Neil Brown (Canadian politician)

Neil Brown
MLA for Calgary-Nose Hill
In office
November 22, 2004 – May 5, 2015
Preceded by New district
Succeeded by Karen McPherson
Personal details
Born Roderick Neil Brown[1]
1947/1948 (age 68–69)[2]
Calgary, Alberta
Political party Progressive Conservative
Residence Calgary, Alberta
Alma mater University of Calgary
University of Alaska
McGill University

Roderick Neil Brown is a lawyer, biologist, Canadian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Calgary-Nose Hill as a Progressive Conservative.

Early life

Brown was born in Calgary, and earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Calgary in 1971. 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. 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. He worked for McLaws and Company (now Parlee McLaws LLP) in civil litigation before opening his own practice in 1987.[3]

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.[4] During his first term, in addition to his responsibilities as an MLA, Brown served as chair of both the Private Bills Committee and the Conflicts of Interest Act Review Committee. He was also a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Resources and the Environment, the Standing Committee on Government Services, the MLA Committee on AISH Review, the MLA Committee on Métis Harvesting, the Agenda and Priorities Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, and the Legislative Review Committee. He also served as chair of the Alberta Forestry Research Institute.[3]

Brown faced Borowski again in the 2008 election, and defeated him by a similar margin.[5]

Currently, in addition to his duties as MLA for Calgary-Nose Hill, Brown serves as chair of the Private Bills Committee and is a member of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and Services. He also holds the position of chair of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Public Safety and Services with Responsibilities to the departments of Executive Council, Treasury Board, Justice, Aboriginal Relations, Solicitor General and Public Security, and Service Alberta.[3]

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.[6][7][8] 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.[9] 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.[10][11] 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.[12] It passed with Liberal support, although Pannu expressed concern that the new protections were not sufficient.[12][13] 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.[14]

Brown sponsored two government bills in 2006.[7] 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.[15] 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.[15][16] 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.[17] 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.[17][18][19]

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.[20][21] It also placed a requirement on MLAs that they report any personal litigation in which they were engaged, and was supported by all parties.[22][23][24] 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.[25] [26] Finally, Brown sponsored the Appeal Procedures Statutes Amendment Act. This bill made some amendments to the procedures of the Alberta Court of Appeal.[27] 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.[27][28]

Personal life

Brown has made a number of notable contributions to the public sector; he served on the Board of Governors and Senate of The University of Calgary, was Past-president of the Alumni Association of The University of Calgary, and was member of Student Legal Aid at The University of Calgary. He also held the titles of Vice-president and chair of his Community Association, Associate (voting) member of the Royal Canadian Legion for over 25 years, Director of the Midnapore Church of England Society (historic site), and Lecturer at the Historic Calgary Week of Chinook Country Historical Society. Brown also volunteered with the Booster Club of Thorncliffe-Greenview Community Association and canvassed for the Canadian Cancer Society, the Kidney Foundation, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Alberta Lung Association.[3]

In recognition of his commendable work, he has received a number of prestigious awards and honours including: National Research Council of Canada Scholar, National Sciences and Engineering Research Council grant, Chief Justice McGillivray Shield (University of Calgary, Faculty of Law), President’s Citation (University of Calgary Students’ Union), Award of Merit Honoree (Alumni Association of the University of Calgary), Canada 125 Medal for Service to Community and Canada, and the Alberta Centennial medal for outstanding service to Alberta.[3]

Brown is unmarried and has no children.[29] In his spare time, he enjoys various activities such as curling, canoeing, hunting, and fishing, in addition to creative writing, reading, and traveling.[3] He identifies John A. Macdonald and Winston Churchill as his political heroes.[29]

2012 Alberta General Election results(Calgary-McKay-Nose Hill) Turnout 48.9%
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Neil Brown 6,604 46.5%
Liberal Don Thompson 1,105 7.8%
Wildrose Alliance Roy M. Alexander 5,445 38.4%
Alberta Party Jason Webster 207 1.5%
NDP Anne Wilson 840 5.9%[30]

Election results

Alberta general election, 2004: Calgary-Nose Hill
Party Candidate Votes%
Progressive ConservativeNeil Brown 4,372 47.01%
LiberalLen Borowski 2,607 28.03%
Alberta AllianceBill McGregor 1,009 10.85%
GreenJohn Johnson 583 6.27%
New DemocraticDick Huysman 549 5.90%
Social CreditRaymond Hurst 180 1.94%
Total 9,300
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 63
Eligible electors / Turnout 23,572 39.72%
"Calgary-Nose Hill Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 20, 2010. 
Alberta general election, 2008: Calgary-Nose Hill
Party Candidate Votes%∆%
Progressive ConservativeNeil Brown 4,586 49.24% -2.23%
LiberalLen Borowski 2,761 29.65% 1.62%
Wildrose AllianceJohn Murdoch 954 10.24% -0.61%
GreenNick Burman 624 6.70% 0.43%
New DemocraticTristan Ridley 388 4.17% -1.73%
Total / Turnout 9,313
Rejected, spoiled, and declined 49
Eligible electors / turnout 28,148 33.26%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 1.93%
The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 252–255. 

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=224cda35-ecac-417e-be51-5b40cfad679a
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Brown's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography".
  4. ↑ "2004 Alberta provincial election results, Calgary-Nose Hill" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-03-28.
  5. ↑ "Alberta 2008 provincial election results, Calgary-Nose Hill". Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  6. ↑ "Bill Status Report for the 26th Legislature - 1st Session (2005)". Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  7. 1 2 "Bill Status Report for the 26th Legislature - 2nd Session (2006)". Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  8. ↑ "Bill Status Report for the 26th Legislature - 4th Session (2007)". Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  9. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_1%5C20050323_1330_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. March 23, 2005.
  10. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_1%5C20050411_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. April 11, 2005.
  11. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_1%5C20050502_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 2, 2005.
  12. 1 2 https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_1%5C20051128_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. November 28, 2005.
  13. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_1%5C20051130_1330_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. November 30, 2005.
  14. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_1%5C20050517_1330_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 17, 2005.
  15. 1 2 https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_2%5C20060424_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. April 24, 2006.
  16. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_2%5C20060511_1330_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 11, 2006.
  17. 1 2 https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_2%5C20060425_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. April 25, 2006.
  18. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_2%5C20060503_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 3, 2006.
  19. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_2%5C20060516_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 16, 2006.
  20. ↑ Fedio, Chloé (October 31, 2007). "It’s bills, bills, bills (oh, and royalties, of course) as Legislature gets set to resume". Vue Weekly. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  21. ↑ "Alberta to tighten conflict-of-interest rules for top bureaucrats, legislators". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 19, 2007. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  22. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20070502_1300_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 2, 2007.
  23. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20070509_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. May 9, 2007.
  24. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20071204_2000_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. December 4, 2007.
  25. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20070411_1300_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. April 11, 2007.
  26. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20070614_1300_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. June 14, 2007.
  27. 1 2 https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20070417_1300_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. April 17, 2007.
  28. ↑ https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files%5Cdocs%5Chansards%5Chan%5Clegislature_26%5Csession_3%5C20070418_1300_01_han.pdf |chapter-url= missing title (help) (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. April 18, 2007.
  29. 1 2 "Calgary candidate profiles, Alberta election 2008". Calgary Sun. Archived from the original on 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  30. ↑ http://results.elections.ab.ca/19.htm
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