Michael Stanley Lake (born June 4, 1969) is a Canadian politician, businessman, and sports executive in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada who represented the riding of Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont from 2006 to 2015 and has represented

Edmonton—Wetaskiwin Edmonton—Wetaskiwin is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. Edmonton—Wetaskiwin was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was ...

since 2015. He is a member of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

and served as Parliamentary Secretary of Industry under 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, ...

Early and personal life

Lake was born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He grew up in

Devon, Alberta Devon is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately southwest of Edmonton, the provincial capital, along the southern bank of the North Saskatchewan River. History Devon owes its existence to one of t ...

and obtained a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree 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 ...

. After graduating from university, he began a career with the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

ice hockey team as a sales manager and director of ticket sales as their national accounts manager. He has two children, his son is autistic and as a result he is a longtime member of the Edmonton Autism Society. He is involved in the Alberta Foster Care Program. Lake has regularly held breakfasts to raise funds for

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

research.

Federal politics

Lake won the

nomination for the riding of Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont defeating seven-time candidate

Tim Uppal Tim Uppal (born November 14, 1974) is a Canadian politician, banker, and radio host who is the member for Edmonton Mill Woods in the Parliament of Canada. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Edmonton—Sherwood Park from 2008 ...

. The nomination proved to be significant since popular long time

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

incumbent

David Kilgour David William Kilgour (February 18, 1941 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian human rights activist, author, lawyer, and politician. He was also a Senior Fellow to the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Kilgour graduated from the Universi ...

had chosen to retire, creating a power vacuum in the riding. Lake went on to win the vacant riding in a landslide victory in the 2006 federal election. Pundits had predicted the race would be closer as the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

had held the district and its predecessor ridings since 1991. In his first term as a representative in the House of Commons of Canada, Lake was presented with a very unusual petition signed by almost 500 individuals calling for

Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

to be protected under the

Species at Risk Act The ''Species at Risk Act'' (SARA) (the ''Act'') is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological D ...

. Lake filed the petition with the Clerk of the House of Commons on March 28, 2007. When interviewed, Lake said that he did not believe in Bigfoot, but filed the petition as a service to constituents without making any judgment call. The 2015 federal election saw Lake's previous district eliminated in the 2012 federal electoral redistribution. Lake ran for election as a Member of Parliament in the

electoral district, winning with 65.7% of the votes. After the resignation of Stephen Harper as leader of the Conservatives, now the Official Opposition, Lake announced that he would run for the interim leadership. The race was eventually won by

Rona Ambrose Ronalee Ambrose Veitch ( , née Chapchuk; born March 15, 1969) is a Canadian former politician who was interim leader of the Conservative Party and the leader of the Opposition between 2015 and 2017. She was the Conservative Party member of ...

. He was re-elected in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Electoral record

References

External links

MP website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Mike 1969 births Conservative Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from New Westminster University of Alberta alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians