Brian Mason

Brian David Mason (born October 12, 1953) is a Canadian politician who was leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2014 and served the Minister of Transportation in Rachel Notley's NDP government.[2] He also served as the Government House Leader. Mason was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the now-defunct riding of Edmonton Highlands in a 2000 byelection. He was subsequently re-elected, and was elected in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood after the riding was created in 2004. Mason was the longest serving NDP MLA in Alberta history, with a political career spanning more than 20 years.[3]

For other people named Brian Mason, see Brian Mason (disambiguation).

Brian Mason
Mason in May 2015
Minister of Transportation of Alberta
In office May 24, 2015 – April 30, 2019
Premier	Rachel Notley
Preceded by	Wayne Drysdale
Succeeded by	Ric McIver
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood Edmonton Highlands (2000-2004)
In office June 12, 2000 – April 16, 2019
Preceded by	Pam Barrett
Succeeded by	Janis Irwin
Leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party
In office July 13, 2004[1] – October 18, 2014
Preceded by	Raj Pannu
Succeeded by	Rachel Notley
Personal details
Born	Brian David Mason (1953-10-12) October 12, 1953 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Political party	Alberta New Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Alberta
Occupation	Politician, Bus Driver
Portfolio	Minister of Infrastructure, Minister of Transportation

Early political involvement

Mason was born in Calgary in 1953,[4] the son of an electrical engineer. His father was a Red Tory who later helped found the Reform Party of Canada while his mother was a Liberal.[3]

Mason first became politically active in the mid-1970s while studying political science at the University of Alberta. He served as executive director of the Federation of Alberta Students from 1977 to 1979. While there he boarded at the traditionally Tory fraternity Phi Gamma Delta and was roommates with future Progressive Conservative Premier Dave Hancock, who teased him by calling him a communist.[5] Upon leaving university Mason began working as bus driver with the Edmonton Transit Service.[3]

Municipal politics

Mason first ran for Edmonton city council after he was temporarily laid off from ETS in 1983, before becoming president of the Edmonton Voters Association, a municipal political party.[5] He tried again for a seat on the council in 1989 with a dynamic campaign running in Ward 3. Mason's campaign came with a legal challenge he mounted against a provincial law forbidding municipal employees from running as candidates in a civic election unless they resigned their position with the city.[5]

The legal challenge was unsuccessful, however Mason was elected city councillor for Ward 3 in October 1989.[5] Shortly after the election the law Mason challenged was repealed, and municipal workers in Edmonton were subsequently allowed to run for civic office without resigning their positions. Mason remained on city council until 2000, when he ran for political office for the New Democratic Party.[6]

Provincial politics

In 2000, following the mid-term resignation of then leader of the Alberta New Democrats and MLA for Edmonton Highlands Pam Barrett, Mason left city council and ran for the NDP in the ensuing by-election. He held the Legislative Assembly seat with a strong majority, and was re-elected in the 2001 provincial election.[6]

Alberta NDP Leader

Mason was appointed the role of interim party leader for the NDP following the resignation of then leader Raj Pannu in July 2004. He became the official leader of Alberta's NDP on September 18, 2004, following a vote at the party convention.

Mason held his seat during the provincial election in 2004, which saw the caucus welcome the return of former leaders Pannu and Ray Martin, along with newcomer David Eggen. In the provincial election of 2008 Mason again retained his seat, and was joined in caucus by newly elected NDP MLA Rachel Notley from Edmonton-Strathcona, the seat previously held by Pannu.

During his tenure as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, Mason has become the outspoken champion of issues such as:

• Protecting public health care and long-term care
• Defending senior citizens
• Diversifying Alberta's economy
• Refining more bitumen in the province
• Banning political contributions from corporations and unions (like what has been done federally)
• Denouncing PC electricity deregulation
• Increasing education funding
• Regulating automobile insurance rates

Mason also hosted various community meetings across the province. In 2009, Mason hosted a Round Table forum to discuss provincial budget concerns with a wide cross-section of Albertans. In 2009 and 2010, Mason hosted two provincial tours, each visiting several Alberta communities. The first tour took place in September 2009, with the public forums focusing on health care concerns, and resulted in the publication of the What People Want report. This report included more than 35 recommendations for health care reforms that would protect public services and improve the general health of Albertans. The second tour took place in May 2010, where the NDP again held public consultations. This time they invited Albertans to discuss concerns over the future of Alberta's energy economy and environment, as well as the erosion of public health services including long-term care.

In the 2012 provincial election the NDP picked up two seats in Edmonton, regaining their previous four seat total. Both Notley and Mason safely held onto their seats while David Eggen was re-elected as the member for Edmonton-Calder. Newcomer Deron Bilous was also elected in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview, the seat formerly held by Martin. In many other ridings the party also won more votes than it had attained previously.[7]

On April 29, 2014, Brian Mason announced that he would step down as leader as soon as a leadership election could be held to choose his successor.[8] Mason who had mentored Rachel Notley convinced her to run for the leadership which she won. During the final few months of Mason's tenure the party was already enjoying strong polling in Edmonton, something which would eventually grow into the larger electoral sweep that the Alberta NDP managed in the 2015 provincial election under Mason's successor Notley that resulted in the formation of Alberta's first ever NDP government.[9]

Member of Notley cabinet

On May 24, 2015, Mason was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Transportation, as well as Government House Leader.[5]

Mason announced on July 4, 2018 that he would not seek re-election in the 2019 provincial election.[10][11] He remained as a minister and MLA until April 30, 2019, when the new United Conservative Party government of Jason Kenney was sworn in.

Edmonton provincial election riding results, 2000 to 2015

2000 by-election

Alberta provincial by-election, Monday, June 12, 2000: Edmonton-Highlands following the resignation of Ms. Pamela Barrett on February 2, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	4,863	59.04	+8.40
	Liberal	Terry Kirkland	1,508	18.31	-2.21
	Progressive Conservative	Barbara Fung	1,406	17.07	-8.02
	Alberta First	John Reil	270	3.28	–
	Social Credit	Pat Hansard	156	1.89	-1.87
	Independent	Adil Pirbhai	34	0.41	–
Total			8,237	100.00	–
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			28	–	–
Eligible electors / turnout			19,714	41.92	-17.19
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+5.30
Source(s) "By-elections". Elections Alberta. Retrieved 2018-03-12.

2001 general election

2001 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Highlands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	4,641	46.23	-12.81
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Bilida	3,477	34.63	+17.57
	Liberal	Kim Cassady	1,921	19.14	+0.83
Total			10,039	100.00	–
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			35	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			21,539	46.77	+4.85
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-15.19
Source(s) "Results for Edmonton-Highlands". Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 2018-03-12.

2004 general election

2004 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	6,054	62.62
	Progressive Conservative	Terry Martinuk	2,208	22.84
	Liberal	Jason Manzevich	1,035	10.71
	Alberta Alliance	Ray Loyer	305	3.15
	Independent	Dale Ferris	66	0.68
Total valid votes			9,668	100.00
Total rejected ballots			91	–
Turnout			9,759	42.74
Eligible voters			20,681	–

2008 general election

2008 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	4,754	50.95	-11.67
	Progressive Conservative	Andrew Beniuk	2,978	31.92	+9.08
	Liberal	Brad Smith	1,132	12.13	+1.42
	Wildrose Alliance	Travis Loewen	245	2.63	-0.52
	Green	Mohamad Maie	221	2.37	–
Total valid votes			9,330	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			39	–	–
Turnout			9,369	32.54	-10.20
Eligible voters			28,795	–	–
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-10.38%

2012 general election

2012 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	6,824	54.16	+3.21
	Progressive Conservative	Cris Basualdo	2,778	22.05	-9.87
	Wildrose	Wayde Lever	2,022	16.05	+13.42
	Liberal	Keegan Wynychuk	587	4.66	-7.47
	Alberta Party	Cam McCormick	200	2.59	–
	Evergreen	Dari Lynn	188	1.49	-0.88
Total valid votes			12,599	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			184	–	–
Turnout			12,783	45.25	+12.71
Eligible voters			28,251	–	–
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.21%

2015 general election

2015 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	11,558	78.07
	Progressive Conservative	Jonathan Dai	1,778	12.01
	Wildrose	Joshua Loeppky	964	6.51
	Liberal	Matthew Smith	504	3.41
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+23.94%

References

1. "About Brian Mason". Alberta's NDP. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
2. "Rachel Notley sworn in as Alberta premier, reveals cabinet," CBC News May 24, 2015.
3. "Brian Mason resigns as leader of Alberta NDP". CBC News. April 28, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
4. Brian Mason to step down as Alberta NDP leader
5. Jen Gerson (May 23, 2015). "Brian Mason, former bus driver who led the Alberta NDP for a decade, poised to wield real power for the first time". National Post. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
6. Cosh, Colby (May 21, 2015). "How Rachel Notley became Canada's most surprising political star". Macleans. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
7. "NDP Leader Brian Mason glides to victory". CBC News. April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
8. Bennett, Dean (May 2, 2014). "Alberta NDP to pick new leader in Edmonton". The Canadian Press. Global News. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
9. Ryan Tumilty (7 May 2015). "Alberta NDP insiders say path to Rachel Notley's historic victory started long before election began". Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
10. "Longtime MLA Brian Mason farewells party faithful at NDP convention". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
11. "After nearly 30 years in politics, MLA Brian Mason retiring". Edmonton. 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2020-03-22.

External links

• Alberta NDP Opposition homepage (caucus)
• Alberta NDP homepage (party)
• Party info about Brian Mason
• Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography