Heather Klimchuk

Heather May Klimchuk (born August 10, 1958) is a Canadian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Edmonton-Glenora as a Progressive Conservative, from 2008 to 2015. She was Minister of Human Services from 2014 until defeated in the 2015 provincial election.

Heather Klimchuk
Klimchuk at the 2014 Tour of Alberta
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Glenora
In office
March 3, 2008 – May 5, 2015
Preceded byBruce Miller
Succeeded bySarah Hoffman
Personal details
Born (1958-08-10) August 10, 1958
Calgary, Alberta
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Spouse(s)Wade Klimchuk
ResidenceEdmonton, Alberta
OccupationReal Estate Agent, Politician
PortfolioMinister of Human Services

Political career

Before being elected in the 2008 Alberta General Election, Klimchuk also ran the 2001 and 2004 election campaigns of former Edmonton-Glenora MLA Drew Hutton.[1]

She was narrowly elected as MLA for Edmonton-Glenora in the 2008 election over Alberta Liberal Party incumbent Bruce Miller by 96 votes, less than 1% of votes cast. In the 2011 PC leadership election Klimchuk supported Gary Mar,[2] who was defeated by Alison Redford. Klimchuk was re-elected by a more comfortable margin in the 2012 election and was named Minister of Human Services on September 15, 2014 in the first cabinet of Jim Prentice.[3] She has previously served as Minister of Culture and Community Services and Minister of Service Alberta.[4][5]

She was considered to be part of the progressive or Red Tory wing of the PC Party.[6]

Personal life

Klimchuk has a long family history with the PC Party. Her father worked on Premier Peter Lougheed's first electoral campaign and was a classmate of Joe Clark's at law school.[6] Her public service experience prior to serving as a Member of the Legislature includes working as a researcher and writer for both Premier Lougheed and Premier Don Getty.She also assisted with the initiation of the Alberta Seniors´ information phone line.

Klimchuk holds a bachelor of arts (special) from the University of Alberta in political science. She and her husband, Wade, have two children: Kyrsten and Keifer.[3]

Election results
2008 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Glenora
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeHeather Klimchuk4,60439.90%11.22%
LiberalBruce Miller4,50839.07%3.94%
New DemocraticArlene Chapman1,74315.11%−15.81%
GreenPeter Johnston4083.54%1.47%
Wildrose AllianceElden Van Hauwaert2752.38%0.04%
Total 11,538
Rejected, spoiled and declined 58
Eligible electors / Turnout 29,821 38.89%
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing 7.58%
Source: The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 294–297.
2012 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Glenora
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeHeather Klimchuk6,17638.20–1.7
New DemocraticRay Martin4,14125.61+10.5
WildroseDon Koziak2,73216.90+13.36
LiberalBruce Miller1,66810.32–28.75
Alberta PartySue Huff1,4518.97-
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -1.7
2015 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticSarah Hoffman12,40368.5
Progressive ConservativeHeather Klimchuk3,13717.3
WildroseDon Koziak1,3817.6
LiberalKaren Sevcik5423.0
Alberta PartyChris Vilcsak4452.5
GreenDavid Parker1991.1

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "mla support in the alberta pc leadership contest (july 14, 2011) - daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics".
  3. "Legislative Assembly of Alberta".
  4. https://www.facebook.com/Heather.Klimchuk/info
  5. "Alberta Cabinet swearing-in ceremony - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-09-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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