13th Alberta Legislature

The 13th Alberta Legislative Assembly was in session from August 17, 1955, to May 9, 1959, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 1955 Alberta general election held on June 29, 1955. The Legislature officially resumed on August 17, 1955, and continued until the fifth session was prorogued on April 7, 1959, and dissolved on May 9, 1959, prior to the 1959 Alberta general election.^[1]

13th Alberta Legislature
Majority parliament
August 17, 1955 – May 9, 1959
Parliament leaders
Premier	Ernest Charles Manning May 31, 1943 – December 12, 1968
Cabinet	Manning cabinet
Leader of the Opposition	James Harper Prowse February 21, 1952 – April 15, 1958
	Grant MacEwan February 5, 1959 – April 17, 1959
Party caucuses
Government	Social Credit Party
Opposition	Alberta Liberal Party
Crossbench	Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
	Cooperative Commonwealth
Legislative Assembly
Speaker of the Assembly	Peter Dawson February 25, 1937 – March 24, 1963
Members	61 MLA seats
Sovereign
Monarch	Elizabeth II February 6, 1952 – September 8, 2022
Lieutenant Governor	Hon. John James Bowlen February 1, 1950 – December 16, 1959
Sessions
1st session August 17, 1955 – August 25, 1955
2nd session February 9, 1956 – March 29, 1956
3rd session February 14, 1957 – April 11, 1957
4th session February 28, 1958 – April 14, 1958
5th session February 5, 1959 – April 7, 1959
← 12th → 14th

Alberta's thirteenth government was controlled by the majority Social Credit Party for the sixth time, led by Premier Ernest Manning who would go on to be the longest serving Premier in Alberta history. The Official Opposition was led by James Harper Prowse a member of the Alberta Liberal Party until the fifth session when Grant MacEwan became the leader of the Official Opposition. The Speaker was Peter Dawson who would serve until his death during the 15th legislature on March 24, 1963.

Membership in the 13th Alberta Legislature

	District	Member	Party	First elected/ previously elected
	Acadia-Coronation	James Sims	Liberal	1955
	Alexandra	Anders Aalborg	Social Credit	1948
	Athabasca	Richard Hall	Liberal	1955
	Banff-Cochrane	Frank Gainer	Coalition	1955
	Bonnyville	Jake Josvanger	Liberal	1955
	Bow Valley-Empress	Bryce Stringam	Independent	1955
	Bruce	Earl Hardy	Social Credit	1948
	Calgary	Arthur Ryan Smith	Conservative	1955
		Hugh John MacDonald	Liberal	1948
		Frederick C. Colborne	Social Credit	1944
		Rose Wilkinson	Social Credit	1944
		Grant MacEwan	Liberal	1955
		Arthur J. Dixon	Social Credit	1952
		Ernest Watkins (1957)	Conservative	1957
	Camrose	Chester Sayers	Social Credit	1941
	Cardston	Edgar Hinman	Social Credit	1952
	Clover Bar	Floyd Baker	Social Credit	1935
	Cypress	Harry Strom	Social Credit	1955
	Didsbury	James Lawrence Owens	Social Credit	1955
	Drumheller	Gordon Taylor	Social Credit	1940
	Edmonton	Ernest Manning	Social Credit	1935
		James Harper Prowse	Liberal	1944
		Abe Miller	Liberal	1955
		Harold Tanner	Liberal	1952
		Joseph Donovan Ross	Social Credit	1952
		John Page	Conservative	1940, 1952
		Edgar Gerhart	Social Credit	1952
	Edson	Norman Willmore	Social Credit	1944
	Gleichen	George E. Bell	Social Credit	1944
	Grande Prairie	Ira McLaughlin	Social Credit	1944
	Grouard	Joseph Desfosses	Liberal	1951
	Hand Hills	Wallace Warren Cross	Social Credit	1935
	Lac La Biche	Michael Maccagno	Liberal	1955
	Lac Ste. Anne	John Mills	Liberal	1955
	Lacombe	Allen Patrick	Social Credit	1952
	Leduc	Ronald Ansley	Independent Social Credit	1935
	Lethbridge	John Landeryou	Social Credit	1944
	Little Bow	Peter Dawson	Social Credit	1935
	Macleod	James Hartley	Social Credit	1935
	Medicine Hat	Elizabeth Robinson	Social Credit	1953
	Okotoks-High River	Ross Ellis	Liberal and Conservative Coalition	1955
	Olds	Frederick Niddrie	Social Credit	1950
		Roderick Macleod (1959)	Social Credit	1959
	Peace River	William Gilliland	Social Credit	1944
	Pembina	Robin Jorgenson	Social Credit	1944
	Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	William Kovach	Social Credit	1948
	Ponoka	Glen Johnston	Social Credit	1952
	Red Deer	Cam Kirby	Conservative	1954
	Redwater	Alfred Macyk	Liberal	1955
	Rocky Mountain House	Alfred Hooke	Social Credit	1935
	Sedgewick	Jack Hillman	Social Credit	1952
	Spirit River	Adolph Fimrite	Social Credit	1952
	St. Albert	Arthur Soetaert	Liberal	1955
	St. Paul	Raymond Reierson	Social Credit	1952
	Stettler	John Clark	Social Credit	1952
		Galen Norris (1956)	Social Credit	1956
	Stony Plain	John McLaughlin	Liberal	1955
	Taber	Roy Lee	Social Credit	1940
	Vegreville	Stanley Ruzycki	Cooperative Commonwealth	1955
	Vermilion	Russell Whitson	Liberal	1955
	Wainwright	Henry Ruste	Social Credit	1955
	Warner	Leonard Halmrast	Social Credit	1945
	Wetaskiwin	John Wingblade	Social Credit	1935
	Willingdon	Nick Dushenski	Cooperative Commonwealth	1952

Notes:

Standings changes since the 13th general election

Affiliation		Members
	Social Credit	37
	Liberal	15
	Progressive Conservative	3
	Co-operative Commonwealth	2
	Liberal + Progressive Conservative1	1
	Coalition	1
	Independent Social Credit	1
Total		61

1. The candidate in Okotoks-High River was jointly nominated by the Progressive Conservative and Liberal parties.

Membership changes in the 13th Assembly
	Date	Name	District	Party	Reason
	June 29, 1955	See List of Members			Election day of the 13th Alberta general election
	June 3, 1956	John Clark	Stettler	Social Credit	Committed suicide after murdering seven people[2]
	November 15, 1956	Galen Norris	Stettler	Social Credit	Elected in a by-election
	1957	Arthur Smith	Calgary	Progressive Conservative	Vacated his seat to run in the 1957 federal election.
	October 2, 1957	Ernest Watkins	Calgary	Progressive Conservative	Elected in a by-election
	December 19, 1958	Frederick Niddrie	Olds	Social Credit	Died
	February 9, 1959	Roderick Macleod	Olds	Social Credit	Elected in a by-election