Pearl Calahasen

The Honourable
Pearl Calahasen
ECA
The Honourable Pearl Calahasen ECA
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Lesser Slave Lake
	In office; 20 March 1989 – 5 May 2015
Preceded by	Larry Shaben
Succeeded by	Danielle Larivee
Alberta Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
	In office; 15 March 2001 – 15 December 2006
Preceded by	Ministry Established
Succeeded by	Guy Boutilier
Alberta Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
	In office; 26 May 1999 – 15 March 2001
Succeeded by	Ministry Abolished
Alberta Minister without Portfolio in charge of Children's Services
	In office; 31 May 1996 – 26 May 1999
Succeeded by	Iris Evans
Personal details
Born	5 December 1952 (age 71); Grouard, Alberta
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Alma mater	University of Alberta; University of Oregon

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^[1] and raised in Grouard, Alberta.^[2] 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.^[2] She is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.^[3]

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.^[4] She won a plurality of votes, capturing 47.6% and defeating her nearest rival, Liberal Denise Wahlstrom, by nearly one thousand votes.^[4] 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).^[4]

At the time of her election in 1989, Calahasen was the first Métis woman elected to public office in Alberta.^[5]

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.^[6] She served in this capacity until 1999, when she was shuffled to the position of Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.^[7] In 2001 she was promoted to full minister, of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.^[8] Calahasen initially supported Lyle Oberg in the 2006 P.C. leadership election,^[9] but switched her endorsement to Ed Stelmach after Oberg dropped off the ballot;^[10] despite this support, she was not included in Stelmach's cabinet once he became premier in 2006.^[11]

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.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]^[15]

In 1995, Calahasen sponsored the Colin Chor Wee Chew Legal Articles Act, another private bill which didn't progress to second reading.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[17]^[18]

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.^[19] It passed with full opposition support.^[20]

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			6,829	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			9
Eligible electors / Turnout			12,074	56.63%	+17.38%
	Progressive Conservative hold		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			7,679	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			24
Eligible electors / Turnout			12,743	60.48%	+3.85%
	Progressive Conservative hold		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			5,594	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			23
Eligible electors / Turnout			13,368	42.09%	-18.39%
	Progressive Conservative hold		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			6,427	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			47
Eligible electors / Turnout			14,185	45.64%	+3.55%
	Progressive Conservative hold		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			6,010	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			57
Eligible electors / Turnout			19,259	31.50%	-14.14%
	Progressive Conservative hold		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			5,192	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			43
Eligible electors / Turnout			20,310	25.78%	-5.72%
	Progressive Conservative hold		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			7,222	100.00%
Rejected, spoiled and declined			50
Eligible electors / Turnout			18,723	38.84%	+13.06%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-27.95%
Source(s) "Electoral Division Results: Lesser Slave Lake".

2015 general election

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

References

^ Alberta Teachers' Association (October 1989). A Guide to Alberta's 22nd Legislature.
^ ^a ^b "Pearl Calahasen's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography". Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Metis Dictionary of Biography" (PDF). Gabriel Dumont Institute. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Alberta's past election results". Retrieved 6 March 2008.
^ "National Aboriginal Achievement Awards biography of Pearl Calahasen". Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
^ "Alberta Teacher's Association account of the 1996 cabinet shuffle". Retrieved 14 April 2008. ^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Alberta Teachers' Association account of the 1999 cabinet shuffle". Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
^ "Legislative Reports (Alberta)". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 24 (2). Summer 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
^ "News and Comment, Turtle Island Native Network". Retrieved 15 April 2008.
^ "Artists for Dinning, MLA Pham for Morton". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
^ "Stelmach names smaller cabinet". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 5 June 1990. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011.
^ "The Wayback Machine has not archived that URL." (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 26 June 1990. Archived 17 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Bill Status Report for the 22nd Legislature - 2nd Session (1990)" (PDF). Retrieved 15 April 2008.
^ "Bill Status Report for the 23rd Legislature - 3rd Session (1995)" (PDF). Retrieved 15 April 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 11 April 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 26 April 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 6 March 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2014.
^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 18 April 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2014.

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography of Pearl Calahasen

Cabinet posts (3)
Alberta provincial government of Ralph Klein
Predecessor	Office	Successor
	Minister without portfolio responsible for Children's Services 1996–1999 Iris Evans was given the title "Minister of Children's Services" rather than being considered a minister without portfolio.	Iris Evans
	Associate Minister of Aboriginal Affairs 1999–2001	Position abolished
New portfolio	Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development 2001–2006	Guy Boutilier