The 1997 Alberta general election was held on March 11, 1997, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Ralph Klein won its eighth consecutive mandate going back to 1971, increasing its share of votes and seats in the Legislature relative to the previous election in 1993. The Liberal Party retained Official Opposition status, though it lost nearly half its seats. After an electoral wipeout in 1993, the NDP returned to the Legislature by winning two seats.

Background

The Progressive Conservative Association had governed Alberta since 1971, and premier Ralph Klein led the party into his second general election as party leader. The previous election in 1993 was the best result for the Liberal Party since its last electoral victory in 1917. This was the second consecutive election fought on a new set of electoral boundaries, due to an Alberta Court of Appeal decision that was critical of the map created in 1992. The government amended the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, introducing the present system where the commission is made up of a justice from the Court, two members appointed by the governing party, and two members appointed by the official opposition. A new Commission was created, which issued its recommendations for a new set of electoral boundaries in 1996.

Opinion polls

Results

Ralph Klein's second election as leader of the PCs was considerably more successful than his first. The party won over half the popular vote, and 63 of the 83 seats in the legislature for its eighth consecutive term in government. The party continued to dominate in Calgary and rural areas, and managed to regain a foothold in Edmonton where it won two seats. The Liberal Party of Grant Mitchell lost about 7% of the popular vote it had won in the 1993 election. The party's legislative caucus was reduced from 32 members to 18. Pam Barrett led the New Democratic Party back into the legislature with two seats (both in Edmonton), despite winning an even smaller share of the popular vote than in 1993. The Social Credit Party also re-emerged, placing a strong second in several rural ridings, but did not win any seats. Overall voter turnout was 53.75%. Notes:

• Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election. x – less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Results by riding

8,492 68.93% 2,197 17.83% 482 3.91% 1,125 9.13% 3,380 58.65% 1,481 25.70% 300 5.21% 468 8.12% 100 1.74%||| 7,180 60.96% 3,151 26.75% 754 6.40% 661 5.61% 6,195 60.49% 2,130 20.80% 643 6.28% 1,244 12.15% 4,593 58.32% 2,323 29.50% 948 12.04% 6,664 54.07% 4,091 33.19% 1,144 9.28% 158 1.28% David Crowe (Green) 187 1.52%||| 4,115 43.52%||| 4,310 45.58% 547 5.79% 300 3.17% 115 1.22%||| 5,964 66.88% 2,456 27.54% 467 5.24% 5,952 53.83% 3,636 32.88% 712 6.44% 610 5.52% 109 0.99%||| 4,857 59.78% 1,990 24.49% 609 7.50% 613 7.54% 8,842 64.48% 3,336 24.33% 654 4.77% 836 6.10% 8,237 57.78% 5,195 36.44% 307 2.15% 421 2.95% 75 0.53%||| 8,274 66.47% 3,020 24.26% 348 2.80% 778 6.25% 8,849 60.35% 4,339 29.59% 720 4.91% 735 5.01% 4,410 48.53% 2,817 31.00% 891 9.81% 916 10.08% 8,247 58.02% 4,919 34.61% 435 3.06% 583 4.10% 7,761 65.89% 2,906 24.67% 533 4.53% 560 4.75% 5,118 58.67% 2,701 30.96% 876 10.04% 4,556 58.56% 2,576 33.11% 536 6.89% 94 1.21%||| 5,468 48.36% 3,269 28.91% 2,085 18.44% 450 3.98% 6,379 58.36% 3,297 30.16% 1,183 10.82% 9,190 53.19% 7,226 41.82% 342 1.98% 503 2.91% 7,815 64.33% 2,894 23.82% 696 5.73% 715 5.89% 12,304 75.21% 2,860 17.48% 485 2.96% 624 3.81% 69 0.42%||| 7,232 51.34% 5,414 38.43% 640 4.54% 646 4.59% 132 0.94%||| 8,478 56.18% 4,995 33.10% 534 3.54% 1,070 7.09% 5,157 59.06% 1,471 16.85% 518 5.93% 1,568 17.96% 6,864 47.61% 6,364 44.14% 922 6.39% 235 1.63% 5,754 63.18% 2,217 24.34% 383 4.21% 728 7.99% 6,492 60.41% 2,912 27.10% 823 7.66% 488 4.55% 6,063 63.28% 1,432 14.95% 2,056 21.46% 5,149 54.56% 3,314 35.11% 961 10.18% 3,484 34.93% 3,127 31.35% 2,842 28.49% 376 3.77% 100 1.00% William Finn (Forum) 29 0.29% 3,860 32.32%||| 4,802 40.21% 3,250 27.21% 4,373 40.43%||| 4,456 41.20% 1,494 13.81% 460 4.25% 3,634 33.36%||| 4,769 43.78% 1,845 16.94% 420 3.86% 98 0.90% Richard Johnsen (Nat. Law) 83 0.76% 2,641 25.96%||| 5,752 56.54% 913 8.97% 840 8.26% 3,474 34.38%||| 4,765 47.15% 1,366 13.52% 335 3.32% 76 0.75% Carl Williams (Ind.) 46 0.46% 4,368 36.18%||| 5,785 47.92% 1,198 9.92% 630 5.22% 69 0.57%||| 5,819 37.52%||| 7,528 48.55% 1,970 12.70% 92 0.59% Maury Shapka (Nat. Law) 75 0.48% 2,793 24.96% 2,284 20.41%||| 5,638 50.38% 419 3.74% 4,358 35.44%||| 5,140 41.80% 2,229 18.13% 524 4.26% 5,259 40.71%||| 6,322 48.94% 713 5.52% 542 4.20% 61 0.47%||| 4,672 38.72%||| 6,047 50.11% 831 6.89% 435 3.60% 55 0.46%||| 3,679 28.23%||| 6,757 51.84% 1,804 13.84% 776 5.95% 2,993 29.97%||| 5,113 51.19% 1,266 12.68% 546 5.47% 52 0.52%||| 2,583 27.98%||| 3,357 36.36% 2,767 29.97% 485 5.25% 5,122 35.43%||| 6,066 41.96% 2,261 15.64% 805 5.57% 87 0.60% Naomi Rankin (Comm.) 61 0.42% 5,078 38.91%||| 6,007 46.03% 1,156 8.86% 674 5.16% 19 0.15% 4,096 30.44% 4,214 31.31%||| 4,272 31.74% 552 4.10% 47 0.35% Myles Kitagawa (Green) 236 1.75%||| 7,973 50.79% 5,953 37.92% 1,012 6.45% 635 4.04% 59 0.38%||| 5,420 55.64% 4,008 41.14% 280 2.87% 5,753 64.49% 1,995 22.36% 1,143 12.81% 5,592 63.08% 2,003 22.59% 1,247 14.07% 9,551 69.76% 1,944 14.20% 592 4.32% 1,566 11.44% 7,012 59.53% 2,206 18.73% 583 4.95% 1,960 16.64% 4,799 53.71% 2,901 32.47% 419 4.69% 483 5.41% 191 2.14% Louis Real Theriault (Ind.) 114 1.28% 6,414 61.62% 1,181 11.35% 1,068 10.26% 1,725 16.57% 6,857 51.42% 4,797 35.97% 767 5.75% 891 6.68% 3,389 60.33% 1,139 20.28% 442 7.87% 624 11.11% 3,813 29.46%||| 7,578 58.54% 674 5.21% 853 6.59% 5,679 45.23% 4,765 37.95% 806 6.42% 1,043 8.31% 240 1.91%||| 6,726 69.17% 2,075 21.34% 868 8.93% 5,337 50.84% 3,924 37.38% 508 4.84% 703 6.70% 5,853 51.48% 3,232 28.43% 1,065 9.37% 1,177 10.35% 6,958 56.95% 1,562 12.78% 247 2.02% 3,422 28.01% 3,745 61.25% 2,323 37.99% 5,750 63.80% 912 10.12% 879 9.75% 1,439 15.97% 4,683 55.37% 2,547 30.11% 560 6.62% 655 7.74% 5,751 46.91% 4,966 40.51% 367 2.99% 1,145 9.34% 5,297 43.76% 4,980 41.14% 737 6.09% 987 8.15% 71 0.59%||| 5,610 54.69% 880 8.58% 481 4.69% 3,264 31.82% 8,610 47.80% 8,305 46.11% 1,064 5.91% 5,388 42.52%||| 6,275 49.51% 476 3.76% 491 3.87% 6,696 43.53% 6,680 43.43% 1,198 7.79% 781 5.08% 6,267 48.85% 3,906 30.44% 895 6.98% 1,742 13.58% 7,235 72.40% 1,272 12.73% 600 6.00% 862 8.63% 6,090 49.71% 3,639 29.70% 1,684 13.74% 810 6.61% 5,616 55.33% 2,787 27.46% 602 5.93% 1,125 11.08% 6,232 52.61% 1,568 13.24% 668 5.64% 3,348 28.27% 4,498 41.96% 3,795 35.40% 2,130 19.87% 275 2.57% 7,244 58.39% 1,166 9.40% 2,060 16.60% 1,622 13.07% 279 2.26% 5,759 54.12% 2,954 27.76% 704 6.62% 1,183 11.12%