128 Facts About Peter Lougheed

Edgar Peter Lougheed was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth.

Peter Lougheed attended the University of Alberta where he attained his Bachelor of Laws while playing football at the University of Alberta before joining the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union for two seasons in 1949 and 1950.

Peter Lougheed led the party back into the legislature in the 1967 provincial election as the leader of the Official Opposition, then elected as Premier with 49 of 75 seats in the 1971 election, defeating the Social Credit Party and ending the dynasty which had governed Alberta since 1935.

Peter Lougheed led the Tories again to victory in 1975,1979 and 1982, winning landslide majorities each time, with vote tallies of 57 to 63 percent of votes cast.

Peter Lougheed quarrelled with Pierre Trudeau's federal Liberal government over its 1980 introduction of the National Energy Program.

From 1996 to 2002, Peter Lougheed served as Chancellor of Queen's University.

Peter Lougheed sat on the boards of a variety of organizations and corporations.

Edgar Peter Lougheed was born on July 26,1928, in Calgary, Alberta, as the second biological son to Edgar Donald Lougheed a lawyer from Calgary, and Edna Alexandria Lougheed of Halifax.

Peter Lougheed attended several schools in Calgary, including Strathcona School for Boys, Earl Grey School, Rideau Park School, and the Central Collegiate Institute.

At the Central Collegiate Institute, Peter Lougheed founded the students' union and became its first president.

Peter Lougheed was elected as the president of the Students' Union in 1951, defeating Ivan Head and two other candidates.

Peter Lougheed served as the editor for the sports section for The Gateway, the University of Alberta student newspaper.

Peter Lougheed played for the University of Alberta Golden Bears and later for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union for two years, in 1949 and 1950.

On June 21,1952, Peter Lougheed married Jeanne "Jeannie" Estelle Rogers, whom he met while attending the University of Alberta.

Peter Lougheed was a staunch believer that people should avoid excessive specialization in favour of maximizing their diversity of experience, and he anticipated spending time in business, law, and politics.

In pursuit of business, Peter Lougheed accepted a position as a legal assistant with the Canadian construction firm, Mannix Corporation in June 1956, where he was eventually promoted to a corporate law and management position.

Later in 1962, Peter Lougheed left Mannix to establish an independent law practice, partnering with John Ballem who brought oil and gas experience and later adding Marvin McDill.

Peter Lougheed served on several boards including the Calgary Stampeders football club, and the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition board in 1963.

However, in the early 1960s, Peter Lougheed began to turn his attention toward politics.

Peter Lougheed sought to differentiate the provincial party from the federal Progressive Conservatives and felt voters should be well aware that he was the dominant figure for the party, and not the leader of the federal party.

Peter Lougheed believed that the time was right for a change in Alberta's political landscape.

Peter Lougheed thought that the Social Credit party was too rural and lacked assertiveness in intergovernmental relations.

Peter Lougheed resolved to win the leadership of the provincial Progressive Conservative party and to navigate it into government.

Peter Lougheed started to build a team of supporters who followed him throughout his career including Roy Deyell, Merv Leitch, and Rod McDaniel, who took prominent positions in the Progressive Conservative Party.

In March 1965, Peter Lougheed emerged victorious in the Progressive Conservative Party's leadership convention by defeating Duncan McKillop, a lawyer, who had previously run as the party's candidate for Calgary Queens Park in the 1963 election.

Peter Lougheed was nominated from the floor by Lou Hyndman and Charles Arthur Clark, father of future Prime Minister Joe Clark.

Peter Lougheed focused on building momentum for the next general election.

Peter Lougheed sought a public debate amongst the four party leaders, however as a long-time incumbent Manning was not willing to risk a debate which could not benefit him.

Peter Lougheed was elected to the legislature in Calgary-West garnering 62 per cent of the vote, and the Progressive Conservatives captured 26 per cent of the vote province-wide with five other successful candidates.

On February 15,1968, the 16th Alberta Legislature gathered and Peter Lougheed assumed his position as Leader of the Opposition, seated across the aisle from Premier Manning.

Each day the Peter Lougheed opposition prepared questions for only one government Minister, ignoring all other Ministers, with the target Minister changing each day.

Peter Lougheed's party introduced 21 bills, an unusually large number for an opposition party in a Westminster system.

Unlike Social Credit's use of radio for the less outgoing Strom, Peter Lougheed's focus was on television.

Peter Lougheed's team was careful with messaging, stressing the idea of the Progressive Conservative providing an "alternative" rather than "opposition".

Peter Lougheed himself won his district with 55.2 per cent of the vote in Calgary-West.

Many observers argue that the Progressive Conservative victory in 1971 was primarily a result of Peter Lougheed's charisma, combined with growing urbanization and an out-of-touch Social Credit government.

Lewis G Thomas argues that Lougheed evoked an image of the traditional elite with his business background which appealed to the province which was undergoing economic growth and prosperity brought on by non-renewable resources, which contrasted the old-fashioned image of the social credit government.

On September 10,1971, Peter Lougheed was sworn in as Alberta's tenth premier by Lieutenant Governor Grant MacEwan.

Peter Lougheed was set with a majority government in the legislature and a Social Credit opposition of 25 members, which would be the largest opposition Peter Lougheed would face in his 14-year career as Premier.

The Edmonton Report cover featured a caricature of Peter Lougheed following the victory accompanied by the title "Peter The Greatest".

Peter Lougheed utilized the constitutional debates and focus on Alberta's complete control over natural resources to gain increased support from the electorates.

Peter Lougheed focused his campaign primarily on provincial issues and refused to use the name of opposition parties, instead referring to them as "knockers", and his Progressive Conservatives as "doers".

Peter Lougheed declined any television or public debates, which led to Western Canada Concept leader Gordon Kesler to crash one of Lougheed's events to challenge the Premier to a debate.

Peter Lougheed pushed the same strategy for his candidates as previous years, requiring them to canvass door-to-door as if they were behind in the polls.

Peter Lougheed announced his retirement from politics in on June 26,1985.

Peter Lougheed's government made significant transformations to policy and finance through the Legislature.

Peter Lougheed consistently funded programs using special warrants authorized by cabinet and issued by the Lieutenant Governor, these warrants were not included in any budgets provided to the Legislature and were not made public until after the decision to spend was approved.

Peter Lougheed became creative to provide additional responsibility to members of his caucus, including mandatory caucus meetings which he chaired.

In 1975 he removed the requirement for caucus to operate by consensus, owing to the large number of members, instead a vote was called on all issues, and Peter Lougheed often required a two-thirds majority for important issues.

Peter Lougheed refused to use the term backbencher instead referring to caucus members as either "ministers" or "private members".

Peter Lougheed required legislators to seek caucus approval to miss caucus meetings or publicly dissent with a position of caucus, which required either a reason of conscience or a constituency issue.

Peter Lougheed wanted ministers to take on the role without any preconceived notions.

Peter Lougheed completely shuffled his Cabinet upon re-election in 1975 and 1979, with no minister retaining the same portfolio.

Peter Lougheed oversaw an expansion of the size of Cabinet, which assisted in providing regional representation.

Peter Lougheed, while serving as the leader of the opposition, accused the Social Credit government of not ensuring Albertans received fair value from the exploitation of public non-renewable natural resources.

Shortly after he was elected in 1972, Peter Lougheed announced major changes to the province's oil and gas royalty structures to increase Alberta's share of resource revenue and entrench the provincial government's control over those resources.

The previous Social Credit government established a maximum royalty rate at 16.66 per cent, and Peter Lougheed was willing to permit existing leases to continue until they expired and all new leases would be issued at a new higher rate.

Peter Lougheed used the export tax to claim force majeure and cancel all existing oil and gas leases, and reissued them under the new higher royalty rate.

Peter Lougheed negotiated the royalty to take a similar form to profit sharing and insisted the connecting pipeline be 80 per cent owned by the province, the site powerplant 50 per cent owned by the province, and an option to acquire a 20 per cent ownership stake in the Syncrude project at a later date.

Peter Lougheed sought greater provincial control over oil and gas resources and to reduce federal government incursions in natural resource development.

Peter Lougheed was successful in leveraged government investment in the place of private investment to achieve his goal.

Peter Lougheed fought the program vigorously in the courts and in public, where he actively stoked Alberta nationalism in a television address claiming the program would bring more "Ottawa" to the province.

Peter Lougheed finally decided to exercise this authority to force Trudeau to concede some measures of the Program, and Peter Lougheed announced on television a 60,000 barrel reduction to Alberta's production of crude oil to take place over nine months beginning in April 1981, and the suspension of two oil sands projects.

Peter Lougheed however pledged that he would not allow a national oil shortage to occur, and would suspend the cuts if a shortage occurred.

Peter Lougheed was forced to lower royalty rates through the Oil and Gas Activity Program and focused the government's efforts on natural gas diversification to stem falling revenues and a declining economy.

Critics have argued that Peter Lougheed undertook a hostile and polarizing campaign toward federal oil and gas policy which forced Albertans to choose between provincial and national citizenship.

Peter Lougheed's provincial-dominated view of Canadian federalism remains one of his most visible and longstanding impacts on Alberta and Canadian history.

Peter Lougheed sought greater authority over natural resources, Senate reform and reforms to the Supreme Court, while Bourassa and Levesque sought greater recognition of Quebec's culture and language.

Peter Lougheed publicly described the export tax as the most discriminatory action in Canadian history.

Peter Lougheed rejected the proposal and found an ally with Bourassa who submitted his own list of constitutional demands which expanded provincial jurisdiction.

Peter Lougheed brought forward a resolution in the Legislature stating Alberta would only support patriation if there were safeguards for provincial rights, no amendments would diminish provincial rights, and the federal government did not proceed unilaterally.

Peter Lougheed then boycotted parliamentary hearings on patriation and joined the other Premiers in warning Trudeau against patriation before the Supreme Court ruled on whether unilateral patriation was constitutional.

Peter Lougheed spearheaded the provincial push for a fresh approach to bilateral trade at the national level, which ultimately came to fruition with the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement.

Peter Lougheed was meticulous in planning his visits to Washington, ensuring every aspect was perfectly executed, as was characteristic of his Premiership.

In 1979, Peter Lougheed created the position of Minister of Foreign Trade and appointed Horst Schmid to the role.

Peter Lougheed believed that having his wife present would encourage foreign dignitaries to include their spouses, thereby altering the visit's atmosphere.

Additionally, in 1977, Peter Lougheed embarked on an ambitious official visit to the Middle East, Soviet Union and Switzerland.

Peter Lougheed credited Calgary architect Bill Milne and Highways and Transport Minister Clarence Copithorne with the idea for the new provincial park.

Peter Lougheed aimed to leverage the province's natural resource revenues to stimulate economic development and diversification in Alberta.

In 1974, the Peter Lougheed government purchased Pacific Western Airlines in part to assure the development of the North and Western Canada, and position Alberta as the gateway to the north.

In 1983, the Peter Lougheed government sold the airline for $37.7 million following a campaign promising to do so during the 1982 Alberta general election.

Late in his Premiership Peter Lougheed oversaw the early stages of the collapse of Principal Group, a consortium of Canadian financial companies headquartered in Edmonton.

Peter Lougheed inherited a province with a significant rural focus and a department of Culture that focused on pioneering agricultural events such as the Calgary Stampede, Klondike Days, and rural-based 4-H clubs.

Peter Lougheed's government established a number of foundations including for art, literary arts, and performing arts.

Fraser notes that the Peter Lougheed's advocated for the arts through being true patrons, constantly attending and participating in events across the province, both large and small.

Peter Lougheed transformed the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from a marginal party into a dynasty that governed Alberta for over 40 years.

Peter Lougheed was able to build a party from scratch bringing political and apolitical people under the Progressive Conservative tent that would not only bring himself into power, but result in greater support the federal party as well.

Peter Lougheed thought it was important that the public perceive the dominant figure in any provincial party be the leader, and not the leader of the federal equivalent.

Later during his Premiership, Peter Lougheed was viewed as a potential leader for the federal Progressive Conservatives.

Biographer David Wood describes several instances where federal organizers attempted to woo Peter Lougheed into leading the party.

Wood describes a meeting in Halifax in 1975 where Peter Lougheed attended the Nova Scotia provincial Progressive Conservative meeting which occurred simultaneously with a federal meeting.

Federal leader Robert Stanfield allegedly asked if Peter Lougheed was interested in taking over the leadership from him, and later "twenty or more" federal party members visited his hotel room urging Peter Lougheed to run.

Later Hal Jackman and other Ontario Conservatives led a movement to gain support in Ontario for a Peter Lougheed federal run, going so far as to send a five-foot Christmas card with 800 signatures on it and holding rallies in support.

Peter Lougheed was rumored to make the move to the federal party in the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership election, with growing party and media attention on his potential bid.

However, Peter Lougheed declined to make the jump to federal politics, admitting his age, inability to speak French fluently, and that he did not have the energy to campaign and learn French at the same time.

Peter Lougheed emphatically declined, owing to Davis' refusal to join other Premiers in 1981 on a united energy policy for Canada.

Peter Lougheed officially resigned his seat in the Alberta Legislature on February 27,1986, and returned to private life at the age of 57.

Peter Lougheed served as an honorary chair of the Calgary Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee.

Peter Lougheed was named to the board of directors of a number of Canadian businesses, and at one time held a seat on 17 different boards.

Peter Lougheed continued to support the development of Alberta's natural gas industry, becoming the chair of the Alberta Northeast Gas project which promoted the construction of the Iroquois Pipeline.

In 1996 Peter Lougheed was appointed Chancellor of Queen's University, succeeding Agnes Benidickson, a title he held until 2002.

Peter Lougheed made the decision on the advice of his two sons who attended Queen's.

In 2002 Peter Lougheed was appointed to the inaugural board of directors for the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

Peter Lougheed rarely commented on Alberta's public policy or the Progressive Conservative Party following his resignation as Premier.

Peter Lougheed did not endorse any candidate as his successor, nor did he endorse a candidate in the 1992 Progressive Conservative leadership race.

In 2006, Peter Lougheed's position changed after the resignation of Premier Ralph Klein, and he began to make occasional political statements and take interviews where he discussed public policy.

Late in the 2006 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Peter Lougheed endorsed the eventual runner-up Jim Dinning and in the 2011 leadership race, Peter Lougheed's endorsement of Alison Redford was seen by observers as a difference-maker for her successful campaign.

Peter Lougheed did make occasional statements in support or opposition of successor Progressive Conservative premiers.

In June 2006 interview with Edmonton Journal reporter Gordon Jaremko, Peter Lougheed criticized Alberta's royalty structure and called for a review of non-renewable resource royalties, which had been significantly reduced by the Klein government in the 1990s to spur development.

Peter Lougheed was a staunch supporter of the Charlottetown Accord and saw it as an opportunity for Quebec to sign onto the Constitution as a full partner.

Peter Lougheed advocated for a "citizen assembly" composed of elected representatives from each province to negotiate Constitutional reforms as a fallback measure if the Charlottetown Accord failed.

Peter Lougheed had long been suffering from a heart condition and high blood pressure which required a triple bypass surgery in 1995.

Jeanne and Peter Lougheed were often compared to Jackie and John F Kennedy as well as Margaret and Pierre Trudeau.

Peter Lougheed lamented "professional politicians" and sought candidates with professional experience in multiple industries.

Peter Lougheed understood the power of television, and was one of the first major Canadian politicians to build an electoral and government strategy around it.

Peter Lougheed advocated for a decentralization of the Government of Alberta, moving offices outside of Edmonton and Calgary to newly constructed provincial buildings in rural parts of the province.

Peter Lougheed implemented large-scale increases in provincial royalty rates for oil and gas production, and during the National Energy Program he reduced oil and gas production and paused two oil sands projects.

From an investment standpoint, Peter Lougheed did not believe in corporate welfare, and instead sought equity stakes in businesses the province supported resulting in large holdings.

In 1976, Peter Lougheed created the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund as a "rainy day" fund for oil and gas royalties.

Peter Lougheed placed a significant emphasis on diversification of the Alberta economy away from oil and gas revenues.

Peter Lougheed's advocacy extended beyond provincial borders and was a driving force for Canadian premiers during the constitutional repatriation debates of the late-1970s and early-1980s.

Peter Lougheed is credited for the amending formula and introduction of the notwithstanding clause in the Constitution Act, 1982.

Biographer Alan Tupper described Peter Lougheed as exemplifying Alberta's best qualities, and as the "principal architect of modern Alberta".

Former prime minister and justice minister during the constitutional debates Jean Chretien described Peter Lougheed as "he was tough, but he was a gentleman".

Peter Lougheed was ranked first amongst 21 of the 30 jurors.

In 1971 Peter Lougheed was named honorary chief "Thunderbird" by the Cree Nation, and later was named honorary chief "Crop Eared Wolf" by the Blood Nation.

Peter Lougheed was styled "The Honourable" for the duration of his membership in the Executive Council of Alberta from 1971 to 1986.

The new Calgary General Hospital constructed in 1988 was named the Peter Lougheed Centre, Lougheed received his end-of-life care and died in the hospital.