Mike Cardinal

Mike Cardinal
MLA for Athabasca-Redwater
In office November 22, 2004 – March 3, 2008
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Jeff Johnson
MLA for Athabasca-Wabasca
In office June 15, 1993 – November 22, 2004
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	District abolished
MLA for Athabasca-Lac La Biche
In office March 20, 1989 – June 15, 1993
Preceded by	Leo Piquette
Succeeded by	District Abolished
Personal details
Born	Melvin Percy Joseph Cardinal July 17, 1941 Northern Alberta
Political party	Progressive Conservative

Melvin Percy Joseph "Mike" Cardinal^[1] is a politician from Alberta, Canada and a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, having served in that capacity from 1989 until 2008. He sat as a Progressive Conservative and represented the districts of Athabasca-Lac La Biche, Athabasca-Wabasca, and Athabasca-Redwater. He also held five cabinet posts in the government of Ralph Klein.

Early life

Mike Cardinal was born into a family of 13 in 1941 in northern Alberta, the son of a trapper and a homemaker. He dropped out of school in grade 8 to work, but eventually returned to school and graduated from grade 12. He spent ten years in the forestry and sawmill industries before entering the public sector. He worked as a mortgage officer with the Alberta Housing Corporation before transferring to the Alberta Human Resources Development Authority. There he developed a native housing/relocation program before moving to the department of Advanced Education and Manpower, where he served as regional supervisor of Employment/Counselling Services for ten years. He served a further three years as a regional manager of Employment and Relocation Counselling Services, and three more as a senior consultant to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Manpower.

Municipal politics

Cardinal served as a town councillor in Slave Lake and on the school board of the Northland School Division No. 61, where he chaired the board for three of his six years of service.

Provincial politics

Electoral record

Cardinal first sought provincial office in the 1989 election, when ran as a Progressive Conservative against incumbent New Democrat Leo Piquette in the riding of Athabasca-Lac La Biche. He defeated Piquette by more than 900 votes. When electoral boundaries were re-drawn in advance of the 1993 election, Cardinal ran in the new riding of Athabasca-Wabasca. He was elected here not only in 1993, but also in 1997 and 2001, taking well over fifty percent of the vote each time. In 2004 this riding too was abolished, and Cardinal served his last term as the member for Athabasca-Redwater, which he won handily in the 2004 election. He did not seek re-election at the conclusion of this term.

Backbencher

Cardinal served as a backbencher from the time of his election until Ralph Klein became premier in December 1992. During this time, he sponsored the Metis Settlements Land Protection Act of 1990, a government bill designed to give Metis settlements ownership over the land. It passed without significant controversy, though Liberal Nicholas Taylor questioned a portion of the bill that stipulated that the land, as it was communally owned, could not be mortgaged.^[2]

Minister of Family and Social Services

Upon Ralph Klein's ascendancy to the Premiership in December 1992, Cardinal was brought into cabinet as the Minister of Family and Social Services. He was the first treaty Indian to be named to Alberta's cabinet,^[3] and, in addition to his portfolio, was given cabinet responsibility for aboriginal issues.^[4]

Election results

2004 Alberta general election results (Athabasca-Redwater)			Turnout 49.9%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Cardinal	5,707	47.7%
	Liberal	Nicole Belland	3,253	27.2%
	NDP	Peter Opryshko	1,397	11.7%
	Alberta Alliance	Sean Whelan	1,184	9.9%
	Green	Luke de Smet	252	2.1%
	Social Credit	Leonard Fish	177	1.5%
2001 Alberta general election results (Athabasca-Wabasca)			Turnout 50.4%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Cardinal	4,238	66.7%
	Liberal	Al Wurfel	1,264	19.9%
	NDP	Colin Piquette	606	9.5%
	Social Credit	David Klassen	153	2.4%
	Green	Ian Hopfe	94	1.5%
1997 Alberta general election results (Athabasca-Wabasca)			Turnout 47.7%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Cardinal	3,380	59.0%
	Liberal	Tony Mercredi	1,481	25.9%
	Social Credit	Curtis Gunderson	468	8.2%
	NDP	Dean Patriquin	300	5.2%
	Green	Harlan Light	100	1.7%
1993 Alberta general election results (Athabasca-Wabasca)			Turnout 62.2%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Cardinal	4,144	60.0%
	Liberal	Simon Waquan	1,921	27.8%
	NDP	Emil Zachkewich	843	12.2%
1989 Alberta general election results (Athabasca-Lac La Biche)			Turnout 67.5%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Cardinal	4,237	45.2%
	NDP	Leo Piquette	3,342	35.7%
	Liberal	Tom Maccagno	1,791	19.1%

References

2. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_22/session_2/19900605_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. June 5, 1990.
3. Quaid, Maeve (2002). Workfare: Why Good Social Policy Ideas Go Bad. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-8020-8101-8.
4. Fraser, Fil (March 27, 1993). "Cardinal ready to settle Lubicon claim". Edmonton Journal.