Donald Ross Getty (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian athlete, businessman, and politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992.
Before entering politics, Getty had been a quarterback for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. He passed for more than eight thousand yards over his ten-year career. A member of the Progressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister in the government of Peter Lougheed before leaving politics for the private sector in 1979. He returned to politics six years later to enter the Progressive Conservative leadership contest resulting from Lougheed's retirement. He defeated two other candidates, and became Premier November 1, 1985.
As Premier, Getty was faced with an economic slowdown and falling energy prices, which hit Alberta's petroleum-dominated economy hard. Faced with mounting government deficits and increasing unemployment, he cut social spending and intervened with government money to prevent businesses from failing. Several of these interventions backfired in high-profile fashion, failing at their intended objective and costing scarce public funds as well. While some analysts argue that Getty's fiscal program laid the groundwork for Ralph Klein's later balancing of the provincial budget, on Getty's departure from office the government's debt had reached $11 billion, setting the stage for his successor to characterize the Getty years as an era of wasteful and excessive spending.
His efforts at strengthening Alberta's presence in Canada initially appeared more successful, as he won the agreement of Canada's other first ministers in including elements of Senate reform in the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords, but these efforts came to naught when both accords were rejected—the second by the Canadian public, including a majority of Albertans. Getty was also facing political problems within Alberta, including a defeat in his home riding of Edmonton-Whitemud in the 1989 election (leading to a successful by-election in Stettler, vacated by a PC MLA) and leadership machinations from some of his own ministers. In light of this, he resigned the Premiership in 1992. The same year, Getty was put on the Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Fame.
Early life
Don Getty was born on August 30, 1933, in Westmount, Quebec, the son of Beatrice Lillian (Hampton) Getty (1910–1973) and Charles Ross Getty (1909–1974). His father had dropped out of McGill University's medical school due to the Great Depression and worked a variety of jobs—sometimes more than one at a time—to support his wife, three sons, and two daughters. Getty's childhood was spent in Verdun, Toronto, Ottawa, London, and Agincourt, sharing a three-room apartment with his seven-member family in the last. Returning for London in time for high school, he became an accomplished athlete (drinking eggnog to gain enough weight to play football) and was elected students' council president. Sports were his passion, and he was an especially great fan of the Montreal Canadiens and of Toronto Argonauts running back Royal Copeland.
Football
thumb|Getty after winning the [[44th Grey Cup in 1956]]
After graduating, Getty enrolled to study business administration at the University of Western Ontario, where he became a football star and a member of The Kappa Alpha Society. He quarterbacked the Western Ontario Mustangs to Eastern Collegiate Union Championships in 1954 and 1955, and was awarded the Claude Brown Memorial Trophy as the outstanding athlete at UWO in 1955. He also played basketball, and was part of championship teams in that sport in 1952, 1953, and 1954. A week after 1955 graduation, Getty married Margaret Mitchell, his high school sweetheart. The Edmonton Eskimos had offered Getty a professional contract, so the newlyweds drove out west in an old blue Buick.
MLA and cabinet minister
In 1965, Getty was approached by fellow Eskimos veteran and Progressive Conservative leader Peter Lougheed to run in the 1967 provincial election. Four years later, in the 1971 election, Getty was re-elected by more than 3,500 votes in the new riding of Edmonton-Whitemud and was appointed Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs in the new Lougheed majority government.
Budget deficit
After Getty won the party leadership, Lougheed told him to expect a budget deficit of $2.5 billion in his first year in office, Even so, Getty entered the premiership with no public debt and left with the public debt at $11 billion.
Economic intervention
Getty's government was faced with a combination of a general economic malaise and falling oil prices.
In 1991, Getty's Progressive Conservatives formally severed ties with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, which was becoming increasingly unpopular under Mulroney. Lisac credits him for knowing when to intervene and when not to,
Although Getty governed with fairly large majorities during his tenure, they were nowhere near as large as the ones Lougheed enjoyed. His first election as premier saw the return of the provincial Liberals to the legislature after being shut out for 15 years. That same election saw the Alberta NDP pick up 16 seats in the legislature. In contrast, during his last two terms, Lougheed never faced more than six opposition MLAs in total.
Decline and retirement
Getty called the 1989 election less than three years into his 1986 mandate to take advantage of the economic optimism prevalent in the province, partly as a result of the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. and stating that he had become Premier at a time of "uncontrolled spending". Given Klein's aggressive spending cuts, which shaped the political climate of Alberta for much of the 1990s, Getty's legacy with respect to public finances has been criticized. However, Kevin Taft, writing four years before entering politics, challenged this view, asserting that Getty was running "the tightest government in Canada". Besides its management of the deficit, Getty's government is remembered for the creation of Family Day. For the most part, however, Getty dropped quickly from the public view and public memory. Eskimos coach Pop Ivy surprised many observers when he started Getty at quarterback in the third game of the 1956 western final (which was a three-game series at the time) during the 44th Grey Cup, with Parker at running back. However, it bore results as Parker tied the record for most touchdowns scored in a Grey Cup game, at three. Getty also handed the ball to Johnny Bright for two touchdowns and scored two himself on quarterback keeps from the one-yard line, as the Eskimos won their third consecutive championship over the Montreal Alouettes by a score of 50–27.
Career statistics
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After years of declining health, Getty died from heart failure at a hospital in Edmonton, on February 26, 2016, at age 82.
Honours
He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada on 21 October 1998. He was appointed as a Member of the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1999. He received the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992, the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
In 2012 he was inducted into the London Sports Hall of Fame in London, Ontario, in recognition of his achievements in Canadian football.
On 19 November 2013 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Alberta.
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{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|- style="background:silver; text-align:center;"
|Ribbon || Description || Notes
|-
|40px || Order of Canada (OC) ||
- Officer 21 October 1998.
|-
|40px || Alberta Order of Excellence (AOE) ||
- 1999
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal ||
- 1977
- Canadian version of this medal
|-
|40px || 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal ||
- 1992
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ||
- 2002
- Canadian version of this medal
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal ||
- 2012
- Canadian version of this medal
|}
Electoral record
As party leader
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=10|1989 Alberta provincial election
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"|Party
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Party leader
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|# of<br />candidates
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Seats
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Popular vote
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| style="text-align:center;"|1986
| style="text-align:center;"|1989
| style="text-align:center;"|% Change
| style="text-align:center;"|#
| style="text-align:center;"|%
| style="text-align:center;"|% Change
|-
| Progressive Conservative
| Don Getty
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| 61
|align="right"| 59
|align="right"| -3.3%
|align="right"| 367,244
|align="right"| 44.29%
|align="right"| -7.11%
| New Democrats
| Ray Martin
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| 16
|align="right"| 16
|align="right"| 0%
|align="right"| 217,972
|align="right"| 26.29%
|align="right"| -2.93%
| Liberal
| Laurence Decore
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| 4
|align="right"| 8
|align="right"| +100%
|align="right"| 237,787
|align="right"| 28.68%
|align="right"| +16.46%
| Social Credit
| Harvey Yuill
|align="right"| 6
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| 3,939
|align="right"| 0.47%
|align="right"| *
| Communist
| Norman Brudy
|align="right"| 2
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 85
|align="right"| 0.01%
|align="right"| -0.02%
| colspan=2|Independent
|align="right"| 10
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 2,162
|align="right"| 0.26%
|align="right"| -0.60%
|-
| colspan=3|Total
|align="right"|267
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 829,189
|align="right"| 100%
!
|-
!colspan=10|1986 Alberta provincial election
|- style="background:#ccc;"
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"|Party
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|Party leader
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;"|# of<br />candidates
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Seats
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|Popular vote
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| style="text-align:center;"|1982
| style="text-align:center;"|1986
| style="text-align:center;"|% Change
| style="text-align:center;"|#
| style="text-align:center;"|%
| style="text-align:center;"|% Change
| Progressive Conservative
|Don Getty
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| 75
|align="right"| 61
|align="right"| -18.7%
|align="right"| 366,783
|align="right"| 51.40%
|align="right"| -10.88%
| New Democrats
|Ray Martin
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| 2
|align="right"| 16
|align="right"| +700%
|align="right"| 208,561
|align="right"| 29.22%
|align="right"| +10.47%
| Liberal
|Nicholas Taylor
|align="right"| 63
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 4
|align="right"|
|align="right"| 87,239
|align="right"| 12.22%
|align="right"| +10.41%
| Representative
|Raymond Speaker
|align="right"| 46
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| 2
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| 36,656
|align="right"| 5.15%
|align="right"| *
| Western Canada Concept
|Jack Ramsay
|align="right"|20
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 4,615
|align="right"| 0.65%
|align="right"| -11.11%
| Confederation of Regions
|Elmer Knutson
|align="right"| 6
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| 2,866
|align="right"| 0.40%
|align="right"| *
| Heritage
|Mike Pawlus
|align="right"| 6
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| *
|align="right"| 601
|align="right"| 0.08%
|align="right"| *
| Communist
|Norman Brudy
|align="right"| 6
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 199
|align="right"| 0.03%
|align="right"| -0.01%
| colspan=2|Independent
|align="right"| 20
|align="right"| 2
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| -100%
|align="right"| 6,134
|align="right"| 0.86%
|align="right"| -3.01%
|-
| colspan=3|Total
|align="right"|333
|align="right"| 79
|align="right"| 83
|align="right"| -
|align="right"| 713,654
|align="right"| 100%
|
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
As MLA
Party leadership contest
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=3|1985 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election
|-
! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;"|Second ballot
|-
! Candidate
! Votes
! Percentage
|-
|Don Getty
|align="right"|1,061
|align="right"|56.2%
|-
|Julian Koziak
|align="right"|827
|align="right"|43.8%
|-
! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;"|First ballot
|-
! Candidate
! Votes
! Percentage
|-
|Don Getty
|align="right"|913
|align="right"|48.4%
|-
|Julian Koziak
|align="right"|545
|align="right"|28.9%
|-
|Ron Ghitter
|align="right"|428
|align="right"|22.7%
|}