Alberta Politics

Government at the provincial level consists of the Premier and cabinet ministers. Like their federal counterparts, the Premier and ministers are almost always from the same political party, the one with the most elected members in the Legislative Assembly.

The Premier, cabinet ministers, and all other elected members together make up the Legislative Assembly and are called Members of the Legislative Assembly or MLAs, while the Legislature comprises the Legislative Assembly together with the Lieutenant Governor. The provinces' areas of responsibility, defined in the Constitution Act of 1867, include health, child welfare, municipal government, highways, labour, property, civil rights, and education.

Alberta has a long history of maintaining governments that last as long as they are able to satisfy the populist demands of the people. This was seen when the first government of the province, the Liberals remained in office from 1905 until 1921, when it was replaced with the United Farmers of Alberta who remained in power until 1935. The Social Credit Party governed from 1935 until 1971 when the Progressive Conservatives won office and have since remained in power.

	Doug Morton and Ian Gray take us through the opening of the Assembly. [Listen]

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The Alberta Legislature

Roles, Responsibilities
and Process

Political Parties