Between the 1988 and 1993 federal elections, two significant events helped to boost public awareness of Manning, the Reform Party, and the party's organizational capabilities. The first was a province wide election in Alberta to choose a candidate to be recommended to the Governor General by the federal government for appointment to the Canadian Senate. Reform put forward Stan Waters, a prominent Calgary businessman, war hero, and former Lieutenant-General and Commander of the Canadian Armed Forces. He and Manning campaigned vigorously across the province and on election day, October 16, 1989, Waters received slightly more than 620,000 votes (41.7 percent of the total) – the largest electoral mandate ever received by a single candidate for a Canadian parliamentary office. On June 11, 1990, Waters was reluctantly recommended for appointment to the Senate by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney where he (Waters) continued to campaign vigorously for Reform's "Triple-E Senate" – Elected, Equal, and Effective.