The Honourable Ken Kowalski | |
---|---|
11th Speaker of the Alberta Legislative Assembly | |
In office April 14, 1997 –May 23, 2012 | |
Preceded by | Stanley Schumacher |
Succeeded by | Gene Zwozdesky |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta | |
In office November 21,1979 –1993 | |
Preceded by | Hugh Horner |
Constituency | Barrhead |
In office 1993–2004 | |
Constituency | Barrhead-Westlock |
In office 2004–2012 | |
Succeeded by | Maureen Kubinec |
Constituency | Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock |
Personal details | |
Born | Kenneth Reginald Kowalski September 27,1945 Bonnyville,Alberta |
Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Kenneth Reginald Kowalski ECA (born September 27,1945) is a politician and former teacher from Alberta,Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,where he served from 1979 to 2012,sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus under five different Premiers.
Kowalski was the Speaker of the Assembly,and was first appointed to the Executive Council of Alberta by Premier Don Getty in 1986. He held five different cabinet portfolios,including that of Deputy Premier from 1992 to 1994.
Kenneth Reginald Kowalski was born in Bonnyville,Alberta on September 27,1945. He worked as a teacher at Barrhead Composite High School,and was a civil servant in the Alberta government in the 1970s.
Kowalski first ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in a by-election held in November 1979 in the electoral district of Barrhead to replace Hugh Horner. He ran against three other candidates including Alberta Liberal leader Nicholas Taylor. Kowalski just barely won the election with Taylor finishing a strong second. He took 38% of the popular vote to hold the seat for the Progressive Conservatives. [1]
Kowalski faced Taylor again in the 1982 general election. Kowalski held his seat by doubling his popular vote,while Taylor only saw a marginal increase. [2]
The 1986 election saw Kowalski re-elected by a wider margin than in 1982,with the collapse of the opposition vote. His popular vote went up by an insignificant amount. New Democrat candidate Larry McConnell finished a distant second. [3]
After the election Premier Don Getty appointed Kowalski to the Executive Council of Alberta as Minister of the Environment. On September 8,1988 Getty appointed him Minister of Career Development and Employment. In the 1989 general election,his popular vote in his district rose again as he defeated three other candidates including Social Credit leader Harvey Yuill. [4]
Getty moved Kowalski to his third cabinet portfolio,the Ministry of Public Works,Supply,and Services. He kept that portfolio when Ralph Klein became Premier in 1992 and also became Deputy Premier. He held both those portfolios going into the 1993 general election. The electoral district of Barrhead was redistributed and became Barrhead-Westlock. He won the new electoral district with his highest popular vote to date in the face of a strong challenge from Liberal candidate Dale Greig and four other candidates. [5]
Klein shuffled Kowalski to the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism after the election,and Kowalski also remained Deputy Premier. On September 15,1994 he became Government Leader in the legislature. Kowalski ran for his sixth term in office in the 1997 general election. For the first time in his career his popular decreased. He defeated three candidates including Greig and Yuill to keep his seat. [6]
Kowalski was elected Speaker of the Assembly on April 14,1997. He defeated Don Tannas and Glen Clegg on the second ballot to win the position. The speaker's election was the first to be held by secret ballot in the assembly. [7] In the 2001 general election,his popular vote rose significantly as he defeated three other candidates in a landslide. [8]
After the election he was acclaimed to his second term as Speaker. [9] He ran for his eighth term in office in the 2004 general election. His electoral district was again redistributed and he ran in the new electoral district of Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock. He won a slightly reduced popular vote,but still easily won the electoral district against four other candidates. [10]
Kowalski was acclaimed to his third term as Speaker. [9] He ran for his ninth term in the 2008 general election. He defeated four other candidates in a landslide to win the highest popular vote of his career. [11]
On April 14,2008,eleven years to the day after he won his first term as Speaker,Kowalski defeated Laurie Blakeman to remain in that position. [12] He retired at the 2012 election.
Wayne Cao is a Canadian politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,where he represented the district of Calgary-Fort as a Progressive Conservative. He was first elected in the 1997 provincial election and was re-elected four times. He is perhaps best known as the sponsor of the legislation that led to the enshrining of Alberta. In April 2008,he elected as the Legislature's Deputy Speaker and Chair of Committees and served in that position for the 27th Legislature. Mr. Cao also served as a member of the Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship.
Lesser Slave Lake is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,Canada. It has existed since 1971 and is mandated to return a single member using the first past the post method of voting.
Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock was a provincial electoral district in Alberta,Canada,mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 2004 to 2019.
Athabasca-Redwater was a provincial electoral district in Alberta,Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 2004 to 2012.
Eric Linkord Byfield was a Canadian news columnist,author,and politician.
Roderick Neil Brown,Q.C. is a lawyer,biologist,Canadian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,representing the constituency of Calgary-Nose Hill as a Progressive Conservative.
Guy Carleton Boutilier is a Canadian politician,who sat as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1997 to 2012. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative,and served in several capacities in the Cabinet of Alberta under Premiers Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach before being ejected from the PC caucus in July 2009;he joined the Wildrose Alliance Party after sitting as an independent for a year.
Dan Backs is a politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was elected as a Liberal candidate in the 2004 provincial election,but was kicked out of the Liberal caucus by leader Kevin Taft,who cited concerns about Backs' ability to work as a member of a team. He sat as an independent thereafter and,after failing to secure the Progressive Conservative nomination for his riding,sought re-election in that capacity as well. He finished third in the riding in the 2008 election.
Melvyn Reginald Knight was the Minister of Energy of Alberta and a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
Pearl Calahasen is a Canadian politician,who represented the electoral district of Lesser Slave Lake in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1989 to 2015. A member of the Progressive Conservative party and former cabinet minister.
Laurie Blakeman is a Canadian politician,who represented the electoral district of Edmonton-Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. She is a member of the Alberta Liberal Party,and was first elected in the 1997 election.
Donald "Don" MacDonald is a former politician from Alberta,Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1992 to 1993.
Frederick Deryl "Fred" Bradley is a former politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1975 to 1993. He also served as Minister of the Environment from 1982 to 1986 under Premiers Peter Lougheed and Don Getty.
Marvin Everard Moore is a Canadian former provincial level politician from Alberta,Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1989. During his time in public office he served number portfolios in the Executive Council of Alberta from 1975 to 1988.
Thomas "Tom" Fredrick Lawrence Lysons was a former provincial level politician from Alberta,Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1975 to 1986.
William "Bill" L. Mack was a provincial level politician from Alberta,Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1979 to 1982.
David Cameron Dorward is a Canadian politician,who represented the electoral district of Edmonton-Gold Bar in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2012 to 2015. He has lived in Alberta since the mid 1950s and currently resides in Edmonton.
Barrhead-Westlock was a provincial electoral district in Alberta,Canada mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 1993 to 2004.
Barrhead was a provincial electoral district in Alberta mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 1971 to 1993.
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock is a current provincial electoral district in Alberta,Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. It was contested for the first time in the 2019 Alberta election.
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