Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta

Infobox_Canada_Political_Party
party_name = Wildrose Alliance
party_wikicolourid = Canadian Alliance
status = active
class = prov
party_
leader = Paul Hinman
president = Jeff Callaway
foundation = 2008
dissolution =
ideology = Conservatism
headquarters =#3, 1303 - 44 Ave NE
Calgary AB
T2E 6L5
#401 Legislature Annex
9718-107 St
Edmonton AB
T5K 1E4
int_alignment = None
colours = Blue & Green
seats_house = 1
website = [http://www.wildrosealliance.com http://www.wildrosealliance.com] The Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta is a small right-wing provincial political party in Alberta, Canada.

History

The Wildrose Alliance was named after the Wildrose Party of Alberta and the Alberta Alliance Party. The new party was named for the flower Rosa acicularis commonly known as the Alberta Wild Rose, which grows in tough Alberta soil and other areas in North America. The Alliance portion of the name comes from the former Alberta Alliance Party that existed from 2002 to 2008.

The party was created by merger at a special convention on January 19, 2008. The Alberta Alliance Party changed its name to the "Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta", and accepted the members, assets and liabilities of the Wildrose Party. [ [http://www.wildrosealliance.ca/party/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=61&Itemid=100 Party website] ] By-laws were adopted that were substantially similar to those of the Wildrose Party, and a new executive committee was elected.

Alberta Alliance leader and Member of the Legislative Assembly Paul Hinman was selected by an agreement of the executive councils to lead the new party into the 27th Alberta general election.

On February 1, 2008, the President of the new party, Rob James, resigned. [cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=a8a2b04f-c7fc-4d12-8180-c3190f312512&k=21324/ |publisher=Calgary Herald |date=February 1 2008|title=Wildrose President resigns|accessdate=2008-02-01] John Hilton-O'Brien was selected to serve as interim President of the Party. Hilton-O'Brien was the Alberta Alliance candidate for Grande Prairie Wapiti in the 2004 election. He was elected to the party executive at the merger meeting.

Elections

2008

The party kicked off its 2008 pre-writ election campaign with a tour of towns and small cities across Alberta.

The party ran on a platform of:

* minimal taxes (raising the basic exemption to $20,000, eliminating health care premiums, reducing corporate taxes, and building the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund with the object of eventually being able to replace personal tax revenue with investment revenue)

* smaller, efficient government (allowing governance and service delivery at the municipal and community level as much as possible, reducing government bureaucracy and unnecessary programs, and reducing government spending to a per capita rate comparable to other Canadian provinces)

* free market economics (recognizing existing signed oil sands agreements, enacting a market-based royalty framework that protects the ability of energy companies to grow the Alberta economy, establishing a maximum royalty rate on a per well basis at no higher than 37%, and recognizing that higher royalties in the conventional sector are inappropriate if gas prices are below $7.50/mcf and oil is below $75/barrel)

* democratic reform (establishing set election dates every four years, allowing for citizen initiatives via referendums, and enacting the right to recall elected officials)

* reclaiming provincial responsibilities from Ottawa

Election results

On election night, Hinman lost his seat, and no other Alliance candidate won a seat, however the result in Hinman's riding was close and a recount may be held if a judge approved Hinman's request. The Wild Rose Alliance received 6.8% of the popular vote across the province, performing on par with the Green Party (4.6%) and the NDP (9.8%).

On election night the Alliance's website was attacked by five computer addresses which blitzed it 100,000 times in 24 hours, making the website difficult to access. The Liberals' website was also experiencing downtime from a possible attack. [ [http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=aee0c30f-2c5c-483e-9763-e7076025c07a&k=5809 Voter confusion, website controversies unsettles Alberta election ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.wildrosealliance.com Wildrose Alliance homepage]

Alberta provincial political parties