Strong & Free : My Journey in Alberta Politics / Ted Morton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morton, F. L. (Frederick Lee), 1949- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Politicians--Alberta--Biography.

Politicians.

Alberta--Politics and government--1971-.

Alberta.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (366 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Strong and Free

Place of Publication:

Calgary, Alberta : Bighorn Books, an imprint of University of Calgary Press, [2024]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Ted Morton has spent 30 years in Alberta politics. He was elected as a Reform Party senator-in-waiting in the 1998 Alberta Senate election. In 2001, Stockwell Day appointed him as Parliamentary Director of Policy and Research for the federal Canadian Alliance Party in Ottawa. From 2004-2012, Ted represented Foothills-Rocky View in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. During these years, he also served in cabinet as Minister of Finance, Minister of Energy, and Minister of Sustainable Resources Development. In 2006 and again in 2011, Morton ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives.In Strong and Free, Ted Morton shares the lessons learned from this journey, both his successes and his disappointments. Informed by his background as professor of political science, Morton recounts his early involvement with Preston Manning and the Reform Party, his friendship with Stephen Harper, and the infamous Alberta Agenda or Firewall Letter of 2001. He explains how the Progressive Conservative Party’s flawed leadership selection process eroded party support, and how the PC’s refusal to acknowledge and accommodate the growth of Albertans’ support for the federal Reform Party led to vote splitting with the Wild Rose Party and the end of the PC dynasty in 2015.Openly discussing his conservative ideological principles and goals, Morton provides an account of thirty years of Alberta politics as seen from the inside by someone who reached for the top—and almost made it. Strong and Free argues that an independent, prosperous Alberta makes a strong and prosperous Canada. Ted Morton has spent thirty years fighting for both.

Contents:

Frontmatter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Illustrations

1 From Professor to Politician (1981–1997)

INTRODUCTION

HOW I BECAME A CONSERVATIVE ( 1967–1980)

ALBERTA: THE EARLY YEARS ( 1981–1997 )

2 From Waiting to Running (1998–2004)

ALBERTA SENATOR-IN-WAITING ( 1998)

CANADIAN ALLIANCE LEADERSHIP (2000)

FIREWALL LETTER (2001)

ML A FOR FOOTHILLS-ROCKY VIEW (2004)

3 Life on the Back Bench (2005–2006)

FIRST CAUCUS MEETING

FIRST DAY IN THE LEGISLATURE

FOOTHILLS-ROCKY VIEW CONSTITUENCY

DE-KLEIN: OVERSPENDING

MAIDEN SPEECH AND THE LEADERSHIP RACE

BILL 208: PROTECTING FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGION

4 PC Leadership Campaign: The Accidental Premier (2006)

KLEIN’S LONG GOODBYE

MORTON CAMPAIGN TEAM

CANDIDATES

ISSUES: THE FIREWALL CANDIDATE

CAMPAIGN AND ENDORSEMENTS

FIRST-ROUND RESULTS

SECOND-ROUND RESULTS

ED STELMACH: THE ACCIDENTAL PREMIER

5 Legislating Conservation: Success and Failure (2007–2009)

Introduction

OH RANCH: HERITAGE RANGELAND (2008)

SUNDAY HUNTING AND PROVINCIAL HUNTING DAY (2008)

LAND USE FRAMEWORK AND ALBERTA LAND STEWARDSHIP ACT (2009)

ALBERTA LAND TRUST GRANT PROGRAM AND THE WALDRON RANCH (2009)

BOW HABITAT STATION AND KIDS CAN CATCH TROUT POND (2009)

HUNTING FOR HABITAT (2008)

RECREATIONAL ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLAN (2009)

UPLAND BIRDS ALBERTA AND PHEASANT RELEASE PROGRAM (2010)

MICREX MINE AND THE LIVINGSTONE RANGE (2010)

POSTSCRIPT

6 How I Became Finance Minister (2009)

THE KLEIN LEGACY

STELMACH: BUYING THE 2008 ELECTION

STAMPEDE CAUCUS 2008: SPENDING $4 BILLION THAT WE DID NOT HAVE

DEFICITS AND DEBT: MEMOS TO STELMACH AND SNELGROVE (2008–2009)

BUDGET 2010 AND THE WILDROSE CHALLENGE

LEADERSHIP REVIEW

BECOMING FINANCE MINISTER

7 Finance Minister (2010)

BUDGET 2010

THE MINISTER’S CAVE

FIGHTING THE FEDS I: SECURITIES REGULATOR

FIGHTING THE FEDS II: PENSION REFORM

FIGHTING THE PREMIER’S OFFICE: NORTH WEST UPGRADER

8 How I Unbecame Finance Minister (2010)

RECESSION

THE NEW NORMAL

A NEW FISCAL FRAMEWORK

LOSING THE FIGHT

STAY OR LEAVE?

9 The Prairie Putsch (2011)

WHEN TO LEAVE

RECRUITING ALLIES

HOW TO LEAVE

JANUARY 25: THE PUTSCH

RAUCOUS CAUCUS

10 Redford and Prentice: The End of the PC Dynasty (2011–2015)

2011 PC LEADERSHIP: TWO-MINUTE TORIES STRIKE AGAIN

MINISTER OF ENERGY

2012 PROVINCIAL ELECTION

THE REDFORD DEBACLE

PRENTICE TO THE RESCUE … NOT

2015: THE END OF THE PC DYNASTY

11 The Decline and Fall of the PC Empire: A Post-Morton

FLAWED LEADERSHIP SELECTION PROCESS

VOTE SPLITTING ON THE RIGHT

DYNASTY SYNDROME: POWER REPLACES PRINCIPLES

THE RESOURCE CURSE

WESTERN ALIENATION

12 The Alberta Agenda: From Fringe to Mainstream

KENNEY’S HOSTILE TAKEOVER OF THE PC PARTY

EQUALIZATION REFERENDUM AND THE FAIR DEAL REPORT (2019)

DANIELLE SMITH AND THE SOVEREIGNTY ACT

THE NEXT CHAPTER

Appendix 1 Power to the Parents: A Vindication of Bill 208

Appendix 2 The Family as the Moral Foundation of Freedom: The Forgotten Dimension of Liberalism

Appendix 3 After 40 years, the Charter is still one of the worst bargains in Canadian history

F.L. (Ted) Morton Bibliography

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jan 2025)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781773855981

1773855980