# Pearl Calahasen

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

Calahasen was born in 1952 and raised in Grouard, Alberta. 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. She is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.

## Political career
### Electoral record

Calahasen first sought election in the 1989 Alberta election, when she ran as the Progressive Conservative candidates in the riding of Lesser Slave Lake. She won a plurality of votes, capturing 47.6% and defeating her nearest rival, Liberal Denise Wahlstrom, by nearly one thousand votes. 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).
At the time of her election in 1989, Calahasen was the first Métis woman elected to public office in Alberta.

### Cabinet roles

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

### Legislative initiatives

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

#### As a backbencher

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. 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. 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.
In 1995, Calahasen sponsored the Colin Chor Wee Chew Legal Articles Act, another private bill which didn't progress to second reading. 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. 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.

#### As a minister

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. It passed with full opposition support.
In 2012, she became the longest-serving MLA in Alberta's history, surpassing the previous record held by Cornelia Wood.

## Election results
### 1989 general election

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 | Total | Total | 6,829 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 9 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 12,074 | 56.63% | +17.38% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 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

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 | Total | Total | 7,679 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 24 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 12,743 | 60.48% | +3.85% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 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

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 | Total | Total | 5,594 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 23 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 13,368 | 42.09% | -18.39% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 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

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 | Total | Total | 6,427 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 47 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 14,185 | 45.64% | +3.55% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +7.73% |
| Source(s) "Lesser Slave Lake Official Results 2001 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 27 March 2010. |||||||

### 2004 general election

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 | Total | Total | 6,010 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 57 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 19,259 | 31.50% | -14.14% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 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

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 | Total | Total | 5,192 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 43 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 20,310 | 25.78% | -5.72% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 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

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 | Total | Total | 7,222 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 50 |
| Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | Eligible electors / Turnout | 18,723 | 38.84% | +13.06% |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -27.95% |
| Source(s) "Electoral Division Results: Lesser Slave Lake". |||||||

### 2015 general election

vte2015 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 9,057 | 100.00% |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 50 |
| Eligible voters / turnout | Eligible voters / turnout | Eligible voters / turnout | 20,277 | 44.91% | +6.07% |
| | New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +32.29% |
| Source(s) "2015 Provincial General Election Results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2017. |||||||