Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 19/05) - Ralph Klein will have new place to plant his keister thanks to the Northwest Territories.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Alberta, premier Joe Handley presented the conservative leader with a century-old chair once warmed by Liberal Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier.

Historians believe Laurier used the chair during meetings at Edmonton's Strathcona Hotel in 1905 that gave birth to what would become the only debt-free province in Canada.

"We would like to give (the chair) back to you in the hope you will cherish it," Handley said last week during a meeting of provincial premiers in Banff.

"Despite the fact, premier, that it was a Liberal bottom that sat in the chair."

The priministerial seat has been the property of the Northwest Territories for nearly 100 years Handley said, though how it travelled from the Alberta capital to Yellowknife - where it was stored at the Prince of Whales Heritage Centre - remains a mystery.

"That is something I would like to find out," Handley said after the presentation.

"Premier Klein also wants some more information."

Alberta was carved from the Northwest Territories - which then covered most of western and northern Canada - in 1905.

The province was home to about 75,000 people at the time; the population has since ballooned to 2.9 million.

Handley used the celebration to push for more autonomy for the territories.

"Who knows, Premier, we may one day ask to borrow it back for just such an occasion," Handley told Klein.

The chair will be stored at the Royal Alberta Museum, Handley said.