saw Bill Code acclaimed as the candidate in mid-September when sitting MLA Nicholas Taylor declined to contest the nomination, which would have required him to resign from the Legislature. Code described himself as centralist who saw the importance of a "strong central government" but also believed "regions should be strong". Code was a former Liberal Party candidate in the 1984 Canadian federal election, and served as the head of the inquiry into the Principal Group, a group of financial companies based in Edmonton which failed in 1987 resulting in losses to 67,000 people. The New Democratic Party of Alberta decided not to field a candidate in the Senate nominee election. Three independent candidates participated in the Senate nominee election. Former Progressive Conservative MLA Tom Sindlinger, an economist known for being expelled from the Progressive Conservative Party by Premier Peter Lougheed over his views on constitutional reform in 1980. The second independent, Kenneth Paproski a physician, and former Progressive Conservative MLA for 11 years. The third independent was Irricana newspaper publisher Gladys Taylor. Aftermath On October 17, 1989, one day after the Senate nominee election, Mulroney stated he was not bound to appoint a Senator by the results of the election, and instead intended to follow the process in the Meech Lake Accord. Getty responded to the comments by Mulroney by stating he would provide a list to the Prime Minister with a single name, Waters. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney had criticized the electoral process, although he nonetheless made a public announcement agreeing to advise Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn to appoint Waters to the Canadian Senate on June 11, 1990. Mulroney's decision came after pressure from Premier Getty and Reform Party Member of Parliament Deborah Grey. The agreement struck between Mulroney and Getty to appoint Waters to the Senate included a promise that Alberta would not hold another Senate nominee election for at least five years, and a newly established commission would study Senate reform. This agreement was despite the fact Alberta Senator Martha Bielish was set to hit mandatory retirement age in October 1990. Mulroney stated he would not appoint another elected Senator in Canada until after the commission had completed it's study on Senate reform. The appointment was celebrated by opposition parties including New Democratic MP Ross Harvey (Edmonton East), and Liberal Senator Joyce Fairbairn as the first Senator elected in a free and fair manner. Waters time in