James Deverell Horsman, (born July 29, 1935) is a 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 in 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 1975 to 1993 and held numerous cabinet portfolios in the Government of Alberta.

Early life

James Deverell Horsman was born in Camrose,

in 1935 to George Cornwall Horsman and Kathleen Deverell Horsman. He grew up in Meeting Creek with his grandparents while his mother and father served overseas in

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. His family later moved to

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. Horsman moved west in the 1950s to study at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. At UBC, Horsman attained a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree in 1959 and a year later attained 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 Ch ...

. During this time Horsman participated in a number of extra curricular activities including a member of UBC Alma Mater Society, the Coordinator of Activities and the Coordinator of Publications. After University Horsman moved back east to Calgary to start practicing law, he moved to

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are with ...

a short time later after visiting family and meeting a potential law partner. After moving to Medicine Hat he met Betty Whitney, a local High School teacher, they would get married on July 4, 1964 and have three daughters.

Political career

Horsman became involved in the

Alberta Progressive Conservatives The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (often referred to colloquially as Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta) was a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta that existed from 1905 to 2020. The party ...

in the early 1960s. He served on the party's executive council as Vice President for Southern Alberta before running for political office. Horsman first ran for a seat to the 16th Alberta Legislature in the 1967 general election, in the electoral district of

. He was defeated by Social Credit incumbent MLA

Harry Leinweber Harry C. Leinweber (January 6, 1907 – March 19, 1992) was a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1961 to 1971 as a member of the Social Credit Party. Political career Leinweber served as a mun ...

. Horseman would run again in the Medicine Hat-Redcliff electoral district in 1971 and lost to Social Credit candidate William Wyse. Horsman ran against Wyse again in the 1975 general election and was successful this time, defeating him by 100 votes. In 1979 Medicine Hat-Redcliff was abolished due to redistribution, and Horsman ran for re-election in

that year. He won by nearly 8,000 votes over his nearest opponent. Horsman won by another large majority in the 1982 general election. Horsman's share of the vote was cut in half in the 1986 general election, but he still won by a comfortable margin. He won again handily in the 1989 general election. He retired from the Assembly at dissolution in 1993. Horsman would serve a number of roles in provincial cabinet including Minister of Advanced Education and Manpower, Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs, Attorney General and Provincial Secretary, Government House Leader and Deputy Premier. As Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs Horsman was responsible for constitutional negotiations for the 10 years following the

Patriation Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the Constitution Act, 1982. The process was necessary because under the Statute of Westminster 1931, with Canada's agreement at the time, the British parl ...

of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

until the

Charlottetown Accord The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...

Late life

After leaving political office, Horsman became Alberta's chief NAFTA negotiator. Horsman continued to serve on numerous other boards and public service roles, including as Chair of the Board of Governors for

Medicine Hat College Medicine Hat College is a public, board governed, comprehensive college serving southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. The college is located in the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, and was founded in 1965. Almost 2,500 studen ...

and later as chancellor for the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...

from 1999 to 2003. Horsman would be awarded with an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

from the University of Lethbridge. Horsman was number of awards including Queen Elizabeth II Silver and Golden Jubilee Medals, the Governor General’s 125th Anniversary Medal and the

Alberta Centennial Medal The Alberta Centennial Medal is a commemorative medal celebrating Alberta's first 100 years of participating in Canadian Confederation. History In 2005, the ''Alberta Centennial Medal Act'' established the Alberta Centennial Medal. Purpose The ...

. Horsman was appointed as a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

on April 6, 2006, his award cited his history in public service, volunteering and advocacy for a strong public education system. As a Member of the Order of Canada Horsman has continued to preside over citizenship ceremonies in the Southern Alberta region.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
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University of British Columbia - Peter A. Allard School of Law - Alumni Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsman, Jim 1935 births Canadian Presbyterians Living people Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Members of the Order of Canada People from Camrose, Alberta Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni