Neil Brown (Canadian politician)
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| Neil Brown | |
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MLA for Calgary Nose Hill
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 22, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | New district |
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| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Residence | Calgary |
| Alma mater | University of Calgary University of Alaska McGill University |
| Website | http://www.neilbrown.ca |
Dr. Neil Brown is a lawyer, biologist and politician from Alberta, Canada. He currently represents Calgary Nose Hill in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, where he sits as a Progressive Conservative. He was first elected to this position in the 2004 Alberta general election, and was re-elected in 2008.
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[edit] Early life
Brown was born in Calgary, and earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Calgary in 1971.[1] He subsequently earned a Master of Science in zoology from the University of Alaska in 1974 and a Ph.D. in biology from McGill University in 1977.[1] He worked as an assistant professor of biology at Trent University before returning to the University of Calgary to earn his Bachelor of Laws, which he received in 1982.[1] He worked for McLaws and Company in civil litigation before opening his own practice in 1987.[1]
[edit] Political career
Brown first sought election in the 2004 provincial election, when he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the newly-formed Calgary-Nose Hill. He defeated his closest challenger, Liberal Len Borowski, by more than 1,500 votes.[2] He faced Borowski again in the 2008 election, and defeated him by a similar margin.[3]
[edit] Legislative initiatives
Although he has never been a cabinet minister, Brown has sponsored a large number of government bills, all of which have passed through the legislature.[4][5][6] The Business Corporations Amendment Act was a 2005 bill that made a variety of changes to the management of corporations domiciled in Alberta, including prohibiting accountants who owned shares in a corporation from acting as its auditor.[7] Liberals Mo Elsalhy, Harry B. Chase, and Dan Backs spoke in support of the bill, although New Democrat Raj Pannu expressed concern that a provision that created unlimited liability corporations would flood Alberta with de facto American corporations that were registered in Alberta but did their business elsewhere.[8][9] This bill was followed by the Business Corporations Amendment Act (No. 2), which provided protection for minority shareholders in the event that a corporation was converted to unlimited liability over opposition, and which clarified the period during which former shareholders in unlimited liability corporations remained liable.[10] It passed with Liberal support, although Pannu expressed concern that the new protections were not sufficient.[10][11] Also in 2005, Brown sponsored the Employment Pension Plans Amendment Act, which implemented uncontroversial changes to the regulation of private pensions and which received support from all parties.[12]
Brown sponsored two government bills in 2006.[5] The Persons with Developmental Disabilities Community Governance Amendment Act dissolved the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Provincial Board and transferred its authority to the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports, while expanding the authority of the six regional boards.[13] MLAs from all parties, including Liberals Bharat Agnihotri, Hugh MacDonald, and Bridget Pastoor, Alberta Alliance leader Paul Hinman, and New Democrats Ray Martin, Brian Mason, and Raj Pannu, supported the bill.[13][14] The Health Information Amendment Act made a number of changes to the conditions under which health information would be disclosed, including preventing the automatic reporting of private information to American authorities under the PATRIOT Act.[15] New Democrats Pannu and David Eggen and Liberals Elsalhy, Pastoor, and Bruce Miller spoke in favour of the bill, although Liberal Laurie Blakeman expressed reservations that the content of the bill didn't reflect the recommendations of the legislature's special committee whose work led to the bill.[15][16][17]
In 2007, Brown sponsored one of the new Ed Stelmach government's flagship pieces of legislation, the Conflicts of Interest Amendment Act, which lengthened the cooling off period during which cabinet ministers and other high-ranking members of government to engage in certain activities after leaving the government's employment.[18][19] It also placed a requirement on MLAs that they report any personal litigation in which they were engaged, and was supported by all parties.[20][21][22] The same year he sponsored the Limitation Statutes Amendment Act, which was also supported by the opposition and which amended Alberta's statute of limitations for some civil matters.[23] [24] Finally, Brown sponsored the Appeal Procedures Statutes Amendment Act. This bill made some amendments to the procedures of the Alberta Court of Appeal.[25] It was supported by Liberals Elsalhy and Maurice Tougas, but Pannu expressed some concern with a provision that would have made the keeping of transcripts of procedures discretionary.[25][26]
[edit] Personal life
Brown is unmarried and has no children.[27] He identifies John A. MacDonald and Winston Churchill as his political heroes.[27]
[edit] Election results
| 2008 Alberta general election results (Calgary Nose Hill) | Turnout 35.2% | |||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
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| Progressive Conservative | Neil Brown | 4,584 | 49.3% | |
| Liberal | Len Borowski | 2,759 | 29.7% | |
| Wildrose Alliance | John Murdoch | 954 | 10.3% | |
| Green | Nick Burman | 613 | 6.6% | |
| NDP | Tristan Ridley | 388 | 4.2% | |
| 2004 Alberta general election results (Calgary Nose Hill) | Turnout 39.6% | |||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
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| Progressive Conservative | Neil Brown | 4,372 | 47.0% | |
| Liberal | Len Borowski | 2,607 | 28.0% | |
| Alberta Alliance | Bill McGregor | 1,009 | 10.8% | |
| Green | John Johnson | 583 | 6.3% | |
| NDP | Dick Huysman | 549 | 5.9% | |
| Social Credit | Raymond (Chick) Hurst | 180 | 1.9% | |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Neil Brown's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography at archive.org (viewable, downloadable film)
- ^ 2004 Alberta provincial election results, Calgary-Nose Hill. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ Alberta 2008 provincial election results, Calgary-Nose Hill. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
- ^ Bill Status Report for the 26th Legislature - 1st Session (2005). Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ a b Bill Status Report for the 26th Legislature - 2nd Session (2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Bill Status Report for the 26th Legislature - 4th Session (2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, March 23, 2005
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, April 11, 2005
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 2, 2005
- ^ a b Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, November 28, 2005
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, November 30, 2005
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 17, 2005
- ^ a b Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, April 24, 2006
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 11, 2006
- ^ a b Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, April 25, 2006
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 3, 2006
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 16, 2006
- ^ Fedio, Chloé. "It’s bills, bills, bills (oh, and royalties, of course) as Legislature gets set to resume", Vue Weekly, October 31, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ "Alberta to tighten conflict-of-interest rules for top bureaucrats, legislators", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, April 19, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 2, 2007
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, May 9, 2007
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, December 4, 2007
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, April 11, 2007
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, June 14, 2007
- ^ a b Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, April 17, 2007
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly of Alberta, April 18, 2007
- ^ a b "Calgary candidate profiles, Alberta election 2008", Calgary Sun. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
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