Peter Lougheed
Edgar Peter Lougheed PC CC AOE QC (/ˈlɔːhiːd/ LAW-heed; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth.
Peter Lougheed
September 13, 2012 (aged 84)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
4
Lawyer
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Peter was the son of Edgar Donald Lougheed and Edna Alexandria Bauld and grandson of Canadian Senator Sir James Alexander Lougheed, a prominent Alberta businessman. Peter Lougheed attended the University of Alberta where he attained his Bachelor of Laws while playing football at the University of Alberta before joining the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union for two seasons in 1949 and 1950. After graduating, he entered business and practised law in Calgary.
In 1965, he was elected leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, which held no seats in the legislature. He led the party back into the legislature in the 1967 provincial election as the leader of the Official Opposition, then elected as Premier with 49 of 75 seats in the 1971 election, defeating the Social Credit Party and ending the dynasty which had governed Alberta since 1935. Lougheed established a progressive conservative dynasty in the province that lasted until 2015, when the New Democratic Party won a majority government; at 43 years and 7 months it was the longest unbroken run in government for a political party in Canadian history. Lougheed led the Tories again to victory in 1975, 1979 and 1982, winning landslide majorities each time, with vote tallies of 57 to 63 percent of votes cast.
As premier, Lougheed furthered the development of the oil and gas resources, and started the Alberta Heritage Fund to ensure that the exploitation of non-renewable resources would be of long-term benefit to Alberta. He introduced the Alberta Bill of Rights. He quarrelled with Pierre Trudeau's federal Liberal government over its 1980 introduction of the National Energy Program. After hard bargaining, Lougheed and Trudeau eventually reached an agreement for energy revenue sharing in 1981. Calgary's bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics was developed during Lougheed's terms. Alberta also experienced economic success and went through significant social reform under the Lougheed administration.
From 1996 to 2002, Lougheed served as Chancellor of Queen's University. He sat on the boards of a variety of organizations and corporations. In a 2012 edition of Policy Options, the Institute for Research on Public Policy named Lougheed the best Canadian premier of the last forty years.
Premier (1971–1985)[edit]
Electoral history[edit]
On September 10, 1971, Peter Lougheed was sworn in as Alberta's tenth premier by Lieutenant Governor Grant MacEwan.[55][63] Lougheed was set with a majority government in the legislature and a Social Credit opposition of 25 members, which would be the largest opposition Lougheed would face in his 14-year career as Premier.[64]
In the leadup to the 1975 election, Lougheed enjoyed strong support in his constituency which allowed him to focus his campaign efforts across the province.[65]
The Progressive Conservatives campaigned a platform on administrative competence and promises outlined in an unpassed 1975–1976 budget.[65] Leaning on successful negotiations with the federal and Ontario governments and oil companies for the development of oil sands in the Winnipeg Agreement only 11 days before the legislature was dissolved.[65] Other promises included the creation of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, reduction of personal income taxes by at least 28 per cent, and increased social program spending, all of which were built on growing non-renewable natural resource revenue resulting from the 1970s energy crisis.[65] Lougheed was the centre of the campaign evidenced by the Progressive Conservative slogans "Lougheed Leadership", "43 Months of Progress", and "Vote Today for Alberta".[65] While opposition criticism focused on Lougheed's interference with the free market, which was exemplified by the 1974 purchase of Pacific Western Airlines for $37.5-million (equivalent to $224.9-million in 2023) and significant government spending authorized through Order-in-Council instead of appropriations through the Legislature, neither was effective for swaying voters.[65] To no one's surprise, the Progressive Conservative Party won a lopsided victory in 1975, capturing 62.7 per cent of the vote and 69 of 75 seats in the Legislature. The Edmonton Report cover featured a caricature of Peter Lougheed following the victory accompanied by the title "Peter The Greatest".[66]
During the 1979 election, Lougheed and the Progressive Conservative party gained popularity, with Lougheed campaigning on the informal slogan "79 in '79" in reference to winning all 79 seats in the Legislature.[67] Although they received a slightly lower percentage of the popular vote than in 1975, at 57.4 per cent, they gained five additional seats for a total of 74 out of 79 seats in the Legislature.[68] The public was strongly supportive of Lougheed and the Progressive Conservatives, and headlines predicted that they would win with a comfortable majority.[69] Meanwhile, the opposition leaders, including Grant Notley of the New Democratic Party, Nick Taylor of the Liberal Party, and Bob Clark of the Social Credit Party, did not publicly discuss the possibility of winning a majority out of concern that it would harm their credibility.[69] Lougheed's main concern was preventing complacency among candidates and volunteers, and he personally campaigned throughout the province to address these concerns.[69]
The 1982 election marked Lougheed's final as Premier. Lougheed utilized the constitutional debates and focus on Alberta's complete control over natural resources to gain increased support from the electorates.[68] The Progressive Conservatives improved their popular support to capture 62.3 per cent of the popular vote and 75 of the 79 seats in the Legislature, a landslide victory and the second-largest majority government in Alberta's history.[70] During the election Lougheed noted it would be his last election.[71] Lougheed focused his campaign primarily on provincial issues and refused to use the name of opposition parties, instead referring to them as "knockers", and his Progressive Conservatives as "doers".[71] He declined any television or public debates, which led to Western Canada Concept leader Gordon Kesler to crash one of Lougheed's events to challenge the Premier to a debate.[71] Lougheed also pushed the same strategy for his candidates as previous years, requiring them to canvass door-to-door as if they were behind in the polls.[72]
Lougheed announced his retirement from politics in on June 26, 1985.[73] A number of candidates campaigned to succeed Lougheed as the leader of the Progressive Conservatives and Premier of Alberta. In the 1985 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election original Progressive Conservative caucus from 1967 and later a longtime member of the Lougheed cabinet Don Getty defeated MLA Julian Koziak to become Premier of Alberta.[74] Getty was officially sworn in on November 1, 1985, ending Lougheed's term as premier.[75]
Alberta Legislature and governance[edit]
After his election in 1971, Lougheed sought to increase contact between Albertans and legislators by addressing accessibility, visibility and accountability of the Legislative Assembly. In his government's first Speech from the Throne, Lieutenant Governor Grant MacEwan spoke extensively of the principles of open government.[55] One of Lougheed's initial actions was installing cameras to record and broadcast meetings of the Legislature beginning on March 15, 1972, and the beginning of the Hansard series to produce a written record of debates on March 8, 1972.[76]
Lougheed's government made significant transformations to policy and finance through the Legislature. Several legislative policy committees were created in 1975 consisting of members of the Progressive Conservative caucus, and did not include members of the opposition.[77] Lougheed also consistently funded programs using special warrants authorized by cabinet and issued by the Lieutenant Governor, these warrants were not included in any budgets provided to the Legislature and were not made public until after the decision to spend was approved. Critics argued that the use of special warrants removed the ability of the opposition, members of caucus or the public to hold the government to account.[77][78]
Lougheed's popularity during his premiership resulted in progressive conservative majority governments with only a limited number of opposition members. Lougheed became creative to provide additional responsibility to members of his caucus, including mandatory caucus meetings which he chaired.[79] In 1975 he removed the requirement for caucus to operate by consensus, owing to the large number of members, instead a vote was called on all issues, and Lougheed often required a two-thirds majority for important issues.[79] Furthermore, Cabinet members were required to attend caucus meetings, and all members were seated in alphabetical order. Lougheed refused to use the term backbencher instead referring to caucus members as either "ministers" or "private members".[79] Non-political attendance in caucus meetings was limited to only four staff members from the Premier's Office.[79] Lougheed required legislators to seek caucus approval to miss caucus meetings or publicly dissent with a position of caucus, which required either a reason of conscience or a constituency issue. When Progressive Conservative member Tom Sindlinger publicly disagreed with matters related to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, Constitutional patriation, and freedom of information, he was expelled from caucus and the Progressive Conservative Party.[80][81]
Legacy[edit]
Jeanne and Peter Lougheed were often compared to Jackie and John F. Kennedy as well as Margaret and Pierre Trudeau.[19] Time Magazine alluded to the "movie star" treatment the Lougheeds were greeted with across the province.[19] Fil Fraser described Lougheed's time as Premier were the "Camelot for arts in Alberta".[171]
As a politician, Lougheed traveled Alberta to meet voters in their communities and impressed upon Progressive Conservative candidates the importance of door-to-door politics. When selecting candidates he looked for community leaders and ethnic diversity to ensure the Progressive Conservative Party reflected Alberta's increasing diversity.[172] He lamented "professional politicians" and sought candidates with professional experience in multiple industries.[173] Lougheed understood the power of television, and was one of the first major Canadian politicians to build an electoral and government strategy around it.[172] He advocated for a decentralization of the Government of Alberta, moving offices outside of Edmonton and Calgary to newly constructed provincial buildings in rural parts of the province.[174]
During his 14 years as Premier, Lougheed oversaw significant economy and cultural growth in Alberta, largely fueled by oil and gas royalty revenues. Lougheed's domestic policies saw the development of the Athabasca oil sands and the creation of the state-owned Alberta Energy Company to facilitate development of the oil and gas industry.[127] Despite his party's Conservative label, Lougheed consistently made policies and investments that significantly expanded the government's role in the economy, impacted industries across the province, both in oil and gas and other areas of the free market, such as the purchase of Pacific Western Airlines.[127] Lougheed implemented large-scale increases in provincial royalty rates for oil and gas production,[89][90] and during the National Energy Program he reduced oil and gas production and paused two oil sands projects.[102][70][104] These policies were unpopular with the Alberta oil and gas industry and conservatives in Alberta. The close ties of the state-owned Alberta Energy Company to the government gave critics the impression of an "unfair competitive advantage", and Lougheed's intervention in the free market through controlling oil and gas production worried his conservative base.[172]
From an investment standpoint, Lougheed did not believe in corporate welfare, and instead sought equity stakes in businesses the province supported resulting in large holdings. In 1976, Lougheed created the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund as a "rainy day" fund for oil and gas royalties.[175] He also placed a significant emphasis on diversification of the Alberta economy away from oil and gas revenues. However, under Lougheed the government of Alberta continued to fund a significant portion of the provincial budget from non-renewable resource revenue, growing from 35 per cent of revenue in 1973 to 51 per cent in 1979.[176]
His advocacy extended beyond provincial borders and was a driving force for Canadian premiers during the constitutional repatriation debates of the late-1970s and early-1980s. He is credited for the amending formula[110] and introduction of the notwithstanding clause in the Constitution Act, 1982.[111] However, former University of Calgary professor Roger Gibbins notes that Alberta remained in a defensive position during constitutional debates due to the National Energy Program and Trudeau's willingness to independently repatriate the constitution, in that sense Gibbins viewed Lougheed's contribution to constitutional debates as maintaining the status quo, which was not in the best interest of Western Canada.[111]
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney described Lougheed as a "great leader for Alberta...and for the entire nation".[177] Biographer Alan Tupper described Lougheed as exemplifying Alberta's best qualities, and as the "principal architect of modern Alberta".[178] Former prime minister and justice minister during the constitutional debates Jean Chrétien described Lougheed as "he was tough, but he was a gentleman".[169] Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi described Lougheed's legacy as "I have never known an Alberta or a Canadian that did not benefit from his legacy. We owe him so much: our strong industries, our magnetic cities, our sense of identity within Canada".[169]
In 2012, Policy Options a magazine published by the public policy think tank Institute for Research on Public Policy brought together a jury of 30 prominent Canadians which named Peter Lougheed the best Canadian Premier in the past 40 years (1972–2012). Lougheed was ranked first amongst 21 of the 30 jurors.[179]
Honours[edit]
In 1971 Lougheed was named honorary chief "Thunderbird" by the Cree Nation, and later was named honorary chief "Crop Eared Wolf" by the Blood Nation.[154]
Lougheed was styled "The Honourable" for the duration of his membership in the Executive Council of Alberta from 1971 to 1986. When he was appointed a privy councillor (postnominal: "PC") on April 17, 1982, the style "The Honourable" was extended for life. In 1986, he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada (postnominal: "CC"), and in 1989 he was named to the Alberta Order of Excellence (postnominal: "AOE").[154]
In 1986 the University of Alberta established the Peter Lougheed Scholarship, and later established other scholarships in health sciences, law and arts in his name. In 2001 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame which established the Peter Lougheed/CIHR Scholarship.[154] Harvard University awarded Lougheed the university's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1986.[154]
The Kananaskis Provincial Park was renamed Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in 1986 after Lougheed's retirement as Premier.[154] The new Calgary General Hospital constructed in 1988 was named the Peter Lougheed Centre, Lougheed received his end-of-life care and died in the hospital.[154] Other sites named in honour of Lougheed include Edmonton's Peter Lougheed Multicultural Village, the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Building at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, a residence hall at the University of Alberta, and Lougheed Avenue in Heisler, Alberta.[154] After his death proposals were made to rename Calgary International Airport in his honour.[180]