Strong and Free: My Journey in Alberta Politics

Ted Morton has spent 30 years in Alberta politics. He was elected as a Reform Party senator-in-waiting in the 1998 Alberta Senate election. In 2001, Stockwell Day appointed him as Parliamentary Director of Policy and Research for the federal Canadian Alliance Party in Ottawa. From 2004-2012, Ted represented Foothills-Rocky View in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. During these years, he also served in cabinet as Minister of Finance, Minister of Energy, and Minister of Sustainable Resources Development. In 2006 and again in 2011, Morton ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives.

In Strong and Free, Ted Morton shares the lessons learned from this journey, both his successes and his disappointments. Informed by his background as professor of political science, Morton recounts his early involvement with Preston Manning and the Reform Party, his friendship with Stephen Harper, and the infamous Alberta Agenda or Firewall Letter of 2001. He explains how the Progressive Conservative Party's flawed leadership selection process eroded party support, and how the PC's refusal to acknowledge and accommodate the growth of Albertans' support for the federal Reform Party led to vote splitting with the Wild Rose Party and the end of the PC dynasty in 2015.

Openly discussing his conservative ideological principles and goals, Morton provides an account of thirty years of Alberta politics as seen from the inside by someone who reached for the top--and almost made it. Strong and Free argues that an independent, prosperous Alberta makes a strong and prosperous Canada. Ted Morton has spent thirty years fighting for both.

With contributions by: Jaqi Allan, Jon K. Amundson, Carol Arthurs, Nicole Aubé, Nora Babin, Anne Barnfield, Stan Bird, M. A. Suzie Bisson, Shannon D. Boyce, Jeff Chang, Brian Chartier, Ivana Djuraskovic, Michelle Arlene Drefs, E. Aiofe Freeman-Cruz, Joaquín Gaete-Silva, Janel Gauthier, Sybil Geldart, Shelley L . Goodwin, Paulette Hunter, Rebecca Lalonde, Jessica Lambert, Toupey Luft, Lisa MacNaughton-Doucet, Linda M. McMullen, Judi L. Malone, Annik Mossière, Heather C. Power, Mahdi Qasqas, Marc Ross, Randi L. Sager, Inés Sametband, Meadow Schroeder, Dalal Shaheen, Carole Sinclair, Nan Stevens, Donald W. Stewart, Fern Stockdale, Kim Thomas, Nicole Vath, Karen White, Barry Wiser, and Michael Lee Zwiers.

M. A. Suzie Bisson is a Canadian military veteran and registered counselling psychologist who practices in a solo private clinic in Alberta. She devotes her time to providing mental health services to people of all ages who struggle with the impact of trauma.

Carole Sinclair is an independent scholar and a retired clinical child psychologist with over forty years' experience in the field. She is a member and former chair of the Canadian Psychological Association Committee on Ethics, and a key contributor to the development of the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists.

Ivana Djuraskovic is a registered counselling psychologist who practices in both public and private sectors and teaches graduate level courses at two universities. She has presented at national and international conferences, and has published book chapters and scientific journal articles.