Ed Stelmach

Edward ( "Ed" ) Michael Stelmach [ stɛlmæk ] ( born May 11, 1951 in Lamont, Alberta ) is a Canadian politician and farmer. From 14 December 2006 to 7 October 2011, he was Prime Minister of the Province of Alberta and the first Canadian prime minister of Ukrainian descent. During this time he was also Party Chairman of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. In the cabinet of his predecessor Ralph Klein, he stood in front of several ministries. Deputy in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 he until 2012.

Local and provincial policy

The youngest of five children, grew up on a farm in Larmont that his immigrant from Ukraine grandparents had built in 1898. He actually had before, right to study at the University of Alberta, but in 1973 he took over after a death in the family, together with his wife Marie the yard. In addition to his main duties as a farmer Stelmach was from 1987 also in local politics actively. He belonged to the county council of Lamont County and in 1988 was elected district director. In addition, various offices were in local and regional commissions.

In June 1993, Stelmach was a candidate in the constituency of Vegreville - Viking for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was elected and immediately took over the role of the whip his group. After his re-election in March 1997 appointed him Ralph Klein as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. In 1999, he was Minister for Infrastructure, Minister of Transportation from 2001.

As of 2004, Stelmach took the newly created constituency of Fort Saskatchewan - Vegreville and was appointed the same year to the Minister for External Relations. After Ralph Klein announced his imminent resignation in March 2006, Stelmach ran for the presidency of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. Like all the other candidates, he gave in June 2006 on his ministerial posts. The first round of voting on November 25, he reached the third place, but sat down on December 2, in the second round just by.

Prime minister

On 14 December 2006 Stelmach was appointed by Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong as the new prime minister. Immediately after taking office, he reduced the number of ministries from 24 to 18 The opposition accused Stelmach ago, the province only manage rather than govern and - contrary to his campaign promises - to continue more or less unchanged, the policy of his predecessor. Environmental policy in particular was criticized after the government decided in January 2008, by 2050 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 14%. Stelmach argued that Alberta's role as a major oil supplier for all other provinces justify higher emissions. Three months earlier, the fees for the use of natural resources had been increased by energy companies to fifth.

Stelmach announced on February 4th at the 2008 elections. These took place on 3 March and resulted in a renewed electoral victory of the Progressive Conservatives, who were able to unite more than half of the votes. However, the turnout of 41% was the lowest in the history of Alberta. Even Alberta has not been spared the effects of the recession of the 2000s and the government had to present twice in a row with a budget overspending, which led to internal party tensions. Another challenge was the growing influence of right-wing populist Wildrose Party. The Progressive Conservatives lost in September 2009 a by-election in Calgary in January 2010 and ran for two deputies on the Wildrose Party, which unlocked in opinion polls for the ruling party. Many observers attributed this position to Mach's inability to present a clear vision for the province.

The tensions within the party increased as Stelmach announced that Alberta would only 2012/13 have again a revenue increase. He was faced with a possible division of his cabinet, as Minister of Finance Ted Morton threatened to resign. On 25 January 2011 Stelmach announced surprising that he would not be standing at the next elections and going to leave the party chairmanship in the course of the year. With the announcement of his resignation date he settled up in June time. Alison Redford was elected on 2 October 2011 on the new party chairman, after Stelmach five days later relinquished the post of prime minister. Member of Parliament he remained until 23 April 2012.