Heather May Klimchuk (born August 10, 1958) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

representing the constituency of

Edmonton-Glenora Edmonton-Glenora is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. It is located north of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton. The electoral district, as defined by the ''Electoral Divisions Act, 2003,'' ...

as a Progressive Conservative, from 2008 to 2015. She was Minister of Human Services from 2014 until defeated in the 2015 provincial election.

Political career

Before being elected in the 2008 Alberta General Election, Klimchuk also ran the 2001 and 2004 election campaigns of former Edmonton-Glenora MLA

Drew Hutton Peter Drew Hutton (born 1947) is an Australian activist, academic, campaigner and past political candidate. Hutton co-founded the Queensland Greens (in 1990) and Australian Greens (in 1991) and ran in elections in Queensland and Australia at a ...

. She was narrowly elected as MLA for Edmonton-Glenora in the 2008 election over

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

incumbent Bruce Miller by 96 votes, less than 1% of votes cast. In the 2011 PC leadership election Klimchuk supported

Gary Mar Gary Glen Mar , (; born July 26, 1962) is a Canadian businessman and former politician in Alberta. He is currently the President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation. Mar had served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 ...

, who was defeated by

Alison Redford Alison Merrilla Redford (born March 7, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. She was the 14th premier of Alberta, having served in this capacity from October 7, 2011, to March 23, 2014. Redford was born in Kitimat, British Columbia ...

. Klimchuk was re-elected by a more comfortable margin in the 2012 election and was named Minister of Human Services on September 15, 2014 in the first cabinet of

Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate ...

. She has previously served as Minister of Culture and Community Services and Minister of Service Alberta. Klimchuk was defeated in the

2015 Alberta general election The 2015 Alberta general election was held on May 5, 2015, following a request of Premier Jim Prentice to the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Donald Ethell to dissolve the Legislative Assembly on April 7, 2015. This election elected members to th ...

as the

Alberta NDP The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Demo ...

won every seat in Edmonton. She was considered to be part of the progressive or

Red Tory A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to favour ...

wing of the PC Party.

Personal life

Klimchuk has a long family history with the PC Party. Her father worked on Premier

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding ...

's first electoral campaign and was a classmate of

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

's at law school. Her public service experience prior to serving as a Member of the Legislature includes working as a researcher and writer for both Premier Lougheed and Premier

Don Getty Donald Ross Getty (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992. A member of the Progressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergo ...

.She also assisted with the initiation of the Alberta Seniors´ information phone line. Klimchuk holds a bachelor of arts (special) from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

in political science. She and her husband, Wade, have two children: Kyrsten and Keifer.

Election results

References

1958 births Living people Businesspeople from Calgary Businesspeople from Edmonton Canadian real estate agents Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Politicians from Calgary Politicians from Edmonton Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs University of Alberta alumni Women government ministers of Canada Women MLAs in Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians {{Alberta-politician-stub