James "Jim" L. Foster is a former provincial level 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. 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 singl ...

from 1971 to 1979 sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus. During his time in office he served a couple different portfolio's as a cabinet minister in the Peter Lougheed government.

Education

Foster 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 ...

and was awarded a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1961 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1964.

Political career

Foster 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 ...

in the electoral district of Red Deer. He finished a close second place out of four candidates but was defeated by incumbent Social Credit MLA

William Ure William Kenneth Ure (December 22, 1913 — February 4, 2001) was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1959 to 1971 sitting with the governing Social Credit caucus. ...

. Ure ran for re-election in the new Innisfail electoral district due to redistribution for 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 Progr ...

. Foster ran in a four-way race for the open seat and improved his popular vote slightly, while Social Credit candidate Fulton Rollings saw his party's popular vote collapse. He won his first term in the Alberta legislature defeating Rollings by just over 1,200 votes to pick up the electoral district of the Progressive Conservative party. The win helped the Progressive Conservatives form government that year. After the election Foster was appointed by Premier Peter Lougheed to 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 typical ...

to serve in his first cabinet as the first Minister of Advanced Education after he split the Education portfolio in two. Foster ran for re-election 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 Legi ...

with ministerial advantage. He won his second term in office defeating three other candidates and significantly increasing his popular vote to be returned in a landslide. After the election Lougheed shuffled his cabinet and Foster was appointed as the Attorney General for the province. He held that portfolio until he retired from office at dissolution of the assembly in 1979.

Judicial career

Foster was appointed a Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta on September 13, 1991. He served in the district of Red Deer until 2006 when he elected supernumerary status. He was replaced by his former law partner Kirk Sisson.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, James Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Alberta University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni Judges in Alberta Canadian King's Counsel