efforts to succeed Jean Chrétien as Liberal Party leader, and was elected to the Manitoba Liberal Party's executive vice-presidency in 2001 on a "Rock slate" (Winnipeg Free Press, 2 December 2001). When Rock announced that he would not campaign for the party leadership, Gill declared his support for Paul Martin (WFP, 2 March 2003). He received 5,752 votes (21.11%) in 2006, finishing second against New Democratic Party incumbent Judy Wasylycia-Leis. Alberta Mike Swanson (Calgary Southwest) Swanson was raised in Claresholm, Alberta, and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta in 1982. He has practised law in Edmonton, Calgary and other Alberta communities, and is now a partner in the firm Beaumont Church LLP, working in civil and criminal litigation and agricultural law. He also operates a farm and ranch that his family has owned since 1902. He was forty-eight years old at the time of the election. Swanson's family has long-standing Liberal roots in Alberta (Globe and Mail, 29 December 2005). He received 6,553 votes (11.41%), finishing second against Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper, who became Prime Minister as a result of that federal election. Footnotes 2006