Don Getty | |
|---|---|
 Getty in the 1990s | |
| 11th Premier of Alberta | |
| In office November 1, 1985 – December 14, 1992 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Lieutenant Governor | |
| Preceded by | Peter Lougheed |
| Succeeded by | Ralph Klein |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
| In office May 23, 1967 – August 30, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Randolph McKinnon |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Constituency | Strathcona West |
| In office August 30, 1971 – March 14, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | District established |
| Succeeded by | Peter Knaak |
| Constituency | Edmonton-Whitemud |
| In office December 11, 1985 – March 20, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Alexander |
| Succeeded by | Percy Wickman |
| Constituency | Edmonton-Whitemud |
| In office May 9, 1989 – December 14, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Downey |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Constituency | Stettler |
| Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs | |
| In office September 10, 1971 – March 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Portfolio established |
| Succeeded by | Lou Hyndman |
| Minister of Energy and Natural Resources | |
| In office March 1975 – March 1979 | |
| Preceded by | Portfolio established |
| Succeeded by | Merv Leitch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Donald Ross Getty (1933-08-30)August 30, 1933 Westmount, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | February 26, 2016(2016-02-26) (aged 82) Edmonton,Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Spouse | Margaret Mitchell |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | University of Western Ontario |
| Occupation | Businessman, professional athlete |
| Signature |  |
| Football career | |
| No. 27, 87 | |
 Getty after winning the44th Grey Cup in 1956 | |
| Career information | |
| CFL status | National |
| Position(s) | QB |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| College | Western Ontario |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1955–1965 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Awards | 2×Grey Cup (1955,1956) Outstanding Canadian,Western Interprovincial Football Union (1959) Runner up,Schenley Award (1959) |
| Honors | Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour, 1992 |
Donald Ross GettyOC AOE (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 11thpremier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992. A member of theProgressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister in the government ofPeter Lougheed before leaving politics for the private sector in 1979. He returned to politics six years later to enter the Progressive Conservative leadership contest resulting from Lougheed's retirement. He defeated two other candidates, and became Premier November 1, 1985.
As Premier, Getty was faced with an economic slowdown and falling energy prices, which hitAlberta'spetroleum-dominated economy hard. Faced with mounting government deficits and increasing unemployment, he cut social spending and intervened with government money to prevent businesses from failing. Several of these interventions backfired in high-profile fashion, failing at their intended objective and costing scarce public funds as well. While some analysts argue that Getty's fiscal program laid the groundwork forRalph Klein's later balancing of the provincial budget, on Getty's departure from office the government's debt had reached $11 billion, setting the stage for his successor to characterize the Getty years as an era of wasteful and excessive spending.
His efforts at strengthening Alberta's presence in Canada initially appeared more successful, as he won the agreement of Canada's other first ministers in including elements ofSenate reform in theMeech Lake andCharlottetown Accords, but these efforts came to naught when both accords were rejected—the second by the Canadian public, including a majority of Albertans. Getty was also facing political problems within Alberta, including a defeat in his homeriding ofEdmonton-Whitemud in the1989 election (leading to a successful by-election inStettler, vacated by a P.C. MLA) and leadership machinations from some of his own ministers. In light of this, he resigned the Premiership in 1992.
Before entering politics, Getty had been aquarterback for theEdmonton Eskimos of theCanadian Football League. He passed for more than eight thousand yards over his ten-year career, and was put on the team's Wall of Fame in 1992.
Don Getty was born on August 30, 1933, inWestmount, Quebec,[1] the son of Beatrice Lillian (Hampton) Getty (1910–1973) and Charles Ross Getty (1909–1974).[2] His father had dropped out ofMcGill University's medical school due to theGreat Depression and worked a variety of jobs—sometimes more than one at a time—to support his wife, three sons, and two daughters. Getty's childhood was spent inVerdun,Toronto,Ottawa,London, andAgincourt, sharing a three-room apartment with his seven-member family in the last. Returning for London in time for high school, he became an accomplished athlete (drinkingeggnog to gain enough weight to play football) and was elected students' council president. Sports were his passion, and he was an especially great fan of theMontreal Canadiens and ofToronto Argonauts running backRoyal Copeland.
After graduating, Getty enrolled to study business administration at theUniversity of Western Ontario, where he became afootball star and a member of TheKappa Alpha Society.[3] He quarterbacked theWestern Ontario Mustangs to Eastern Collegiate Union Championships in 1954 and 1955,[4] and was awarded the Claude Brown Memorial Trophy as the outstanding athlete at UWO in 1955.[5] He also playedbasketball, and was part of championship teams in that sport in 1952, 1953, and 1954.[4] A week after his 1955 graduation, he married Margaret Mitchell, his high school sweetheart. TheEdmonton Eskimos had offered Getty a professional contract, so the newlyweds drove out west in an old blueBuick.[3]
While still playing football, Getty was hired byImperial Oil in 1955. He worked for Midwestern Industrial Gas Limited, beginning in 1961 as Lands and Contracts Manager with a promotion to Assistant General Manager following in 1963. In 1964 he founded his own company, Baldonnel Oil and Gas Company, before entering the world of finance as a partner with Doherty, Roadhouse, and McCuaig investments in 1967.[6]
In 1965, Getty was approached by fellow Eskimos veteran andProgressive Conservative leaderPeter Lougheed to run in the1967 provincial election.[3]: 233 Getty agreed to run inStrathcona West, and defeated incumbentSocial CrediterRandolph McKinnon by more than one thousand votes. He entered theLegislative Assembly of Alberta as one of six newly elected P.C.s.[7] Four years later, in the1971 election, Getty was re-elected by more than 3,500 votes in the new riding ofEdmonton-Whitemud and was appointed Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs in the new Lougheed majority government.[3]: 233 With Getty and the government both re-elected by increasing margins in the1975 election, Lougheed appointed him Minister of Energy. In this capacity Getty partially continued his responsibility for relations with thefederal government, as energy policy was a major sticking point between the two governments (at one point, federal Energy MinisterDonald Macdonald called Getty "dripping with venom").[3]: 233 Getty did not seek re-election in the1979 election.[3]: 233
While out of politics, Getty became the head of an investment firm and sat on the boards of a number of corporations, including theRoyal Bank of Canada, Sparrow Energy, Nortek Energy andCelanese Canada.[6] However, when Lougheed stepped down from the Progressive Conservative leadership in 1985, Getty entered the contest to replace him and immediately became the favourite.[3]: 233 At an October convention, Getty won a second ballot victory against Minister of Municipal AffairsJulian Koziak and former legislatorRon Ghitter.[3]: 233–4
Getty was appointed Premier November 1, 1985. He returned to thelegislature just over a month later, winning a by-election in his old riding of Edmonton-Whitemud. As Premier for nearly seven years, Getty presided over some of Alberta's toughest economic times. His time in office was characterized by attempts to reduce the government'sbudget deficit and interventions calculated to stabilize the economy during therecession of the 1980s. When Getty became Premier he left hispredecessor's cabinet completely intact.[8]
After Getty won the party leadership, Lougheed told him to expect a budget deficit of $2.5 billion in his first year in office,[3]: 234 though the figure turned out to be $2.1 billion.[3]: 236 Things got worse the next year as a drop in energy prices led to the oil-rich province running a deficit of $3.4 billion, as energy revenues fell by $3 billion.[3]: 237 Getty's Treasurer,Dick Johnston, reacted by raising taxes by $1 billion and cutting program spending by 6.3%, including decreases of 3% in grants to schools, universities, municipalities, and hospitals.[3]: 237 In 1990, due to these measures, Johnston predicted that the government would be in surplus by the 1995 fiscal year.[3]: 250 By 1992, program spending was growing at a rate of 2.3% annually, among the lowest rates in Canada.[3]: 249 In fact, when adjusted for population growth andinflation, government spending fell over Getty's term in office, with non-health care program spending 40% lower in 1993 than it had been in 1986 (health spending had remained approximately constant over the same period).[9] Even so, Getty entered the premiership with no public debt and left with the public debt at $11 billion.[10]
Getty's government was faced with a combination of a general economic malaise and falling oil prices.[3]: 235 The slowdown in the energy sector contributed to a decrease in capital spending, which reduced demand for labour in the construction industry by 50% between 1980 and 1985.[3]: 235 Many workers left the province, which suppressedreal estate prices and hurt financial institutions; two Albertan banks, theCanadian Commercial Bank and theNorthland Bank, failed in September 1985.[3]: 235 Credit unions were facing similar troubles, and the Lougheed government had, in its last days, injected $100 million into the industry.[3]: 235
Getty's response to these issues was interventionist. During his first budget, he targeted spending at the province's struggling agricultural sector, including a $2 billion loan program meant to address high interest rates.[3]: 236 His government tried to stimulate the energy sector by makingloan guarantees toHusky Oil ($380 million) andSyncrude ($200 million) for new and expanded capital projects.[3]: 236 The government also provided a $55 million guarantee—in addition to a $20 million loan—toPeter Pocklington'sGainers meat-packing plant; when Pocklington defaulted on the loan, the government seized, and eventually closed, the plant.[3]: 241 This incident and others contributed to a perception that Getty's administration was willing to spend public money to support large businesses, but that it was indifferent to the struggles of labour (the Gainers loan had initially been made after the government brokered a labour settlement favourable to the plant's management).[3]: 241 In 1986 the price of oil bottomed at $US10 a barrel. Getty responded by providing the oil industry with $250 million in incentives and royalty cuts. By the end of 1986 Alberta had granted another nine-month cut from 12% to 1% in royalties at the Suncor oilsands.[3]: 236
Most damaging to the government's reputation was the failure of thePrincipal Group, an Edmonton-based trust company. Its investment subsidiaries were ordered shut down June 30, 1987, by court orders obtained at the instigation of Provincial Treasurer Dick Johnston.[3]: 242 The parent company went bankrupt August 10 amid accusations of fraud.[3]: 242 A court-ordered investigation led by Bill Code found that the company was in trouble as early as 1980 and, though subsequent economic downturns hurt it, "it would not have been profitable in any event".[3]: 242 It also found that Consumer and Corporate Affairs MinisterConnie Osterman had disregarded 1984 warnings from a regulator in her department that the company was likelyinsolvent.[3]: 242 Though Osterman was fired shortly after the report's release, Getty's immediate offer of an $85 million settlement to investors further hurt the government's reputation in areas of business.[3]: 242
A similar incident stemmed from the 1992 privatization ofAlberta Government Telephones (AGT). NovaTel, a cellular subsidiary of AGT, had made a number of financing deals with local companies in the late 1980s, and many of these deals were collapsing just as the government was prepared to sell AGT.[3]: 250 At the last moment, the government removed NovaTel from the AGTshare offering.[3]: 250 NovaTel's liabilities eventually cost the government more than $600 million.[3]: 250
As a former Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs, Getty had strong views about constitutional matters, and aboutSenate reform in particular. He made the cause the centrepiece of Alberta's constitutional policy going into theMeech Lake Accord discussions.[3]: 238 The Accord's final version included a provision whereby thePrime Minister would continue to recommend senatorial appointments to theGovernor General, but would have to make their recommendations from lists provided by the provincial governments.[3]: 238 Once it became apparent that the Meech Lake Accord would fail, Getty's government introduced theSenatorial Selection Act, which provided for an election process whenever there was a vacant Senate seat for Alberta.[3]: 239–40 However, Getty's favoured candidate, Progressive ConservativeBert Brown, was soundly defeated byStan Waters of the upstartReform Party of Canada, which opposed Meech Lake and favoured aggressive senate reform.[3]: 246 Though Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney opposed the legislation, he eventually recommended Waters for appointment to the Senate.[3]: 239–40 Getty was still more successful at pursuing senate reform during the negotiations for theCharlottetown Accord, when he won the addition of aTriple-E Senate to the package, against Mulroney's opposition.[3]: 251 However, the Charlottetown Accord failed after a national referendum in which a majority of Canadians, including 60.2% of Albertans, rejected it.[11]
In 1991, Getty's Progressive Conservatives formally severed ties with theProgressive Conservative Party of Canada, which was becoming increasingly unpopular under Mulroney.[3]: 240 Getty also broke with Mulroney on a number of issues other than Senate reform, including the new federalGoods and Services Tax, which he fought unsuccessfully against implementing.[3]: 240 His government also implemented legislation, against Mulroney's express wishes, that made English the only official language of Alberta.[3]: 240 Despite these steps, Getty remained a supporter of the federal Conservatives (and not the Reform Party, to which many provincial P.C.s were defecting), whose unpopularity rubbed off on him.[3]: 240
Getty's government also made progress onaboriginal land claims in the northern part of the province. In addition to creating Canada's firstMétis land base in 1989, Getty took the lead in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to negotiate a settlement between the federal government and theLubicon Cree.[3]: 249
In contrast to his predecessor, who was actively involved in most elements of his government, Getty preferred to set the government's broad direction and leave lower-level details to his ministers.[3]: 237 Ralph Klein, while serving as Environment Minister under Getty, commented that "If you are a minister, you run that portfolio yourself" and expressed an appreciation for the freedom that the Premier gavehis cabinet.[3]: 248 Al Adair, who served in two different portfolios under Getty, described this approach in his memoirs as "you make the decisions, you run your department, but make mistakes and you're gone".[12] Lisac credits him for knowing when to intervene and when not to,[3]: 247 but Adair felt that his approach led to ministers working too much in isolation.[12]
Getty was a private, reserved person, which, combined with his tendency to delegate to ministers, sometimes gave the impression of an uncaring aloofness.[3]: 238 During the Principal Group affair, which he left primarily in the hands of TreasurerDick Johnston and Consumer and Corporate Affairs MinisterElaine McCoy, a photographer captured a shot of Getty playing golf while his press secretary had said that he was "working out of the office".[3]: 242 This was typical of his strained relationship with the media, which Adair attributed to the Premier's awkwardness and the media's unfairness.[12][13]
Although Getty governed with fairly large majorities during his tenure, they were nowhere near as large as the ones Lougheed enjoyed. His first election as premier saw the return of theprovincial Liberals to the legislature after being shut out for 15 years. That same election saw theAlberta NDP pick up 16 seats in the legislature. In contrast, during his last two terms, Lougheed never faced more than six opposition MLAs in total.
Getty called the1989 election less than three years into his 1986 mandate to take advantage of the economic optimism prevalent in the province, partly as a result of theCanada-U.S. free trade agreement.[3]: 243 While the P.C.s made spending promises including paving all of the province's secondary highways, the Liberals under new leaderLaurence Decore stressed dealing with the deficit.[3]: 243 The overall result was respectable for the government, as it won a sixth term in government with a net loss of only two seats. However, Getty was defeated in his own riding by LiberalPercy Wickman.[3]: 244 Brian C. Downey resigned his seat in the rural central Alberta riding ofStettler to allow Getty to run in a by-election, which he won handily.[3]: 244 He built a home in the riding onBuffalo Lake, and was later accused of arranging for the lake to be risen so it would be better-suited for fishing (though Adair claimed that the arrangements had been in place since 1979, when he had been Minister of Recreation, Parks and Wildlife).[13]
Getty's relationship with his own party was often stormy. Shortly after he lost his riding in 1989, a group of Calgary Conservatives, including party budget directorJack Major and Getty's old leadership rivalRon Ghitter, began making plans to force party renewal, with or without Getty.[3]: 245 They felt that the party was perceived as being tired, directionless, arrogant, and deaf to urban concerns, and that it was in political trouble in the crucial battleground of Calgary.[3]: 245 At the 1989 party convention, recently retired cabinet ministerMarvin Moore, who had organized Ghitter's 1985 leadership campaign, advocated for aleadership review; after a speech by Getty, the convention voted to refer the recommendation to a committee for months of study.[3]: 246–7 Cabinet ministers, including TreasurerDick Johnston and Education MinisterJim Dinning, began to consider leadership bids in the event that Getty retired or was pushed out.[3]: 247
In 1992, as the national referendum on theCharlottetown Accord and the release of a report on the NovaTel incident loomed, Getty decided to leave politics.[3]: 251 In his last months, he deliberately refrained from taking measures that he knew would be popular, such as shrinking cabinet, in order to leave them for his successor.[3]: 230 After a party leadership election choseRalph Klein to succeed him, Getty resigned as party leader December 5 and as Premier several days later.[3]: 252
As Premier, Klein positioned himself in contrast to Getty, asserting that the government had "a spending problem",[14] and stating that he had become Premier at a time of "uncontrolled spending".[15] Given Klein's aggressive spending cuts, which shaped the political climate of Alberta for much of the 1990s, Getty's legacy with respect to public finances has been criticized. However,Kevin Taft, writing four years before entering politics, challenged this view, asserting that Getty was running "the tightest government in Canada".[16] Besides its management of the deficit, Getty's government is remembered for the creation ofFamily Day.[17] For the most part, however, Getty dropped quickly from the public view and public memory.[3]: 230 Lisac suggests that this is because, unlike his predecessor and successor, he lacked a central message:
Lougheed had booming prosperity and a constant fight for provincial rights against the federal government. Klein was to be associated with balanced budgets and paying down debt. Getty never had an effective central story to tell.[3]: 237
Getty played 10 seasons with theEdmonton Eskimos as aquarterback. For the first part of his career, he backed upJackie Parker and filled in for him when he was moved torunning back.[18] Eskimos coachPop Ivy surprised many observers when he started Getty at quarterback in the third game of the 1956 western final (which was a three-game series at the time) during the44th Grey Cup, with Parker at running back.[19] However, it bore results as Parker tied the record for most touchdowns scored in a Grey Cup game, at three.[20] Getty also handed the ball toJohnny Bright for two touchdowns and scored two himself on quarterback keeps from the one-yard line, as the Eskimos won their third consecutive championship over theMontreal Alouettes by a score of 50–27.[20] He continued with Eskimos until 1963, and also made three appearances in the 1965 season.[18]
Getty was one of the most successful Canadian-born quarterbacks in the history of theCanadian Football League and sits at third on the all-time passing yardage list of Canadian quarterbacks, behindRuss Jackson andGerry Dattilio, with nearly nine thousand yards. He was declared the outstanding Canadian player in theWestern Interprovincial Football Union in 1959, and was the runner up (to Jackson) for theSchenley Award as the league's most outstanding Canadian player the same year.[18] He was placed on the Eskimos' Wall of Honor in 1992.[21]
| [18] | Passing | Rushing1 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | PA | PC | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
| 1955 | Edm | 63 | 35 | 55.6% | 558 | 7 | 5 | 32 | 35 | 1.1 | 0 | 18 |
| 1956 | Edm | 44 | 18 | 40.9% | 256 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -24 | -2.2 | 0 | 8 |
| 1957 | Edm | 122 | 83 | 68.0% | 1,359 | 11 | 8 | 17 | -15 | -0.9 | 0 | 8 |
| 1958 | Edm | 60 | 23 | 38.3% | 334 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 29 | 1.9 | 0 | 6 |
| 1959 | Edm | 198 | 116 | 58.6% | 2,080 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 134 | 4.6 | 0 | 17 |
| 1960 | Edm | 82 | 39 | 47.6% | 674 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 44 | 4.0 | 0 | 16 |
| 1961 | Edm | 126 | 69 | 54.8% | 1,276 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 67 | 4.2 | 0 | 18 |
| 1962 | Edm | 163 | 92 | 56.4% | 1,465 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 35 | 3.1 | 0 | 11 |
| 1963 | Edm | 125 | 64 | 51.2% | 913 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 1965 | Edm | 9 | 4 | 44.4% | 37 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 992 | 543 | 54.7% | 8,952 | 58 | 60 | 149 | 318 | 2.1 | 1 | 18 | |
1Until and including the 1958 season, a tackle for a loss on a passing play was registered as a rushing attempt.
Getty kept a low profile after leaving politics. He assumed several corporate directorships and spent time with his grandchildren.[3]: 230 Unlike Lougheed, he rarely commented on political matters. He was appointed as an Officer to theOrder of Canada in 1998.[6]
In July 2008, afterEd Stelmach announced $2 billion in funding to industry to developcarbon capture technology, Getty's company sought some of the funding to burycarbon dioxide in salt caverns nearTwo Hills.[22]
After years of declining health, Getty died from heart failure at a hospital in Edmonton, on February 26, 2016, at age 82.[23]
He was appointed as an Officer of theOrder of Canada on 21 October 1998. He was appointed as a Member of theAlberta Order of Excellence in 1999. He received the Canadian version of theQueen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992, the Canadian version of theQueen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and theQueen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
In 2012 he was inducted into the London Sports Hall of Fame inLondon, Ontario, in recognition of his achievements in Canadian football.[24]
On 19 November 2013 he received thehonorary degree ofDoctor of Laws from theUniversity of Alberta.[25]
| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
| Order of Canada (OC) |
|
| Alberta Order of Excellence (AOE) |
|
| Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal |
|
| 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal |
|
| Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal |
|
| Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal |
|
| 1989 Alberta provincial election | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Party leader | # of candidates | Seats | Popular vote | |||||
| 1986 | 1989 | % Change | # | % | % Change | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 83 | 61 | 59 | -3.3% | 367,244 | 44.29% | -7.11% | |
| New Democrats | Ray Martin | 83 | 16 | 16 | 0% | 217,972 | 26.29% | -2.93% | |
| Liberal | Laurence Decore | 83 | 4 | 8 | +100% | 237,787 | 28.68% | +16.46% | |
| Social Credit | Harvey Yuill | 6 | * | - | * | 3,939 | 0.47% | * | |
| Communist | Norman Brudy | 2 | - | - | - | 85 | 0.01% | -0.02% | |
| Independent | 10 | - | - | - | 2,162 | 0.26% | -0.60% | ||
| Total | 267 | 83 | 83 | - | 829,189 | 100% | |||
| 1986 Alberta provincial election | |||||||||
| Party | Party leader | # of candidates | Seats | Popular vote | |||||
| 1982 | 1986 | % Change | # | % | % Change | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 83 | 75 | 61 | -18.7% | 366,783 | 51.40% | -10.88% | |
| New Democrats | Ray Martin | 83 | 2 | 16 | +700% | 208,561 | 29.22% | +10.47% | |
| Liberal | Nicholas Taylor | 63 | - | 4 | 87,239 | 12.22% | +10.41% | ||
| Representative | Raymond Speaker | 46 | * | 2 | * | 36,656 | 5.15% | * | |
| Western Canada Concept | Jack Ramsay | 20 | - | - | - | 4,615 | 0.65% | -11.11% | |
| Confederation of Regions | Elmer Knutson | 6 | * | - | * | 2,866 | 0.40% | * | |
| Heritage | Mike Pawlus | 6 | * | - | * | 601 | 0.08% | * | |
| Communist | Norman Brudy | 6 | - | - | - | 199 | 0.03% | -0.01% | |
| Independent | 20 | 2 | - | -100% | 6,134 | 0.86% | -3.01% | ||
| Total | 333 | 79 | 83 | - | 713,654 | 100% | |||
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
| 1967 Alberta general election:Strathcona West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 6,764 | 48.39% | 31.10% | ||||
| Social Credit | Randolph McKinnon | 5,153 | 36.87% | -10.60% | ||||
| New Democratic | Frank Kuzemski | 1,115 | 7.98% | -2.82% | ||||
| Liberal | Edmund Leger | 890 | 6.37% | -17.77% | ||||
| Total | 13,978 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 56 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 19,880 | 70.31% | – | |||||
| Progressive Conservativegain fromSocial Credit | Swing | 20.85% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Strathcona West Official Results 1967 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMay 14, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1971 Alberta general election:Edmonton-Whitemud | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 8,201 | 58.32% | |||||
| Social Credit | Donald Hamilton | 4,690 | 33.35% | |||||
| New Democratic | Joseph Mercredi | 936 | 6.66% | |||||
| Liberal | Jim Tanner | 235 | 1.67% | |||||
| Total | 14,062 | – | ||||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 125 | – | ||||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 17,279 | 82.11% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Edmonton-Whitemud Official Results 1971 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMarch 1, 2010. | ||||||||
| 1975 Alberta general election:Edmonton-Whitemud | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 9,614 | 67.75% | 9.43% | ||||
| New Democratic | Lila Fahlman | 2,645 | 18.64% | 11.98% | ||||
| Social Credit | Phil Dickson | 1,101 | 7.76% | -25.59% | ||||
| Liberal | Dilys Andersen | 830 | 5.85% | 4.18% | ||||
| Total | 14,190 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 20 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 23,949 | 59.33% | – | |||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | 10.71% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Edmonton-Whitemud Official Results 1975 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMarch 19, 2010. | ||||||||
| Alberta provincial by-election, December 11, 1985:Edmonton-Whitemud following the resignation ofRobert Keith Alexander on November 5, 1985 (1985-11-05) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 5,955 | 60.15 | 1.10 | ||||
| New Democratic | Tony Higgins | 2,100 | 21.21 | −5.76 | ||||
| Representative | Dick Mather | 800 | 8.08 | – | ||||
| Liberal | Eric Wolfman | 637 | 6.43 | 2.06 | ||||
| Independent | Lucien Maynard | 355 | 3.59 | – | ||||
| Heritage | Mike Pawlus | 53 | 0.54 | – | ||||
| Total | 9,900 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 10 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 30,082 | 32.94 | – | |||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | 3.43 | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Edmonton-Whitemud Official By-election Results". Elections Alberta. December 11, 1985. RetrievedMarch 19, 2010. | ||||||||
| 1986 Alberta general election:Edmonton-Whitemud | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 7,436 | 57.76% | −2.39% | ||||
| New Democratic | Tony Higgins | 3,875 | 30.10% | 8.89% | ||||
| Liberal | Eric Wolfman | 1,135 | 8.82% | 2.39% | ||||
| Representative | Bert Beinert | 336 | 2.61% | −5.61% | ||||
| Western Canada Concept | Walter Stack | 92 | 0.71% | – | ||||
| Total | 12,874 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 40 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 23,348 | 55.31% | – | |||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | −5.64% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Edmonton-Whitemud Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMarch 19, 2010. | ||||||||
| 1989 Alberta general election:Edmonton-Whitemud | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Percy Wickman | 8,350 | 45.25% | 36.43% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 8,005 | 43.38% | -14.38% | ||||
| New Democratic | Nao Fernando | 2,099 | 11.37% | -18.73% | ||||
| Total | 18,454 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 42 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 31,536 | 58.65% | – | |||||
| Liberalgain fromProgressive Conservative | Swing | 25.41% | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Edmonton-Whitemud Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. RetrievedMarch 19, 2010. | ||||||||
| Alberta provincial by-election, May 9, 1989:Stettler following the resignation ofBrian C. Downey on April 8, 1989 (1989-04-08) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Getty | 5,558 | 71.36 | |||||
| Liberal | Frank Pickering | 1,598 | 20.52 | |||||
| New Democratic | Grant Bergman | 633 | 8.13 | |||||
| Total | 7,789 | – | ||||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 15 | – | ||||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 11,618 | 67.17 | ||||||
Source(s) Source:"Stettler Official By-election Results". Elections Alberta. May 9, 1989. RetrievedMay 14, 2020. | ||||||||
| 1985 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election | ||
|---|---|---|
| Second ballot | ||
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Don Getty | 1,061 | 56.2% |
| Julian Koziak | 827 | 43.8% |
| First ballot | ||
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Don Getty | 913 | 48.4% |
| Julian Koziak | 545 | 28.9% |
| Ron Ghitter | 428 | 22.7% |
Media related toDon Getty at Wikimedia Commons
