Getty called the 1989 election less than three years into his 1986 mandate to take advantage of the economic optimism prevalent in the province, partly as a result of the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. While the P.C.s made spending promises including paving all of the province's secondary highways, the Liberals under new leader Laurence Decore stressed dealing with the deficit. The overall end result was respectable for the government, as it won a sixth term in government with a net loss of only two seats. However, Getty was defeated in his own riding by Liberal Percy Wickman. Brian C. Downey resigned his seat in the rural central Alberta riding of Stettler to allow Getty to run in a by-election, which he won handily. He built a home in the riding on Buffalo Lake, and was later accused of arranging for the lake to be risen so it would be better-suited for fishing (though Adair claimed that the arrangements had been in place since 1979, when he had been Minister of Recreation, Parks and Wildlife).