Brent Rathgeber

Brent M. Rathgeber (born July 24, 1964) is a lawyer, author and politician from Alberta, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2001 to 2004 and was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2008 federal election as a Conservative. He resigned from the Conservative caucus in 2013 and sat as an Independent. He ran as an Independent candidate in the riding of St. Albert—Edmonton in the 2015 federal election, but was defeated by Conservative candidate Michael Cooper.

Brent Rathgeber
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Edmonton—St. Albert
In office
October 14, 2008 – August 4, 2015
Preceded byJohn G. Williams
Succeeded byMichael Cooper
Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly
for Edmonton Calder
In office
March 12, 2001 – November 22, 2004
Preceded byLance White
Succeeded byDavid Eggen
Personal details
Born (1964-07-24) July 24, 1964
Melville, Saskatchewan, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative (2001-2004)
Conservative (2008-2013)
Independent (2013-present)
ResidenceEdmonton, Alberta
Alma materUniversity of Saskatchewan
ProfessionLawyer, author

In 2016, Brent returned to the business world as a political consultant. Rathgeber joined Cody Law Office in St. Albert, providing a full range of legal services, advocacy and consulting. Rathgeber also writes a weekly political column for iPolitics.

Early life

Rathgeber was born in Melville, Saskatchewan. After graduating from Melville Comprehensive School in 1982, Brent obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Saskatchewan.

Career

Alberta MLA (2001–2004)

Rathgeber won election to the provincial electoral district of Edmonton Calder in the 2001 Alberta general election after defeating Liberal incumbent Lance White.[1]

In the 2004 Alberta general election, after only serving one term in office, he was defeated by David Eggen of the New Democratic Party.[2][3]

House of Commons (2008–2015)

Rathgeber stood as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the federal electoral district of Edmonton—St. Albert in the 2008 election,[4] and was elected with 61.6 per cent of the vote.[5] He was re-elected in the 2011 federal election.[6][7]

Regarding supply management, Rathgeber said "One can occasionally be critical of the Government without being disloyal. I proudly serve in the Conservative (Government) Caucus but do not leave the viewpoints of my constituents behind every time I board a plane to Ottawa. It is natural for me to question Supply Management, since I represent 140,000 consumers but not a single dairy farmer. Similarly, all of my adult constituents are taxpayers but only a tiny fraction work for the federal government; as a result, I believe it is appropriate that I question public pensions (including my own) and demand respect for taxpayer dollars generally."[8]

Rathgeber has voiced his support for motion 312, which says Canada should re-examine when human life begins.[9]

Rathgeber blogged in 2012 that voters complained to him about the limousine expenses of Tory cabinet ministers when he travelled to Saskatchewan for a funeral.[10]

On 5 June 2013, Rathgeber announced that he had resigned from the Conservative Caucus due to what he believed to be the "Government's lack of commitment to transparency and open government."[10][11]

In November 2014, Brent was awarded the honour of "Member of Parliament who best represents his constituents" by Maclean's magazine. This award is voted on by all Members of Parliament and recognizes his ability to represent constituents more effectively when freed from party positions and discipline.

In the 2015 federal election, he ran as an independent in St. Albert—Edmonton, a reconfigured version of his old riding.[12][13] He finished third, with 19.7 percent of the vote, behind Conservative candidate, Michael Cooper.[14][15]

Post-parliamentary career

Rathgeber currently writes a column for iPolitics.[16]

Bibliography
  • Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada (September 2014) Dundurn Press[17][18]

The book contrasts the current state of Canadian democracy to the founding principles of responsible government established by the Fathers of Confederation in 1867. It examines the consequences of the inability or disincentive of modern elected representatives to perform their constitutionally mandated duty to hold the Prime Minister and his cabinet to account and the resultant disregard with which the executive now views Parliament. A chapter is devoted to Withholding the power: Canada's broken Access to Information laws.

Electoral record
2015 Canadian federal election: St. Albert—Edmonton
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeMichael Cooper26,78345.24-19.25–
LiberalBeatrice Ghettuba13,38322.54+11.70–
IndependentBrent Rathgeber11,65219.68n/a–
New DemocraticDarlene Malayko6,60911.16-8.91–
GreenAndrea Oldham8211.39-3.22–
Total valid votes/Expense limit 59,208100.00 $218,855.94
Total rejected ballots 1460.25–
Turnout 59,35470.79–
Eligible voters 83,841
Conservative hold Swing -15.47
Source: Elections Canada[19][20]
2011 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—St. Albert
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeBrent Rathgeber34,46863.46+1.82
New DemocraticBrian LaBelle11,64421.44+5.67
LiberalKevin Taron5,79610.67-3.92
GreenPeter Johnston2,4094.44-3.54
Total valid votes/Expense limit 54,317 100.00 –
Total rejected ballots 151 0.28+0.05
Turnout 54,468 56.26+2.59
Eligible voters 96,815 ––
2008 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—St. Albert
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeBrent Rathgeber31,43661.6%–
New DemocraticDave Burkhart8,04515.8%–
LiberalSam Sleiman7,44114.6%–
GreenPeter Johnston4,0728.0%–
Total valid votes 50,994
Total rejected ballots 118
Turnout 51,112 %

Provincial elections
2004 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Calder
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticDavid Eggen4,06736.01%16.10%
Progressive ConservativeBrent Rathgeber3,73033.02%-8.96%
LiberalBrad Smith2,98526.43%-11.68%
Alberta AllianceVicki Kramer5134.54%–
Total 11,295––
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 48––
Eligible electors / Turnout 23,15348.99%-2.71%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -0.45%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Calder Official Results 2004 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
2001 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Calder
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeBrent Rathgeber5,12841.98%9.58%
LiberalLance White4,65438.10%-2.21%
New DemocraticChristine Burdett2,43219.91%-7.37%
Total 12,214––
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 24––
Eligible electors / Turnout 23,67151.70%-1.81%
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing -2.01%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-Calder Official Results 2001 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
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References
  1. "Tory sends White riding into history". Edmonton Journal. March 13, 2001.
  2. "Alberta Votes 2004: Edmonton-Calder". CBC News. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  3. "Teacher's win gives NDP opposition status". Edmonton Journal. November 23, 2004.
  4. "Rathgeber looks to succeed John Williams in St. Albert". Edmonton Journal. October 8, 2008.
  5. "Federal Election 2008: Edmonton—St. Albert". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  6. "Rathgeber romps to victory". St. Albert Gazette. May 3, 2011. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  7. "Rathgeber re-elected in Edmonton-St. Albert". Toronto Sun. May 3, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  8. Wherry, Aaron. "Brent Rathgeber Maverick Watch". Maclean's. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  9. Wherry, Aaron. "Another vote for motion 312". Macleans. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
  10. Rathgeber, Brent. "Brent Rathgeber, MP". Twitter. Brent Rathgeber. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  11. "A political barometer of voter discontent". Waterloo Region Record. June 8, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  12. "Former Alberta Conservative Brent Rathgeber to go up against one-time supporter in 2015 election". Global News. January 8, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  13. "Several Alberta seats could be up for grabs, poll analyst says". CBC News. September 9, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  14. "Conservatives elected in five of eight Edmonton ridings". CBC News. October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  15. "Rathgeber falls short in bid to win as independent". Edmonton Journal. October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  16. "Brent Rathgeber, Author at iPolitics". iPolitics. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  17. Brent Rathgeber (September 10, 2014). Irresponsible Government: The Decline of Parliamentary Democracy in Canada. Dundurn Press. ISBN 9781459728370.
  18. "Harper's caucus control described in book by MP, a former Tory". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  19. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — St. Albert—Edmonton (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  20. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
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