Betty Unger

Betty E. Unger (born August 21, 1943) is a Canadian politician and a former member of the Senate of Canada, from Alberta, Canada from January 2012 until her retirement in August 2018 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.

The Honourable Betty E. Unger
Senator from Alberta
In office January 6, 2012 – August 21, 2018
Nominated by	Stephen Harper
Appointed by	David Johnston
Personal details
Born	(1943-08-21) August 21, 1943 (age 81) Sexsmith, Alberta, Canada[1]
Political party	Conservative Party of Canada
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta Canadian Alliance (2000)

Political career

In 2000 Unger ran for the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate for the Canadian Alliance in Edmonton West, losing a close contest to Liberal Cabinet Minister Anne McLellan. The race was so close that the media prematurely declared a Canadian Alliance victory on election night.

In 2004 she ran as a candidate in the 2004 Alberta senate nominee election. She finished a close second place behind Bert Brown. She is the first Albertan woman to be elected a senator-in-waiting. On January 6, 2012, she was appointed to the Senate on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper by Governor General David Johnston.^[2]

Electoral record

2004 Alberta Senate nominee election
	Candidate	Party	Votes #	Votes %	Ballots %	Elected	Appointed
	Bert Brown	Progressive Conservative	312,041	14.3%	43.7%	Y	July 10, 2007
	Betty Unger	Progressive Conservative	311,964	14.3%	43.6%	Y	January 6, 2012
	Cliff Breitkreuz	Progressive Conservative	241,306	11.1%	33.8%	Y	Term ended March 26, 2012
	Link Byfield	Independent	238,751	11.0%	33.4%	Y	Resigned November 2010[3]
	Jim Silye	Progressive Conservative	217,857	10.0%	30.5%
	David Usherwood	Progressive Conservative	193,056	8.9%	27.0%
	Michael Roth	Alberta Alliance	176,339	8.1%	24.7%
	Vance Gough	Alberta Alliance	167,770	7.7%	23.5%
	Tom Sindlinger	Independent	161,082	7.4%	22.5%
	Gary Horan	Alberta Alliance	156,175	7.2%	21.9%

2000 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Anne McLellan	21,978	44.24%	–	$65,989
	Alliance	Betty Unger	21,245	42.76%	–	$66,378
	Progressive Conservative	Rory J. Koopmans	3,009	6.05%	–	$5,622
	New Democratic	Richard D. Vanderberg	2,895	5.82%	–	$10,850
	Canadian Action	Dan Parker	354	0.71%	–	$1,157
	Marxist–Leninist	Peggy Morton	194	0.39%	–
Total valid votes			49,675	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			169	0.34%
Turnout			49,844	56.29%