Ronald Gordon "Ron" Stevens, Q.C. (September 17, 1949 – May 13, 2014) was 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. He 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
Calgary-Glenmore
Calgary-Glenmore, formally styled Calgary Glenmore from 1957 to 1971, is a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
The electoral r ...
as a
Progressive Conservative until his resignation on May 15, 2009. He was subsequently appointed a Judge of the
Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
The Court of King's Bench of Alberta (abbreviated in citations as ABKB or Alta. K.B.) is the superior court of the Canadian province of Alberta. Until 2022, it was named Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.
The Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary wa ...
on May 20, 2009, by the government of Canada.
Early life
Stevens was born September 17, 1949, in
Empress, Alberta
Empress is a village in southern Alberta, Canada that is adjacent to the provincial boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is north of Medicine Hat. The village was named, in 1913, for Queen Victoria, who was also Empress of India. In the ...
. He graduated from the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1975 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 ...
. Prior to being elected into 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 ...
, Stevens worked as a civil litigation lawyer and mediator with a major law firm in
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 ...
. In 1996, he was appointed Queen's Council.
An active community member, Stevens served in the role of president of the Palliser Bayview Pumphill Community Association, director of the Community Mediation Calgary Society, director of the Federation of Calgary Communities, and director and vice chair of the Calgary Housing Authority.
Political career
Stevens first sought public office in the
1997 provincial election in the constituency of
Calgary-Glenmore
Calgary-Glenmore, formally styled Calgary Glenmore from 1957 to 1971, is a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
The electoral r ...
. In that election, he received 58% of the vote. In the
2001 provincial election that followed, Stevens was reelected with 68% of the popular vote. That same year, he was appointed by
Premier Ralph Klein as Minister of Gaming and was responsible for the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission and the Alberta Lottery Fund. Following the
2004 provincial election, where he received 50% of the vote, Stevens was sworn in as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. On June 27, 2007, he was named Alberta's Deputy Premier by newly elected
Premier Ed Stelmach. In the
2008 provincial election, Stevens was elected for a fourth time receiving 51% of the vote. On March 12, 2008, he was sworn in as Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations.
Since becoming an MLA, Stevens has served in a variety of capacities on numerous boards and committees. He has held the title of Deputy Government House Leader, the position of chair for the Legislative Review Committee, the Oil Sands Ministerial Strategy Committee (Radke Report), Health Information Legislation Committee, the Standing Policy Committee on Learning, the Private Schools Funding Task Force, the Non-Profit Tax Exemption Review Committee, the position of vice chair of the Agenda and Priorities Committee and the Standing Policy Committee on Justice and Government Services, and the position of deputy chair of the Select Special Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Review Committee. He has also served as a member of more than ten other committees.
As an MLA, Stevens successfully sponsored two governmental bills: the ''Holocaust Memorial Day and Genocide Remembrance Act'' and the ''Irrigation Districts Act''. He also sponsored one private member's bill during his first term in office: the ''Emblems of Alberta (Alberta Dress Tartan) Amendment Act, 2000''.
Currently, in addition to his responsibilities as MLA, Minister, and Deputy Premier, Stevens serves as a member of Treasury Board, the Agenda and Priorities Committee, and the Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing Committee.
Hawaiian Stopover Controversy
In October 2007, CBC News Calgary reported that Ron Stevens had used his government credit card to pay for drinks and meals for his wife and four other people while on a stopover in Hawaii in 2003.
At the time, Stevens was serving as Alberta's Gaming Minister. His three-day Hawaiian stopover occurred as he was returning from Australia where he had been studying that country's gaming system.
"I don't recall whether it was a three-day stop or not," Stevens told CBC when questioned about the trip. "But I do recall that we did it in that fashion because it was less expensive than flying business class. In other words, it was the most economic way of doing it."
Personal life
Stevens was married to Phyllis. The couple had two children together.
He died of natural causes on May 13, 2014, at the age of 64.
[https://calgaryherald.com/Former+Stevens+died/9835120/story.html ]
Election results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Ron
1949 births
2014 deaths
Members of the Executive Council of Alberta
Politicians from Calgary
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs
University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians