# Paul Chalifoux > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paul_Chalifoux > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paul_Chalifoux.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chalifoux > Source revision: 1325896487 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{BLP sources|date=April 2016}} {{Short description|Canadian politician}} '''Paul Chalifoux''' is a politician and the former [mayor](/source/mayor) of [St. Albert, Alberta](/source/St._Albert%2C_Alberta). He served two terms as mayor, first one having taken place from 1998 to 2001 and the second from 2004 to 2007. == Career == Chalifoux's first attempt at winning elected office was in the [1968 federal election](/source/1968_Canadian_federal_election), when he ran for the [Liberal Party of Canada](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Canada) in the riding of [Pembina](/source/Pembina_(Alberta_electoral_district)). He finished a distant second to [Progressive Conservative](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Canada) [Jack Bigg](/source/Jack_Bigg). Before serving as mayor, Chalifoux was a [city alderman](/source/St._Albert_City_Council) and the assistant principal of [St. Albert Catholic High School](/source/St._Albert_Catholic_High_School).{{Cite web |date=2017-08-10 |title=Forslag til flagg - stortinget.no |url=https://www.stortinget.no/no/Stortinget-og-demokratiet/Historikk/Historisk-dokumentasjon/Flaggloven/Forslag-til-flagg/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810211831/https://www.stortinget.no/no/Stortinget-og-demokratiet/Historikk/Historisk-dokumentasjon/Flaggloven/Forslag-til-flagg/ |archive-date=2017-08-10 }} In 1998, he defeated three-term incumbent [Anita Ratchinsky](/source/Anita_Ratchinsky) in an election whose major issue was the alignment of the proposed [West Regional Road](/source/Ray_Gibbon_Drive), which became Ray Gibbon Drive. Ratchinsky favoured a road that would bypass the developed portion of the city to the west by crossing the [Sturgeon River](/source/Sturgeon_River_(Alberta)) close to the mouth of [Big Lake](/source/Big_Lake%2C_Alberta), while Chalifoux supported an alignment that would cross the river further upstream.{{Citation needed|date=April 2016}} During Chalifoux's time as mayor, the road remained St. Albert's most contentious political issue.{{Cite web |last=Henderson |first=Jennifer |date=2019-08-21 |title=The long road to Ray Gibbon |url=https://www.stalbertgazette.com/local-news/the-long-road-to-ray-gibbon-1640215 |access-date=2025-12-05 |website=St. Albert Gazette |language=en}} City Council approved Chalifoux's preferred alignment, by this time named [Ray Gibbon Drive](/source/Ray_Gibbon_Drive). In the 2001 election, Chalifoux was defeated by former mayor [Dr. Richard Plain](/source/Richard_Plain), who favoured the same alignment as Ratchinsky and proposed a plebiscite on the subject. Chalifoux challenged Plain again in 2004, campaigning this time on issues other than the road, saying that "it [was] time to move on".{{cite web|url=https://stalbertelection.blogspot.com/2004_09_01_stalbertelection_archive.html#chalifoux|title=St. Albert Election Recap|publisher=}} He won narrowly. On May 22, 2007, Chalifoux announced that he would not seek re-election (and, in so doing, provoke a third consecutive electoral battle against Plain) and would instead seek the nomination for the [Progressive Conservatives](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Association_of_Alberta) in the next provincial election.{{cite web |url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2007/0523/top1.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-05-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043924/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2007/0523/top1.htm |archivedate=2007-09-27 }} Some perceived this as ironic given his past candidacy for the federal Liberals and given that he had inadvertently implicated the City of St. Albert in a minor scandal when he attended a fundraiser for the [Alberta Liberal Party](/source/Alberta_Liberal_Party) at the city's expense, which violated provincial law.{{cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=d65267e3-08a8-4d60-8d87-5bfcc1894198|title=No charges in donations probes|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025092656/http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=d65267e3-08a8-4d60-8d87-5bfcc1894198|archivedate=2012-10-25}} Chalifoux acknowledges that he has been a member of the Liberal Party at both the provincial and federal levels at various points in his life, but claims that it has been more than a decade since his last provincial membership expired.{{cite web |url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2007/0530/top1.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-05-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043903/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2007/0530/top1.htm |archivedate=2007-09-27 }} He was defeated on the first ballot by former aldermanic colleague [Ken Allred](/source/Ken_Allred).{{cite web |url=http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2007/0630/top2.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-07-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043910/http://www.stalbertgazette.com/news/2007/0630/top2.htm |archivedate=2007-09-27 }} Chalifoux is a member of the [Rotary Club](/source/Rotary_Club).[http://www.stalbert.ca/admin/Contentx/default.cfm?PageId=1310 City of St. Albert] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927120336/http://www.stalbert.ca/admin/Contentx/default.cfm?PageId=1310 |date=2007-09-27 }} ==References== {{reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box|title=[Mayor of St. Albert](/source/List_of_St._Albert_mayors)| before=[Anita Ratchinsky](/source/Anita_Ratchinsky)| after=[Richard Plain](/source/Richard_Plain)| years=1998-2001}} {{succession box|title=[Mayor of St. Albert](/source/List_of_St._Albert_mayors)| before=[Richard Plain](/source/Richard_Plain)| after=''Incumbent''| years=2004-present}} {{s-end}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalifoux, Paul}} Category:Living people Category:Mayors of St. Albert, Alberta Category:Franco-Albertan people Category:Canadian educators Category:Candidates in the 1968 Canadian federal election Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Category:20th-century mayors of places in Alberta Category:21st-century mayors of places in Alberta Category:Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paul Chalifoux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chalifoux) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Chalifoux?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.