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Pearl Calahasen

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The Honourable
Pearl Calahasen
ECA
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Lesser Slave Lake
In office
20 March 1989 – 5 May 2015
Preceded byLarry Shaben
Succeeded byDanielle Larivee
Alberta Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
In office
15 March 2001 – 15 December 2006
Preceded byMinistry Established
Succeeded byGuy Boutilier
Alberta Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
In office
26 May 1999 – 15 March 2001
Succeeded byMinistry Abolished
Alberta Minister without Portfolio in charge of Children's Services
In office
31 May 1996 – 26 May 1999
Succeeded byIris Evans
Personal details
Born (1952-12-05) 5 December 1952 (age 71)
Grouard, Alberta
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Alma materUniversity of Alberta
University of Oregon

Pearl Calahasen ECA (born 5 December 1952) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Lesser Slave Lake in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1989 to 2015. A member of the Progressive Conservative party and former cabinet minister (holding the positions of Minister without Portfolio in charge of Children's Services, Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development).

Calahasen was the first Métis woman elected to public office in Alberta, and, after the 2012 Alberta election, she was Alberta's longest currently-serving MLA.

Early life

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Calahasen was born in 1952[1] and raised in Grouard, Alberta.[2] She attended the University of Alberta, from which she received a Bachelor of Education, and the University of Oregon, from which she received a master's degree.[2] She is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.[3]

Political career

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Electoral record

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Calahasen first sought election in the 1989 Alberta election, when she ran as the Progressive Conservative candidates in the riding of Lesser Slave Lake.[4] She won a plurality of votes, capturing 47.6% and defeating her nearest rival, Liberal Denise Wahlstrom, by nearly one thousand votes.[4] This was the closest election of her political career to date; in subsequent elections, she won shares of the votes ranging from 55.5% (in the 1993 election) to 74.2% (in the 2001 election).[4]

At the time of her election in 1989, Calahasen was the first Métis woman elected to public office in Alberta.[5]

Cabinet roles

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Calahasen served as a backbencher in Ralph Klein's government until 1996, when Klein appointed her Minister without Portfolio responsible for Children's Services.[6] She served in this capacity until 1999, when she was shuffled to the position of Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.[7] In 2001 she was promoted to full minister, of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.[8] Calahasen initially supported Lyle Oberg in the 2006 P.C. leadership election,[9] but switched her endorsement to Ed Stelmach after Oberg dropped off the ballot;[10] despite this support, she was not included in Stelmach's cabinet once he became premier in 2006.[11]

Legislative initiatives

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Calahasen has sponsored a number of bills over her career in the legislature.

As a backbencher

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Despite not being a member of cabinet, in 1990, Calahasen sponsored the Metis Settlements Act, a government bill which incorporated Métis settlements as a new class of municipality.[12] It passed with the support of the opposition, although New Democrat Bob Hawkesworth expressed concern that the settlements were not given sufficient autonomy from government.[13] The same year, she sponsored the Nechi Community College Act, a private bill that would have established the Nechi Community College but did not reach second reading.[14][15]

In 1995, Calahasen sponsored the Colin Chor Wee Chew Legal Articles Act, another private bill which didn't progress to second reading.[16] She also sponsored the Public Health Amendment Act, designed to allow nurse practitioners to fulfill some of the functions of doctors in communities in which doctors were in short supply.[17] The bill passed with the support of the opposition Liberals, but some members, including Terry Kirkland, Colleen Soetaert, Percy Wickman, Gary Dickson, Lance White, and Howard Sapers, argued that the bill left out too many details and left the details in the realm of legislation, inappropriately empowering bureaucrats at the expense of the legislature.[17][18]

As a minister

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As Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Calahasen sponsored the First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Act, a 2000 government bill that allowed for the repatriation of First Nations artifacts.[19] It passed with full opposition support.[20]

Election results

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1989 general election

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1989 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 3,249 47.58% -9.62%
Liberal Denise Wahlstrom 2,286 33.47%
New Democratic Philip Lukken 1,294 18.95% -23.85%
Total 6,829 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 9
Eligible electors / Turnout 12,074 56.63% +17.38%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -16.74%
Source(s)
"Lesser Slave Lake Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 1 March 2010.

1993 general election

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1993 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 4,260 55.48% +7.90%
Liberal Denise Wahlstrom 3,093 40.28% +6.81%
New Democratic Larry Sakaluk 326 4.24% -14.71%
Total 7,679 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 24
Eligible electors / Turnout 12,743 60.48% +3.85%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +7.36%
Source(s)
"Lesser Slave Lake Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 1 March 2010.

1997 general election

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1997 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 3,389 60.58% +5.10%
Liberal Ralph Chalifoux 1,139 20.36% -19.92%
Social Credit Robert Alford 624 11.16%
New Democratic Glenn Laboucan 442 7.90% +3.66%
Total 5,594 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 23
Eligible electors / Turnout 13,368 42.09% -18.39%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +12.51%
Source(s)
"1997 general election". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.

2001 general election

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2001 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 4,766 74.16% +13.58%
Liberal Rick Noel 1,429 22.23% +1.87%
New Democratic Doris Bannister 232 3.61% -4.29%
Total 6,427 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 47
Eligible electors / Turnout 14,185 45.64% +3.55%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +7.73%
Source(s)
"Lesser Slave Lake Official Results 2001 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

2004 general election

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2004 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 3,903 64.94% -9.22%
Alberta Alliance Valerie Rahn 969 16.12%
Liberal Jonathan Plackaitis 530 8.82% -13.41%
New Democratic Doris Bannister 354 5.89% 2.28%
Greens Ian Hopfe 254 4.23%
Total 6,010 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 57
Eligible electors / Turnout 19,259 31.50% -14.14%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -12.67%
Source(s)
"Lesser Slave Lake Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 15 January 2012.

2008 general election

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2008 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 3,384 65.18% +0.24%
Liberal Steve Noskey 1,109 21.36% +12.54%
New Democratic Habby Sharkawi 426 8.21% +2.32%
Greens Bonnie Raho 273 5.26% +1.03%
Total 5,192 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 43
Eligible electors / Turnout 20,310 25.78% -5.72%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -6.39%
Source(s)
The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. 28 July 2008. pp. 462–467.

2012 general election

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2012 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 3,518 48.71% -16.47%
Wildrose Darryl Boisson 2,847 39.42%
New Democratic Steve Kaz 427 5.91% -2.30%
Liberal Steven Townsend 235 3.25% -9.29%
Independent Donald G. Bissell 195 2.70%
Total 7,222 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 50
Eligible electors / Turnout 18,723 38.84% +13.06%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -27.95%
Source(s)
"Electoral Division Results: Lesser Slave Lake".

2015 general election

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results by polling division, 2015
2015 Alberta general election: Lesser Slave Lake
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Danielle Larivee 3,915 43.23% +37.32%
Wildrose Darryl Boisson 3,198 35.31% -4.11%
Progressive Conservative Pearl Calahasen 1,944 21.46% -27.25%
Total valid votes 9,057 100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 50
Eligible voters / turnout 20,277 44.91% +6.07%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing +32.29%
Source(s)
"2015 Provincial General Election Results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2017.

References

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  1. ^ Alberta Teachers' Association (October 1989). A Guide to Alberta's 22nd Legislature.
  2. ^ a b "Pearl Calahasen's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography". Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ "Metis Dictionary of Biography" (PDF). Gabriel Dumont Institute. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Alberta's past election results". Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  5. ^ "National Aboriginal Achievement Awards biography of Pearl Calahasen". Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  6. ^ "Alberta Teacher's Association account of the 1996 cabinet shuffle". Retrieved 14 April 2008. [dead link]
  7. ^ "Alberta Teachers' Association account of the 1999 cabinet shuffle". Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
  8. ^ "Legislative Reports (Alberta)". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 24 (2). Summer 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  9. ^ "News and Comment, Turtle Island Native Network". Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  10. ^ "Artists for Dinning, MLA Pham for Morton". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Stelmach names smaller cabinet". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 5 June 1990. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011.
  13. ^ "The Wayback Machine has not archived that URL." (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 26 June 1990. Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) [dead link]
  15. ^ "Bill Status Report for the 22nd Legislature - 2nd Session (1990)" (PDF). Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  16. ^ "Bill Status Report for the 23rd Legislature - 3rd Session (1995)" (PDF). Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  17. ^ a b "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 11 April 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 26 April 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 6 March 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2014.
  20. ^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 18 April 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2014.
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Alberta provincial government of Ralph Klein
Cabinet posts (3)
Predecessor Office Successor
  Minister without portfolio responsible for Children's Services
1996–1999
Iris Evans was given the title "Minister of Children's Services" rather than being considered a minister without portfolio. 		Iris Evans
  Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
1999–2001 		Position abolished
New portfolio Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
2001–2006 		Guy Boutilier
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