James Douglas Henderson

James Douglas Henderson
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
In office
June 17, 1963  August 30, 1971
Preceded by Ronald Ansley
Constituency Leduc
In office
August 30, 1971  March 25, 1975
Succeeded by Dallas Schmidt
Constituency Wetaskiwin-Leduc
Minister of Health
In office
May 20, 1969  September 10, 1971
Premier Harry Strom
Preceded by Joseph Ross
Succeeded by Neil Crawford
Minister of the Environment
In office
?  September 10, 1971
Premier Harry Strom
Succeeded by William Yurko
Personal details
Born (1927-01-02) January 2, 1927[1]
Okotoks, Alberta
Political party Social Credit
Independent
Occupation politician

James Douglas Henderson (born January 2, 1927) was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1963 to 1975 sitting as a member of the Social Credit caucus in both government and opposition and later as an Independent. During his time in office he served as a cabinet minister in the government of Harry Strom from 1969 to 1971.

Political career

Henderson ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1963 Alberta general election. He ran in a hotly contested race in the electoral district of Leduc against five other candidates. The election results were heavily divided with no candidate winning a clear majority. Henderson picked up the seat for the Social Credit party defeating incumbent Ronald Ansley who finished a distant third place and Edmonton councilor Ron Hayter who finished fifth.[2]

Henderson ran for a second term in the 1967 Alberta general election. He won a larger margin of victory to hold his seat, defeating three other candidates.[3]

Henderson was appointed as a Commissioner of Oaths on October 24, 1967.[4] He was appointed to the Executive Council of Alberta by Premier Harry Strom as Minister of Health and Minister of the Environment.

The 1971 boundary redistribution would see the Leduc electoral district abolished. Henderson ran in the new electoral district of Wetaskiwin-Leduc for the election held that year. Henderson won a hotly contested three way race. He held his seat by a narrow margin against Progressive Conservative candidate Emanuel Pyrcz.[5] However, the Social Credit government led by Harry Strom was defeated and Henderson and the remaining Social Credit MLAs moved to the Opposition benches. Strom returned to the backbench in 1972, and Henderson was named interim leader of the party and hence Leader of the Opposition.

Werner Schmidt became party leader in 1973 but did not have a seat in the legislature, so Henderson briefly continued as parliamentary leader and Leader of the Opposition for most of the year. However, he quit the party in September and sat as an Independent. Henderson retired at dissolution of the assembly in 1975.

References

  1. Normandin, P.G.; Normandin, A.L. (1975). Guide parlementaire canadien. P.G. Normandin. ISSN 0315-6168. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
  2. "Leduc results 1963". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  3. "Leduc results 1967". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  4. The Alberta Gazette (Vol 63 No 21 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1967. p. 2202.
  5. "Wetaskiwin-Leduc results 1971". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
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