3 leaders in Ottawa's House of Commons hail from Alberta
NDP Health Critic Don Davies and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announce the NDP's Canada Pharmacare Act during a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
With Don Davies appointed the interim leader of the federal NDP on Monday, Canada has three leaders of national parties with strong Alberta ties.
Davies, who replaces outgoing leader Jagmeet Singh, was one of only seven NDP candidates elected or re-elected to Parliament in April 28's federal election, won by Mark Carney's Liberals. Davies, who hails from Edmonton, has represented the riding of Vancouver Kingsway since 2008.
Carney, too, hails from Edmonton, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was born and raised in Calgary.
Don Davies
NDP Health Critic Don Davies responds to a question during a news conference on Parliament Hill, Monday, November 14, 2022 in Ottawa.
(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Don Davies
The 62-year-old was born and raised in Edmonton. He holds a bachelor of arts in political science and a bachelor of laws from the University of Alberta.
Davies worked as a researcher at the Alberta legislature before working for Ray Martin, the NDP opposition leader, from 1989 to 1991, when he moved to Vancouver to become director of legal services for a Teamsters Canada local before winning election in 2008.
Pierre Poilievre
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to supporters on election night in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
(Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
Pierre Poilievre
The 45-year-old Poilievre, who became Conservative leader in September 2022, was born in Calgary. He was adopted by two teachers and grew up in the southwestern suburbs of Alberta's largest city.
He attended Calgary's Henry Wise Wood High School, studied international relations at the University of Calgary and started to become active in politics as a teenager. Poilievre, who lost his Ottawa-area seat in April's federal election, is slated to run in a byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot once Damien Kurek, its MP, resigns.
Mark Carney
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Friday, May 2, 2025.
(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Mark Carney
Carney, 58, was born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., and grew up in west-central Edmonton.
His parents, like Poilievre's, were educators – his father a high school principal and later a professor at the University of Alberta, while his mother taught elementary school before stay-at-home-mom duty. Bob Carney ran for the Liberals in Edmonton during the 1980 federal election, placing second.
Mark Carney attended St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School, studied economics at Harvard University and at Oxford University, and after a career in investment banking, was appointed governor of the Bank of Canada in 2007.
Five years later, he became governor of the Bank of England, staying in the role until 2020. He was elected federal Liberal leader in March and led the party to a minority win in last month's election.
Stephen Harper
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, November 6, 2013.
(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Other notable federal leaders from Alberta
Stephen Harper
The Toronto native moved to Alberta as a young adult and attended the University of Calgary, graduating with a master's of economics in 1991.
The Conservative Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015 was one of the founders of the Reform Party in 1987 and was first elected to the House of Commons under that banner in 1993 for the riding of Calgary West. He left the party in 1997 and returned to politics five years later when he won the leadership of the Canadian Alliance, Reform's successor party.
Harper negotiated the Canadian Alliance merger with the Progressive Conservatives to form today's Conservative Party. The Conservatives won the 2006 election, defeating Paul Martin's Liberals to form a minority government. Five years later, after winning another minority in 2008, the Conservatives captured a majority in 2011 before the Liberals under Justin Trudeau won election four years later.
MANNING, GREY, ABBOTT
Reform party Leader Preston Manning is applauded by caucus members, including Jim Abbott (right) and Deborah Grey (left) on his first day as official opposition leader in the House of Commons in Ottawa in 1997.
(TOM HANSON/Canadian Press)
Preston Manning
The leader of the Reform Party was born in Edmonton and grew up in central Alberta. He's the son of former Alberta Premier Ernest C. Manning.
He helped form the Reform Party in 1987 and held a seat in Calgary starting in 1993. Reform became the Official Opposition in 1997.
He lost party leadership to Stockwell Day in 2000, when the party changed its name to the Canadian Alliance. Today, the party forms the basis for today's Conservatives.
Stockwell Day
Public Saftey Minister Stockwell Day stands during Question Period to speak in the House of Commons in Ottawa on November 19, 2007.
(FRED CHARTRAND/The Canadian Press)
Stockwell Day
The former pastor was born and raised in Ontario and moved to Alberta in the 1970s. He was first elected to Alberta's legislature in 1986 for the Progressive Conservatives and served in Ralph Klein's cabinet after Klein became premier in late 1992.
Day left provincial politics for the federal stage in 2000, when he won the leadership of the Canadian Alliance Party. He was MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla in B.C.
He lost the leadership two years later to Stephen Harper. Day held several cabinet positions under Harper after the Conservatives took power in 2006 before leaving politics in 2011.
PC LEADERSHIP
Newly appointed Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark speaks after winning the 1998 party leadership race on the second ballot by 77.48%, in Ottawa.
(ADRIAN WYLD/Canadian Press)
Joe Clark
The High River, Alta., native is a graduate of the University of Alberta and entered federal politics in the early 1970s, serving as an MP in two different rural Alberta ridings and becoming leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1976.
He served as prime minister briefly after the PCs formed a minority government in 1979, only for Pierre Trudeau's Liberals to topple them the next year with a majority win.
Clark was PC leader until 1983, when Brian Mulroney defeated him for the party leadership. Clark held several cabinet positions under Mulroney until 1993, when Clark left politics. He returned to lead the PCs in 1998 until 2003, when the party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the modern Conservative Party.
R.B. Bennett
Richard Bedford Bennett, Canada's prime minister from 1930-1935.
(National Archives of Canada/The Canadian Press)
R.B. Bennett
The Conservative prime minister of Canada from 1930-35 held Calgary seats in the House of Commons over a 25-year period from 1911 to 1935.
The wealthy lawyer, who was partners with James Lougheed, started his political career in regional politics in 1898, before Alberta was a province, until he was elected federally.
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