Travis Toews (born 1964) is a Canadian politician elected in the

2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...

to represent the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Grande Prairie-Wapiti Grande Prairie-Wapiti is a provincial electoral district in northwestern Alberta, Canada. It is one of 87 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The electoral dis ...

in the

30th Alberta Legislature The 30th Alberta Legislative Assembly was constituted after the general election on April 16, 2019. The United Conservative Party (UCP), led by Jason Kenney, won a majority of seats and formed the government. The New Democrats, led by outgoing Pr ...

. He was appointed as Minister of Finance of Alberta and

President of the Treasury Board The president of the Treasury Board () is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The president is the chair of the Treasury Board of Canada (a committee of Cabinet in the Privy Council) and is the minister responsible for the Treasury B ...

on April 30, 2019 by Alberta Premier

Jason Kenney Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022 and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member of ...

. On June 4, 2022, Toews resigned as the minister of finance and announced his candidacy in the

2022 United Conservative Party leadership election The 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election was held on October 6, 2022, in Alberta to select a new leader of the United Conservative Party and Premier of Alberta. The leadership election was triggered following the May 18, 2022, le ...

, where he placed second to

Danielle Smith Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta since October 11, 2022, and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 6, 2022. Smith ent ...

. Toews was reappointed as minister by premier

on October 24, 2022.

Education

Toews attended 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 ...

. He then attained a professional accounting designation through the society of management accountants and holds

Certified Management Accountants of Canada The Society of Management Accountants of Canada (french: La Société des comptables en management du Canada), also known as Certified Management Accountants of Canada (french: Comptables en management accrédités du Canada) and CMA Canada, award ...

(CMA) and

Chartered Professional Accountant Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA; french: comptable professionnel agréé) is the professional certification, professional designation which united the three Canadian accounting designations that previously existed: :* Canadian Institute ...

(CPA) accounting designations.

Career

Toews spent twelve years working in a public accounting practice prior to pursuing business interests. After retiring from public accounting practice, Toews invested in, managed and grew a corporate family cattle ranching operation as well as an oilfield environmental company. Toews has served as a Director on a number of local non-profit boards, as well as provincial and national industry boards and committees including the Alberta Beef Producers and the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance. He served as President of the

Canadian Cattlemen's Association The Canadian Cattlemen's Association is an advocacy group promoting the interests of cow-calf producers, feedlots, and packers in the Canadian beef industry. Throughout its history, the CCA has worked to improve market access for Canadian beef pro ...

from 2010 to 2012. Toews co-chaired the Agri-Innovators Committee for then federal

Agriculture Minister An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

Gerry Ritz Gerry Ritz (born August 19, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. He served as member of the House of Commons of Canada for Battlefords—Lloydminster from 1997 until his resignation in 2017. He served as Canada's Agriculture minister from 2007 ...

. In 2013, Ritz appointed Toews as a Canadian representative on the

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

(APEC) committee designed to improve international food security between APEC countries. Between 2010 and 2012, Toews served as a member of Country of Origin Labelling Canadian

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

Legal working group in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Minister of Finance

On April 30, 2019, Alberta Premier

appointed Toews as Minister of Finance of Alberta and

. Toews succeeds Calgary-Buffalo MLA

Joe Ceci Joseph Anthony Ceci (born July 30, 1957) is an Albertan politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Calgary-Buffalo in the 30th Alberta Legislature. He was previously elected in 2015 ...

as Minister of Finance.

2022 UCP leadership election

On May 30, 2022, Toews registered his candidacy to replace

as UCP Leader with Elections Alberta. At the time of his registration he had not publicly declared his intention to run. On June 4, 2022, Toews launched his campaign with twenty-three caucus endorsements. On October 6, 2022, Danielle Smith won the UCP leadership election defeating six other candidates as determined by instant-runoff voting. On the sixth ballot she was declared the winner taking 53 per cent of the vote, defeating Toews who had 46 per cent.

Electoral history

References

1964 births Living people Year of birth uncertain United Conservative Party MLAs 21st-century Canadian politicians Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Finance ministers of Alberta Northern Alberta Institute of Technology alumni Canadian ranchers Canadian accountants Canadian Mennonites Canadian people of German-Ukrainian descent {{Alberta-politician-stub