Calgary & Southern Alberta

A photo from Peter Lougheed's pamphlet for the 1971 election campaign.

Grandson of the wealthy Tory Senator James Lougheed, Edgar Peter Lougheed was born in Calgary in 1928 and educated at the University of Alberta and Harvard University. A lawyer and corporation executive, he became leader of the ineffectual Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in 1965 and, supported by friends and business associates in Calgary, he led it to power in 1971. He won re-election with huge majorities until he retired in 1986. As premier, Lougheed benefited enormously from the oil revenues generated in the province.

Senator James Lougheed, Peter's grandfather.

Lougheed’s main goals and strategies concerned the economy: to ensure a healthy petroleum industry, to acquire maximum profits from the industry for the provincial government, to expand industrialisation, and to promote economic diversification. In 1976, in order to promote diversification and to deal with embarrassingly high government surpluses, Lougheed established the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. With the strong support of the province, he fought bitterly with the federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau over oil policies, especially the National Energy Programme and the Constitution.