Harvey Cenaiko (born July 15, 1956 in

Wakaw, Saskatchewan Wakaw, Saskatchewan, is a town 90 km (56 miles) northeast of Saskatoon and 66 km (41 miles) south of Prince Albert. It is about halfway between the two cities and is served by Highway 2, Highway 41 and Highway 312. Wakaw is in hil ...

) is a Canadian former police officer and one-time Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety for the Province of Alberta. Cenaiko was elected to his second term as

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

for the riding of

Calgary-Buffalo Calgary-Buffalo is a current provincial electoral district in Calgary, 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 ...

on November 22, 2004. On November 25, 2004, he was sworn in as Alberta's Solicitor General. He did not seek re-election in the 2008 election.

Early life

After graduating from high school in Wakaw, Cenaiko attended the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, then moved west to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

where he began training with the

Calgary Police Service Calgary Police Service (CPS) is the municipal police service of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Alberta and third largest municipal force in Canada behind the Toronto Police Service and the Mont ...

. Cenaiko worked for 25 years with the

. At the time of his retirement, he was an Inspector with the Bureau of Community Policing Services.

Member of the Legislative Assembly

In addition to his role as MLA, Cenaiko has acted as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Policy Committee on Justice and Government Services. Cenaiko also chaired the Ambulance Advisory and Appeal Board and the Alberta Vehicle Theft Committee. In addition, Cenaiko was a member of the MLA Policing Review Committee and the Government MLA Committee Considering a Review of the Labour Relations Code. Within his role as Solicitor-General, Cenaiko set up a team of investigators that would investigate criminal activity by police officers which was made up of veteran police officers only with no civilian involvement as Cenaiko felt that civilians lacked the expertise to oversee investigations of criminal activity. This action drew criticism from NDP critic David Eggen who stated that civilians also should form members of the team in order to ensure that they would be independent of the police agencies that are being reviewed. This opinion is echoed by Tom Engels, chair of the policing committee of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association, who states that the current system which allows police to investigate complaints, other than the most serious complaints, against their fellow officers is flawed and lacks credibility. Instead, the system should be replaced by an independent, civilian-led agency to investigate police complaints. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, which investigates police in cases of death or serious injuries, lacks the resource to complete timely investigations. In 2002/2003, he also chaired the Review of Ambulance Service Delivery and the Child Welfare Act Review. The Child Welfare Act Review, which culminated in the Strengthening Children, Families and Youth Report, formed the bases for a new Child Welfare Amendment Act as well as the Family Support for Children With Disabilities Act. Harvey is now the Chair of the National Parole Board of Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cenaiko, Harvey 1956 births Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Living people Politicians from Calgary University of Saskatchewan alumni Canadian police officers Members of the Executive Council of Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians People from Wakaw, Saskatchewan Canadian people of Ukrainian descent