# 17th Alberta Legislature

The 17th Alberta Legislative Assembly was in session from March 2, 1972, to February 14, 1975, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 1971 Alberta general election held on August 30, 1971. The Legislature officially resumed on March 2, 1972, and continued until the fourth session was prorogued and dissolved on February 14, 1975, prior to the 1975 Alberta general election.
Alberta's seventeenth government was controlled by the majority Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta for the first time, led by Premier Peter Lougheed. The Official Opposition was led by former Premier Harry Strom of the Social Credit Party, and subsequently James Douglas Henderson and Robert Curtis Clark. The Speaker was Gerard Amerongen who would serve in the role until he was defeated in the 1986 Alberta general election.

## Fourth session

Energy policy came to the forefront near the end of the fourth session of the Legislature when on January 16 a joint press conference was held by the owners of Syncrude Canada Ltd., a joint venture company created to extract oil from the Athabasca oil sands seeking $1-billion in investment following the withdrawal of Atlantic Richfield or risk the failure of the venture. Debate over the proposed investment Alberta's news with proponents noting the high costs of development, necessity for domestic oil supplies during the recent 1973 oil crisis, and the risk of stalling future development in the oil sands, while opponents felt the ultimatum was tantamount to blackmail. All provincial governments were provided the opportunity to invest in the agreement, and on February 3 the Governments of Ontario, Canada and Alberta met with Shell Oil and the original partners in the consortium. The Winnipeg Agreement was announced the next day, where the Government of Canada would invest $300-million for 15 per cent of Syncrude Canada Ltd., and the Government of Ontario would invest $100-million for 5 per cent equity, and Alberta would invest $200-million for convertible debenture and finance a $200-million power plant for the site. Representatives from Shell Oil stormed out of the meeting after an hour after the concession for a government-guaranteed base price for oil sands production was not provided. Liberal leader Nick Taylor and NDP leader Grant Notley were very critical of the agreement.

## Party standings after the 17th General Election

| Affiliation | Affiliation | Members |
| | Progressive Conservative | 49 |
| | Social Credit | 25 |
| | New Democratic | 1 |
| Total | Total | 75 |
* A party requires four seats to have official party status in the legislature. Parties with fewer than four seats are not entitled to party funding although their members will usually be permitted to sit together in the chamber.

## Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts.
17th Alberta Legislative Assembly :
| District | Member | Party | First elected/ previously elected |
| Athabasca | Frank Appleby | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Banff-Cochrane | Clarence Copithorne | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Barrhead | Hugh Horner | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Bonnyville | Donald Hansen | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Bow Valley | Fred Mandeville | Social Credit | 1967 |
| Calgary-Bow | Roy Wilson | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Calgary-Buffalo | Ron Ghitter | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Calgary-Currie | Fred Peacock | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Calgary-Elbow | David Russell | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Calgary-Egmont | Merv Leitch | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Calgary-Foothills | Len Werry | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Calgary-Foothills | Stewart McCrae (1973) | Progressive Conservative | 1973 |
| Calgary-Glenmore | Bill Dickie | Progressive Conservative | 1963 |
| Calgary-McCall | George Ho Lem | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Calgary-McKnight | Calvin Lee | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Calgary-Millican | Arthur J. Dixon | Social Credit | 1952 |
| Calgary-Mountain View | Albert Ludwig | Social Credit | 1959 |
| Calgary-North Hill | Roy Farran | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Calgary-West | Peter Lougheed | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Camrose | Gordon Stromberg | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Cardston | Edgar Hinman | Social Credit | 1952, 1971 |
| Clover Bar | Walt Buck | Social Credit | 1967 |
| Cypress | Harry Strom | Social Credit | 1955 |
| Drayton Valley | Rudolph Zander | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Drumheller | Gordon Taylor | Social Credit | 1940 |
| Drumheller | Gordon Taylor | Independent Social Credit | 1940 |
| Edmonton-Avonmore | Horst Schmid | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Belmont | Bert Hohol | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Beverly | Bill Diachuk | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Calder | Tom Chambers | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Centre | Gordon Miniely | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Glenora | Lou Hyndman | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Edmonton-Gold Bar | William Yurko | Progressive Conservative | 1969 |
| Edmonton-Highlands | David Thomas King | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Jasper Place | Leslie Young | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Kingsway | Kenneth Paproski | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Meadowlark | Gerard Amerongen | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Norwood | Catherine Chichak | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Ottewell | John Ashton | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Parkallen | Neil Crawford | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Strathcona | Julian Koziak | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Edmonton-Whitemud | Don Getty | Progressive Conservative | 1967 |
| Edson | Robert Dowling | Progressive Conservative | 1969 |
| Grande Prairie | Winston Backus | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Hanna-Oyen | Clinton French | Social Credit | 1959 |
| Highwood | Edward Benoit | Social Credit | 1963 |
| Innisfail | Clifford Doan | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Lac La Biche-McMurray | Damase Bouvier | Social Credit | 1968 |
| Lacombe | Jack Cookson | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Lesser Slave Lake | Dennis Barton | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Lethbridge-East | John Anderson | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Lethbridge-West | Richard Gruenwald | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Little Bow | Raymond Speaker | Social Credit | 1963 |
| Lloydminster | Bud Miller | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Macleod | Leighton Buckwell | Social Credit | 1967 |
| Medicine Hat-Redcliff | William Wyse | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Olds-Didsbury | Robert Curtis Clark | Social Credit | 1960 |
| Peace River | Al Adair | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Pincher Creek-Crowsnest | Charles Drain | Social Credit | 1967 |
| Ponoka | Don McCrimmon | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Red Deer | James Foster | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Redwater-Andrew | George Topolnisky | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Rocky Mountain House | Helen Hunley | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Sedgewick-Coronation | Ralph Sorenson | Social Credit | 1971 |
| Smoky River | Marvin Moore | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Spirit River-Fairview | Grant Notley | NDP | 1971 |
| St. Albert | Ernie Jamison | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| St. Paul | Mick Fluker | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Stettler | Jack Robertson | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Stettler | Graham Harle (1972) | Progressive Conservative | 1972 |
| Stony Plain | William Purdy | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Taber-Warner | Douglas Miller | Social Credit | 1967 |
| Three Hills | Allan Warrack | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Vegreville | John Batiuk | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |
| Vermilion-Viking | Ashley Cooper | Social Credit | 1959 |
| Wainwright | Henry Ruste | Social Credit | 1955 |
| Wetaskiwin-Leduc | James Henderson | Social Credit | 1963 |
| Wetaskiwin-Leduc | James Henderson | Independent | 1963 |
| Whitecourt | Peter Trynchy | Progressive Conservative | 1971 |

### Notes

* ↑ First elected as Independent
* ↑ First elected as Liberal