John William Cookson (October 29, 1928 – July 8, 2021) was a provincial politician from

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.Jack Cookson
s obituary He served as 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 sin ...

from 1971 to 1982 sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus. During his time in office he served in the

Executive Council of Alberta The Executive Council of Alberta (the Cabinet) is a body of ministers of the Crown in right of Alberta, who along with the lieutenant governor, exercises the powers of the Government of Alberta. Ministers are selected by the premier and typica ...

as Minister of the Environment from 1979 to 1982 under the

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

government.

Political career

Cookson ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature for the first time in the

1967 Alberta general election The 1967 Alberta general election was held on May 23, 1967, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 16th Alberta Legislature. The election was called after the 15th Alberta Legislature was prorogued on April 11, 1967, and ...

. He was defeated by incumbent Allen Patrick finishing a strong second. Cookson ran for a second time in the

1971 Alberta general election The 1971 Alberta general election was the seventeenth general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on August 30, 1971, to elect seventy-five members of the Alberta Legislature to form the 17th Alberta Legislative Assembly. The Progre ...

. He won the electoral district of Lacombe in a tight race over Social Credit candidate Ivan Stonehocker to pick up the district for the Progressive Conservatives who went on to form government that election. Cookson and Stonehocker would face each other again in the

1975 Alberta general election The 1975 Alberta general election was held on March 26, 1975, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 18th Alberta Legislature. The election was called on February 14, 1975 prorogued and dissolved of the 17th Alberta Legis ...

. Stonehocker's vote collapsed and Cookson won his second term easily. He would run for a third term in office 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 g ...

. That election saw a crowded field of candidates with Cookson facing four opponents. He won a slightly larger share of the popular vote winning an easy victory on election night. After the election Premier

appointed Cookson to be Minister of the Environment. He held that portfolio until he retired at dissolution of the Assembly in 1982.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookson, Jack 1928 births 2021 deaths Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Alberta People from Flagstaff County