By Graham L. Harle
On Sept. 27, my wife and I attended the lying in state for the Hon. Peter Lougheed in the rotunda of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton.
Mr. Lougheed, the longtime premier of Alberta, died Sept. 13 at the age of 84.
I came to Edmonton in 1947 with my parents — I was 16 years old.
I finished high school in Edmonton and went on the University of Alberta.
I took time off from studies to work on farms and ranches.
In 1952, I was working on a sheep ranch north of Brooks when I got polio and was hospitalized for five months.
I later finished off my agriculture degree and decided to study law.
Lougheed had been president of the student union at the time.
On finishing law school, I worked for a law firm in Edmonton when an opportunity arose to buy a law practice in Stettler in 1961.
My wife Ruth and I, with a baby son, moved to Stettler.
In 1964, I began to take an interest in politics.
In March 1965, a provincial Progressive Conservative leadership convention was to be held in Edmonton on March 19 and 20.
I received a letter from Peter Lougheed, indicating that he was a candidate for the leadership convention.
At that time, it was hard to find any Progressive Conservatives interested in provincial politics — Alberta was then Social Credit.
My wife and I drove up to Edmonton for the PC convention.
We had never seen so many provincial Conservatives in one place before.
On March 23, 1965, the Edmonton Journal headline was “Tories back in the ring.”
Lougheed had won!
There had been two other candidates — Jon Scott and Duncan McKillop. Scott withdrew before the vote.
The Stettler constituency, therefore, needed a Progressive Conservative candidate for the next general election.
At that time, the Conservatives were Dr. Wright and myself of Stettler, Cliff Downey of Castor, Max Taylor of Halkirk, and several others, and that was about it.
We found a candidate — Robert J. McKnight of Halkirk.
On April 28, 1967, Bob McKnight, Dr. Wright and myself drove to Calgary, and we met Lougheed in the home of Mrs. Lougheed Sr.
The Stettler constituency nomination convention was held May 8, 1967.
The Social Credit candidates were Galen Norris, who had held his seat since the 1959 general election, and Mort Neilson.
The nomination convention was won by Norris, but McKnight got 1,461 votes, enough to save his deposit.
Norris got 2,659 votes and Neilson got 635 votes.
The voters that day had the opportunity to vote for or against Daylight Saving Time in a plebiscite. I do not recall the political parties taking sides on the issue.
The next Alberta general election was held Aug. 30, 1971.
The Stettler constituency elected Jack Robertson, and Galen Norris ran second.
Unfortunately, Jack became ill shortly before voting day, and he died Dec. 7, 1971.
The Legislature did not sit until March 1972.
Therefore, a byelection was held on Feb. 14, 1972.
There were two candidates, myself and Galen Morris. I received 2,910 votes and Morris got 2,302 voters.
A number of new ministers in the Lougheed government came to Stettler to campaign for me — Al Adair, Allan Warrack, Hellen Hunley, Dr. Horner, and Bill Yurko.
The premier, Peter Lougheed, also came to Stettler.
The Seventeenth Alberta Legislature convened on March 6, 1972. I had to wait for a few days before I could take a seat in the Legislature before the official vote count was completed.
I served in the Legislature representing the Stettler constituency until 1986. Lougheed also served in the Legislature until 1986.
In the 1986 general election, Brian Downey of Castor was elected to represent the Stettler constituency. In the 1989 general election, Downey was re-elected.
But, Don Getty, who had been premier, was defeated in the Edmonton Whitemud constituency. Downey stepped down, and Don Getty ran in a Stettler byelection and was elected.
Getty bought a house near Buffalo Lake and the Getty family got down to Stettler when they could. He did not run in the 1993 election.
Getty, now in a wheelchair, was at the Legislature on Sept. 17 to attend the lying in state for the late Peter Lougheed.
Getty was first elected to the Legislature in 1967, as was Lougheed.
My wife Ruth and I moved to Edmonton in 1998.
We get down to Stettler whenever we can, most recently on Sept. 5 for the teachers’ gathering.
Ruth was a Grade 2 teacher in Stettler.
Graham L. Harle was the Stettler MLA from 1972 to 1986.