Green Party of Alberta

The Green Party of Alberta, also known as the Alberta Greens, is a provincial political party in the province of Alberta, Canada.

The Alberta Greens were formed in 1986 and received official party status on April 6, 1990. The party is affiliated with Green Parties throughout the world, and with the federal Green Party of Canada.

The party has been polling between 3% and 9% since 2006. The party often polls ahead of the Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta and has also placed third in two polls done by Leger Marketing and the Strategic Counsel ahead of both the Wildrose Party and Alberta New Democratic Party.

2008 platform
The Alberta Greens highlighted subsidized housing and paid tuition for health-care students in the launch of the party's 2008 election platform.

To tackle affordable housing in the province, the Greens proposed a model of subsidized housing used in Vancouver. In Vancouver they built subsidized housing and then they've given it to housing co-operatives or non-profit organizations to maintain.

On health care, the Greens said they would pay the tuition of those studying to become health-care professionals — if they promise to remain in the province for seven years after they graduate.

The party would also institute a province-wide transportation plan focusing on rail lines, including light-rail transit between Calgary and Edmonton, as well as an upgrade of the rail line to Fort McMurray because they use 20 per cent less fuel than vehicles on roads.

Other platform promises included:


 * Increasing the number of doctors in the province (thus decreasing hospital waiting times) by paying the university tuitions for health care workers who stay in the province for seven years.
 * Diversifying Alberta's energy economy by supporting renewable resource technology such as solar, wind and geothermal energy.
 * Ensuring the lowest post secondary tuitions in Canada.
 * Establishing fixed dates for provincial elections and the right to recall MLAs.

The theme for the campaign is 'Making Albertans Happier, Healthier and Wealthier'.

Recent history
The Alberta Greens elected a new leader, George Read, in November 2003. George has a degree in political science from the University of Calgary and works as a purchaser and planner for a Calgary furniture manufacturer. George has also served as the President of the Federal Green Party in Alberta from 2001 to 2003 and as the National Campaign Manager for the Green Party of Canada from 2005 to 2006.

The 2004 provincial election the Greens' support increased by nearly 1000%. 49 ridings had Green candidates, where three candidates received more than 1,000 votes, and one candidate in the riding of Banff-Cochrane, received 15% of the vote, While Edwin Erickson was the only candidate to place second in the Drayton Valley-Calmar riding. Eleven others broke the 5% threshold that had previously been a barrier for Green support.

Polling done by various research companies during and leading up to the 2008 provincial election put the Alberta Greens anywhere between 5% and 9%. The Greens had also polled as high as 22% or second place in Northern Alberta during the campaign. The party ran almost a full slate in the 2008 provincial election for the first time in party history and also fielded 18 more candidates than the newly formed Wildrose Alliance Party which had a seat in the previous legislature.

In the 2008 election, the Greens captured 4.6% of the vote, gaining more than 1.8%. The Greens were also the only opposition party to rise in popular support on election night, The Greens ran on a budget of just under $110,000. The Greens had hoped for a breakthrough however because of increased Conservative support, was unable to do so. Best results came from Lacombe-Ponoka 22.9%, Drayton Valley-Calmar 19.3%, and Banff-Cochrane 14.1%. Another accomplishment in 2008 was having more than 2/3 of Green candidates placing fourth or better, compared to just half in 2004. Despite this rise in popular support the party went from 5.5% in 2004 to 4.9% in 2008 in the city of Calgary.

Fair Vote Canada had released a press release shortly after election night stating that if proportional representation had been used, the Greens would have had four seats instead of zero.

On September 27, 2008, at the regular annual general meeting, the party was subject to what has been described as an attempted takeover. The party executive, with a quorum of members, decided to end the meeting and move it to a time that would allow broader participation by the membership, increased notice for proposed changes, and increased transparency in the issues being brought forward. Another meeting was held the same day, in the same location, and chaired by Sean Maw (who was not a member of the party executive at the time of the meeting). At that second meeting, voting was conducted on executive positions and constitutional amendments. Both sides of the contention are claiming their meeting to be valid and the other not. Elections Alberta, the governing authority for political parties in the province, currently has not listed any changes to the official principle officers of the party.

Election results
Source: "Elections Alberta"

Leaders

 * Norman Conrad (1987-1990)
 * Betty Paschen (1990-1995)
 * David Parker (1995-2003)
 * George Read (2003-present)

On September 28, 2008, Joe Anglin published a statement identifying himself as having been elected “Interim Leader” at a party AGM held on September 27, 2008. The party executive has denied this claim and maintains that George Read remains party leader. Elections Alberta has not yet had opportunity to respond to the claim.