Roland "Rollie" David Bertram Cook (born March 22, 1952) was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1979 to 1986.

Early life

Roland Cook was born in Edmonton, Alberta on March 22, 1952. He later moved to Calgary and attended High School at Western Canada High School. After graduating he moved back to Edmonton and attended the University of Alberta. He graduated with a B.A. in History and Political Science. He worked for the leadership campaign for Joe Clark who won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and later became Prime Minister of Canada. He continued his campaign experience working for Congressman Morris Udall's campaign for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination. While working for congressman Udall, he co-chaired the 1986 Udall campaign in Westchester County and the Bronx in New York State. He volunteered for the Jimmy Carter campaign in the state of Maine. He also attended The

University of Laval 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 ...

and Paul Valéry University in France. After his post secondary education he was hired by a Public Relations Firm in Alberta.

Political career

Cook ran for a seat for the first time in the

1979 Alberta general election The 1979 Alberta general election was held on March 14, 1979, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, which had been expanded to 79 seats. The Progressive Conservative Party of Peter Lougheed won its third consecutive term in go ...

. He easily won the new electoral district of

Edmonton-Glengarry Edmonton-Glengarry 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 1979 to 2004. History Members of the Legis ...

to pick it up for the governing Progressive Conservative party. At the age of 26, he was the youngest member of the Assembly. He served on the Heritage Savings and Trust Committee and was a member of the caucus committee on law and regulation. Cook won a second term in office in the

1982 Alberta general election The 1982 Alberta general election was held on November 2, 1982, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Less than four years had passed since the Progressive Conservatives won their landslide victory in 1979. Premier Peter Lou ...

. He managed to increase his popular vote, but faced a significant challenge from New Democrat candidate Garth Stevenson. In his first term he served as a delegate for Alberta for two of the constitutional conferences which led to the new amending formula for the Canadian Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights. Cook was defeated in a nomination race to run again in 1986. After being defeated in the nomination race, Cook left provincial politics at dissolution of the legislature in 1986. He taught at the Chemical Engineering University in Beijing China for two years from 1989 to 1991. He returned to Canada and worked in international trade and then retired to a small mixed farm on Salt Spring Island where he worked to restore an old farm raise sheep, ducks and organic vegetables and share good food and good times with family and friends.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Rollie 1952 births Living people Politicians from Edmonton Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs University of Alberta alumni