Table of Contents
1. From Professor to Politician (1981–1997)
How I Became a Conservative (1967–1980)
Alberta: The Early Years (1981–1997)
2. From Waiting to Running (1998–2004)
Alberta Senator-in-Waiting (1998)
Canadian Alliance Leadership (2000)
Firewall Letter (2001)
MLA for Foothills-Rocky View (2004)
3. Life on the Back Bench (2005–2006)
First Caucus Meeting
First Day in Legislature
Foothills-Rocky View Constituency
De-Klein: Overspending
Maiden Speech and the Leadership Race
Bill 208: Protecting Freedom of Speech and Religion
4. PC Leadership Campaign: The Accidental Premier (2006)
Klein’s Long Goodbye
Morton Campaign Team
Candidates
Issues: The Firewall Candidate
Campaign and Endorsements
First Round Results
Second Round Results
Ed Stelmach: The Accidental Premier
5. Legislating Conservation: Success and Failure (2007–2009)
OH Ranch: Heritage Rangeland (2008)
Sunday Hunting and Provincial Hunting Day (2008)
Land Use Framework and Alberta Land Stewardship Act (2009)
Alberta Land Trust Grant Program and the Waldron Ranch (2009)
Bow Habitat Station and Kids Can Catch Trout Pond (2009)
Hunting for Habitat (2008)
Recreational Access Management Plan (2009)
Upland Birds Alberta and Pheasant Release Program (2010)
Micrex Mine and the Livingstone Range (2010)
Postscript
6. How I Became Finance Minister (2009)
The Klein Legacy
Stelmach: Buying the 2008 Election
Stampede Caucus 2008: Spending $4 Billion That We Did
Not Have
Deficits and Debt: Memos to Stelmach and Snelgrove (2008–2009)
Budget 2010 and the Wildrose Challenge
Leadership Review
Becoming Finance Minister
Budget 2010
The Minister’s Cave
Fighting the Feds I: Securities Regulator
Fighting the Feds II: Pension Reform
Fighting the Premier’s Office: North West Upgrader
Postscript
8. How I Unbecame Finance Minister (2010)
Recession
The New Normal
A New Fiscal Framework
Losing the Fight
Stay or Leave?
When to Leave
Recruiting Allies
How to Leave
January 25: The Putsch
Raucous Caucus
10. Redford and Prentice: The End of the PC Dynasty (2011–2015)
2011 PC Leadership: Two-Minute Tories Strike Again
Minister of Energy
2012 Provincial Election
The Redford Debacle
Prentice to the Rescue… Not
2015: The End of the PC Dynasty
11. The Decline and Fall of the PC Empire: A Post-Morton
Flawed Leadership Selection Process
Vote Splitting on the Right
Dynasty Syndrome: Power Replaces Principles
The Resource Curse
Western Alienation
12. The Alberta Agenda: From Fringe to Mainstream
Kenney’s Hostile Takeover of the PC Party (2017)
Equalization Referendum and Fair Deal Report (2019)
Danielle Smith and the Sovereignty Act
The Next Chapter
Appendix 1: Power to the Parents: A Vindication of Bill 208
Appendix 2: The Family as the Moral Foundation of Freedom (1999)
Appendix 3: After 40 years, the Charter is still one of the worst bargains in Canadian history