Kenneth Reginald Kowalski (born September 27, 1945) is a politician and former teacher 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 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 sin ...

, where he served from 1979 to 2012, sitting with the governing Progressive Conservative caucus under five different Premiers. Kowalski was the Speaker of the Assembly, and was first appointed 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 typica ...

by Premier

Don Getty Donald Ross Getty (August 30, 1933 – February 26, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 11th premier of Alberta between 1985 and 1992. A member of the Progressive Conservatives, he served as Energy Minister and Federal and Intergo ...

in 1986. He held five different cabinet portfolios, including that of Deputy Premier from 1992 to 1994.

Early life

Kenneth Reginald Kowalski was born in

Bonnyville, Alberta Bonnyville is a town situated in east-central Alberta, Canada between Cold Lake and St. Paul. The surrounding Municipal District (MD) of Bonnyville No. 87's municipal office is located in Bonnyville. The community derives its name from Fat ...

on September 27, 1945. He worked as a teacher at

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

Composite High School, and was a civil servant in the Alberta government in the 1970s.

Political career

Kowalski first ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in a by-election held in November 1979 in the electoral district of Barrhead to replace Hugh Horner. He ran against three other candidates including Alberta Liberal leader Nicholas Taylor. Kowalski just barely won the election with Taylor finishing a strong second. He took 38% of the popular vote to hold the seat for the Progressive Conservatives. Kowalski faced Taylor again in the 1982 general election. Kowalski held his seat by doubling his popular vote, while Taylor only saw a marginal increase. The 1986 election saw Kowalski re-elected by a wider margin than in 1982, with the collapse of the opposition vote. His popular vote went up by an insignificant amount. New Democrat candidate Larry McConnell finished a distant second. After the election Premier

appointed Kowalski to the

as Minister of the Environment. On September 8, 1988, Getty appointed him Minister of Career Development and Employment. In the 1989 general election, his popular vote in his district rose again as he defeated three other candidates including Social Credit leader Harvey Yuill. Getty moved Kowalski to his third cabinet portfolio, the Ministry of Public Works, Supply, and Services. He kept that portfolio when

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

became Premier in 1992 and also became Deputy Premier. He held both those portfolios going into the 1993 general election. The electoral district of Barrhead was redistributed and became Barrhead-Westlock. He won the new electoral district with his highest popular vote to date in the face of a strong challenge from Liberal candidate Dale Greig and four other candidates. Klein shuffled Kowalski to the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism after the election, and Kowalski also remained Deputy Premier. On September 15, 1994, he became Government Leader in the legislature. Kowalski ran for his sixth term in office in the 1997 general election. For the first time in his career his popular decreased. He defeated three candidates including Greig and Yuill to keep his seat. Kowalski was elected Speaker of the Assembly on April 14, 1997. He defeated Don Tannas and Glen Clegg on the second ballot to win the position. The speaker's election was the first to be held by secret ballot in the assembly. In the 2001 general election, his popular vote rose significantly as he defeated three other candidates in a landslide. After the election he was acclaimed to his second term as Speaker. He ran for his eighth term in office in the 2004 general election. His electoral district was again redistributed and he ran in the new electoral district of Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock. He won a slightly reduced popular vote, but still easily won the electoral district against four other candidates. Kowalski was acclaimed to his third term as Speaker. He ran for his ninth term in the 2008 general election. He defeated four other candidates in a landslide to win the highest popular vote of his career. On April 14, 2008, eleven years to the day after he won his first term as Speaker, Kowalski defeated

Laurie Blakeman Laurie Blakeman (born May 23, 1958) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Edmonton-Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. She is a member of the Alberta Liberal Party, and was first elected in the 1997 elect ...

to remain in that position. He retired at the 2012 election.

References

External links

Alberta legislature biographyLegislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalski, Ken 1945 births Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Living people People from the Municipal District of Bonnyville No. 87 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians