Bert Brown (March 22, 1938 – February 3, 2018) was a Canadian
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, farmer, and development consultant.
Early life
Brown farmed in
Kathyrn
Kathyrn is a hamlet in southern Alberta under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County.
Kathyrn is located approximately 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Downtown Calgary on Highway 566, 1.6 km (1.0 mi) west of Highway 9. A Canadi ...
, Alberta, from 1969 to 1999, after which they sold their family farm. After retiring from the Senate of Canada in March 2013, he returned to land development consulting. He attended Mount Royal College and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Civil Engineering. He was married to Alice Taylor (1965) and has one child.
Campaign for a Triple E Senate
Brown was the only person to run in all three of Canada's elected senatorial elections. In 1989 and 2004 he ran under the
Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. In 1998, he ran under the
Reform Party of Alberta, losing to Stan Waters. He was elected as a
senator-in-waiting
Alberta is the only Canadian province to hold elections for nominees to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. These elections are non-binding, as the appointment of senators is solely the responsibility of the Governor General of Canada on the a ...
in 1998 and re-elected in 2004. Brown was the only person ever to be elected to a second term as senator-in-waiting.
He had been campaigning for an elected
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
for over 23 years. He was the founder and chair of the Canadian Committee for a
Triple-E Senate. The definitive symbol for the cause, he had been documented in countless
Hansard transcripts in provincial legislatures across the country, as well as the federal Parliament and Senate.
He first gained fame for his cause when he used his tractor to plow "Triple E Senate or Else" into his neighbour's two-mile long field.
Senatorial career
Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
promised to advise the
Governor General to appoint Brown to the next available Senate seat from Alberta, according to comments made in the House of Commons April 18, 2007. The announcement came after long-serving senator
Dan Hays announced his intent to vacate his seat in the Senate at the end of June 2007.
Brown was appointed to the Canadian Senate on July 10, 2007. Brown served five and a half years until mandatory retirement.
Brown became the second person in Canadian history, after
Stan Waters
Lieutenant-general Stanley Charles Waters (June 14, 1920 – September 25, 1991) was Canada's first senator to be appointed to his Senate seat following a non-binding provincial Senate election.
Early life
Born in Winnipeg and educated at Stra ...
, to be appointed to his Senate seat following a provincial senator-in-waiting
election. Brown chose to run with the Conservative Party of Canada caucus (federal party), even though he ran under the Progressive Conservative banner (provincial party counterpart), in the Alberta Senate election.
On his 75th birthday, March 22, 2013, Brown retired from the Senate as per Senate rules.
Awards
In 2005, Brown was a recipient of the
Alberta Centennial Medal. The award was given to notable Albertans who made a lasting contribution in the province over the preceding 100 years.
Views
Bert Brown did not acknowledge the
scientific consensus
Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time.
Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confe ...
on
anthropogenic climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
he identified as a denier.
Death
Brown died on February 3, 2018.
Senator Bert (Retired) Brown Obituary
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References
External links
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Senators detailed information Parliament of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Bert
1938 births
2018 deaths
21st-century members of the Senate of Canada
Canadian senators from Alberta
Canadian senators-in-waiting from Alberta
Conservative Party of Canada senators
Members of the United Church of Canada