Throughout his career Ted Morton has fought for conservative principles of smaller government, lower taxes, a strong military, family values, freedom of conscience and religion, property rights, respect for hunters and fishermen, democratic reform, and a Triple “E” Senate.

In the 1990s Ted Morton launched the “Defend the West” campaign which brought together western conservatives who opposed the long gun registry, the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly and the Kyoto Protocol. The blue and yellow bumper stickers Ted printed for this campaign can still be seen on the back of cars and trucks across the prairies today.

Along with Stephen Harper, Ted Morton was a co-author of the Alberta Agenda letter which proposed a stronger Alberta within a united Canada. It called on the Alberta government to reassert it's constitutional powers and take more direct control of its own future.

In 1998 Ted Morton was elected in a province-wide vote to represent Albertans as a Reform Party senator-in-waiting. Ted used his position as a senator-in-waiting to defend Alberta and champion democratic reform despite the fact that the Chretien Liberal government ignored Albertans’ democratic process and refused to appoint Ted to the Senate.

After his election as a Progressive Conservative member of the Alberta Legislature in 2004 Ted Morton proposed legislation to protect pastors' and priests' freedom of conscience rights. As minister of Sustainable Resource Development he introduced an online licensing system and community for fishing and hunting, expanded youth hunting opportunities and introduced Provincial Hunting Day and Waterfowl Heritage Days.

Ted Morton is a proud Albertan who has served the province in a variety of capacities for 30 years.

Background
First elected to the Alberta Legislature in November 2004, Ted is currently serving his second term as Progressive Conservative MLA for the constituency of Foothills-Rocky View.

On January 27, 2011 Ted resigned as Minister of Finance and Enterprise to seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta.

As Minister of Finance and Enterprise, Ted pushed for a return to responsible budgeting and a new, long-term fiscal and savings strategy for Alberta to ensure the province remains in strong fiscal shape for the benefit of Albertans, today and tomorrow.  Ted is a strong advocate for Alberta, championing the province as a global economic leader and seeking fair treatment by the federal government. Along with his counterpart in Quebec, he also led the opposition to the creation of a federal securities regulator.

From December, 2006 to January, 2010, Ted served as Minister of Sustainable Resource Development (SRD). His record as SRD Minister was one of vision and competent, innovative leadership.

He spearheaded the development of Alberta’s Land-use Framework and its implementing legislation, the Alberta Land Stewardship Act. The Land-use Framework is a forward thinking initiative that will allow Albertans to responsibly plan for the future, balancing economic, environmental, and social interests through the creation of regional plans based on the province’s watersheds. The regional plans will position Alberta for future growth, enhancing certainty around planning, decision-making, and regulations. Key guiding principles of the policy and legislation included respect for local decision-making and protection of property rights. The entire process is based on significant public consultation and input from Albertans.

Ted was also a strong supporter of healthy, sustainable forests and a viable forest industry, focusing on forest industry competitiveness and protecting Alberta’s forests from the spread of the mountain pine beetle.

As a lifelong outdoorsman, Ted’s passion showed during his time in SRD.  His numerous stewardship initiatives included the introduction of an online licensing system and community website for fishing and hunting, expanded youth hunting opportunities and the introduction of an official Provincial Hunting Day and Waterfowl Heritage Days. He also oversaw the opening of the Bow Habitat Station, an aquatic ecosystem interpretive centre that promotes the environmental stewardship to youth.

As a candidate in 2006 for PC leadership, Ted finished second on the first ballot making it into the run-off of top three contestants in a field of eight.

Over the past two decades, Ted has worked with some of Alberta’s most effective leaders – Stephen Harper, Ralph Klein, Stockwell Day, and Preston Manning.  Prior to his election as MLA, Ted was actively involved in politics. In 1998, Ted was elected as a Senator-in-waiting in Alberta’s second-ever Senate election. He also served as Parliamentary Director of Policy and Research for the Official Opposition (Canadian Alliance Party) in Ottawa in 2001.

Ted had a distinguished career as a university professor. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Colorado College (1971), and his Master of Arts (1975) and PhD (1981) in political economy from the University of Toronto. From 1981 to 2004, he was a professor at the University of Calgary and a visiting professor at institutions around the world, including Quebec, France, the United States, and Australia.

Ted has received several career awards and distinctions, including Phi Beta Kappa (1971); Best Nonfiction Book of 1992, Alberta Writers Guild; the Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights (1995); and runner-up for the Donner book prize for best book on Canadian public policy (2000). He has published numerous scholarly articles as well as authored and co-authored several books. In 2001, he was recognized in Maclean’s Guide to Canadian Universities as one of the most popular professors at the University of Calgary – an honour Ted is particularly proud of.

Ted is an Albertan by choice – he, his wife Bambi, and their three children loaded up a U-Haul and came to Alberta 30 years ago. What was originally supposed to be a three year assignment at the University of Calgary became a permanent move to Alberta for the Morton family. In his spare time, Ted enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening, cooking, and skiing.

Click "play" below to hear Ted's maiden speech as a newly elected MLA in 2004