			Tom Sindlinger	Independent	161,082	7.4%	22.5%			Gary Horan	Alberta Alliance	156,175	7.2%	21.9%

Source: Elections Alberta

Note:

• For results by district please see districts listed in the Alberta general election, 2004.