Mike Lake (politician)

Michael Stanley "Mike" Lake PC MP [1] (born June 4, 1969) is a Canadian politician, businessman, and sports executive in Alberta, Canada who represented the riding of Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont from 2006 to 2015 and has represented Edmonton—Wetaskiwin since 2015. He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada and served as Parliamentary Secretary of Industry under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Honourable Mike Lake PC MP
Lake in 2015
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont (2006-2015)
Incumbent
Assumed office January 23, 2006
Preceded by	David Kilgour
Personal details
Born	Michael Stanley Lake (1969-06-04) June 4, 1969 New Westminster, British Columbia
Political party	Conservative
Residence	Edmonton, Alberta
Profession	Businessman, sports executive

Early and personal life

Lake was born in New Westminster, British Columbia. He grew up in Devon, Alberta and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta. After graduating from university, he began a career with the Edmonton Oilers ice hockey team as a sales manager and director of ticket sales as their national accounts manager.

He has two children, his son has autism and thus is a member of the Edmonton Autism Society. He is involved in the Alberta Foster Care Program.

Lake has regularly held breakfasts to raise funds for autism research.[2]

Federal politics

Mike Lake won the Conservative Party of Canada nomination for the riding of Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont defeating seven-time candidate Tim Uppal. The nomination proved to be significant since popular long time Liberal incumbent David Kilgour had chosen to retire, creating a power vacuum in the riding.

Lake went on to win the vacant riding in a landslide victory in the 2006 federal election. Pundits had predicted the race would be closer as the Liberal Party of Canada had held the district and its predecessor ridings since 1991.

In his first term as a representative in the House of Commons of Canada, Lake was presented with a very unusual petition signed by almost 500 individuals calling for Bigfoot to be protected under the Species at Risk Act. Lake filed the petition with the Clerk of the House of Commons on March 28, 2007.[3] When interviewed, Lake said that he did not believe in Bigfoot, but filed the petition as a service to constituents without making any judgment call.[4][5]

The 2015 federal election saw Lake's previous district eliminated in the 2012 federal electoral redistribution. Lake ran for election as a Member of Parliament in the Edmonton—Wetaskiwin electoral district, winning with 65.7% of the votes.[6]

After the resignation of Stephen Harper as leader of the Conservatives, now the Official Opposition, Lake announced that he would run for the interim leadership.[7] The race was eventually won by Rona Ambrose.[8]

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—Wetaskiwin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Mike Lake	63,346	72.4	+6.63
	Liberal	Richard Wong	10,802	12.4	-9.05
	New Democratic	Noah Garver	9,820	11.2	+1.48
	Green	Emily Drzymala	1,660	1.9	-0.43
	People's	Neil Doell	1,616	1.8	-
	Veterans Coalition	Travis Calliou	211	0.2	-
Total valid votes/Expense limit			87,455	100.0
Total rejected ballots			392	0.4	+0.1
Turnout			87,847	71.4	+2.8
Eligible voters			122,984
	Conservative hold		Swing		+7.84
Source: Elections Canada[9][10]

2015 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—Wetaskiwin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Mike Lake	44,949	65.77	-9.80	–
	Liberal	Jacqueline Biollo	14,660	21.45	+15.73	–
	New Democratic	Fritz K. Bitz	6,645	9.72	-4.55	–
	Green	Joy-Ann Hut	1,595	2.33	-1.76	–
	Libertarian	Brayden Whitlock	495	0.72	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			68,344	100.00		$239,717.63
Total rejected ballots			197	0.29	–
Turnout			68,541	69.58	–
Eligible voters			98,502
	Conservative hold		Swing		-12.76
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]

2011 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Mike Lake	27,857	60.79	+0.47	$44,902
	New Democratic	Nadine Bailey	10,875	23.73	+8.61	$11,236
	Liberal	Mike Butler	5,066	11.05	-7.46
	Green	Christa Baxter	1,364	2.98	-2.70	$1,705
	Pirate	Brent Schaffrick	374	0.82	*	$2,461
	Communist	Naomi Rankin	100	0.22	-0.16	$562
Total valid votes/Expense limit			45,636	100.00
Total rejected ballots			191	0.42	+0.07
Turnout			45,827	53.64	+1.6
Eligible voters			85,432	–	–
	Conservative hold		Swing		+3.97

2008 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Mike Lake	25,130	60.32	+1.70	$80,034
	Liberal	Indira Saroya	7,709	18.51	-2.64	$82,941
	New Democratic	Mike Butler	6,297	15.12	+0.57	$4,620
	Green	David Allan Hrushka	2,366	5.68	+1.21
	Communist	Naomi Rankin	157	0.38	+0.19	$395
Total valid votes/Expense limit			41,659	100.00	$84,984
Total rejected ballots			146	0.35	+0.07
Turnout			41,805	52.0	-10.3
	Conservative hold		Swing		+2.17

2006 Canadian federal election: Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Mike Lake	27,191	58.62	+16.13	$67,482
	Liberal	Amarjit Grewal	9,809	21.15	-21.67	$73,522
	New Democratic	Neal Gray	6,749	14.55	+4.85	$10,297
	Green	Kate Harrington	2,073	4.47	-0.19	$1,347
	Independent	Kyle McLeod	477	1.03	N/A	$8,055
	Communist	Naomi Rankin	85	0.18	-0.15	$280
Total valid votes			46,384	100.00
Total rejected ballots			131	0.28	+0.16
Turnout			46,515	62.3	-2.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+18.9

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2012-09-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. Lazzarino, Dave. "The Edmonton Sun -". The Edmonton Sun. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
3. House of Commons of Canada (2007-03-28). "Journals". Retrieved 2007-05-09.
4. Maudie, Max (5 April 2007). "Petition says protect Bigfoot". Edmonton Sun. Edmonton, Canada: Canoe Inc. Archived from the original on 8 February 2008.
5. Radford, Benjamin (25 May 2007). "Endangered Species Protection Sought for Bigfoot". Live Science. Purch.
6. "Conservatives elected in five of eight Edmonton ridings". CBC News. October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
7. "Rona Ambrose, Mike Lake to run for Conservative interim leadership". Maclean's. The Canadian Press. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
8. Kathleen Harris (November 5, 2015). "Rona Ambrose chosen as interim Conservative leader". CBC News. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
9. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
10. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
11. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Edmonton—Wetaskiwin (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
12. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• MP website
• Mike Lake (politician) – Parliament of Canada biography