Ron Liepert

Ronald Liepert MP (born October 8, 1949) is a Canadian politician and the current Member of Parliament for Calgary Signal Hill. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Calgary-West as a Progressive Conservative, from 2004 to 2012. On April 12, 2014, Liepert won the federal Conservative nomination in Calgary Signal Hill, defeating incumbent Rob Anders.[1]

Ron Liepert MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Calgary Signal Hill
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	new district
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary West
In office November 22, 2004 – April 23, 2012
Preceded by	Karen Kryczka
Succeeded by	Ken Hughes
Personal details
Born	(1949-10-08) October 8, 1949 Saltcoats, Saskatchewan, Canada
Political party	Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, Conservative Party of Canada
Spouse(s)	Linda
Children	2
Residence	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Occupation	consultant
Website	http://ronliepert.ca

Early life

Liepert was born in Saltcoats, Saskatchewan in 1949.[2] He grew up on the farm and attended a small rural school. He left high school in the middle of grade 11 at the age of 17.[3] He moved to Calgary where he took a job with Rosco Steel. For three years Liepert returned to the family farm to help with the crop, but he became disillusioned with farming and he settled into Calgary, Alberta year round. He was working at Burns Foods in 1971 when he decided to enroll in the Columbia School of Broadcasting. In 1972 Liepert, married and with an infant daughter, joined CHAB (AM) in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In the mid-1970s he took a position with CFCW (AM) radio in Camrose, Alberta, and from there he moved to the ITV network in Edmonton, Alberta near the end of the 70s.[3]

From 1980 to 1985, Liepert held the position of Press Secretary to Premier Peter Lougheed. Following that responsibility, he moved to the ministry of Alberta Economic Development as the Trade Director of Western U.S. Operations where he remained until 1991. That year, he moved to the private sector to work for Telus where he was involved in both the purchase of Ed Tel and the BCTel merger in addition to the rebranding of AGT to Telus. From 2000 to 2004, Liepart owned his own public relations/communications consulting company and operated a childcare centre in Calgary's core. Liepert accepted the position of Press Secretary in 1980 when the offer was made by Premier Lougheed. He was at the Premier’s side during the energy negotiations of the early 1980s and at the Constitutional Accord of 1982. He also took part in a number of federal-provincial conferences. He remained Press Secretary until 1985. Following that role, from 1986 to 1991, he held the position of Trade Director of Western U.S. Operations for Alberta Economic Development.

Member of the Legislative Assembly

Liepert first ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the electoral district of Edmonton-Highlands-Beverly in the 1993 Alberta general election. He finished third in the five way race behind winning candidate Alice Hanson and incumbent John McInnis.[4]

After spending some time in the private sector with Telus and a period self-employment doing public relations/communications consulting and owning a childcare centre, Liepert desired to return to the political life. He first sought public office in the 2004 provincial election in the constituency of Calgary-West. In that election, Liepert received 52% of the vote. During his first two years as an MLA, he served as the chair of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund Committee, a co-chair for the Film Advisory Council, and was a Local Authority Elections Act special committee review team member.

Following the 2006 leadership race for the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, newly elected Premier Ed Stelmach appointed Liepert as the Minister of Education. During his tenure as Education Minister, he also served as a member of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Community Services. In the 2008 provincial election, Liepert was reelected with 48% of the vote and appointed by the Premier as the Minister of Health and Wellness. In addition to his ministerial responsibilities, Liepert also currently serves as a member of the Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing Committee.

As the Health Minister Liepert dismantled the nine health regions of Alberta in favour of an Alberta Health Services "super" Board. In existence for five months and running a $1.3 billion deficit, they voted themselves, with Liepert's approval, a 25% raise.[5]

He faced criticism over the handling of the flu immunization campaign for the 2009 flu pandemic.[6][7]

On January 15, 2010, Liepert was sworn in as Minister of Energy.[8]

Member of Parliament

On April 12, 2014, Liepert won the federal Conservative nomination in Calgary Signal Hill, defeating incumbent Rob Anders.[1]

On September 21, 2015, Liepert drew criticism from the left wing Broadbent Institution newsletter Press Progress for his position on civil liberties and Bill C-51. During an all-candidates debate, he stated, "I know there's a whole group of people...who talk about civil liberties and about the freedom of having the right to pretty much choose to do what you like. Folks, that's not the country we live in... I'm fully in favour of Bill C-51."[9]

On October 19, 2015, Liepert was elected MP for Calgary Signal Hill winning with more than 60% of the vote.

During the 42nd Canadian Parliament Liepert introduced one private member bill, C-229 titled Life Means Life Act, which proposed to mandate that those found guilty of certain crimes, such as murder or treason, be sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole. The bill was defeated in a vote in September 2016 with only Conservative Party members voting in support. The bill had been previously introduced in the 41st Parliament by the Minister of Justice, in March 2015 as Bill C-53, though it was not adopted before the parliament ended.[10]

Personal life

Liepert is married to Linda. The couple has two adult children - One is deceased. He enjoys golfing and served as a board member at the Pinebrook Golf Club in Calgary. Liepert has coordinated various charitable affairs, such as celebrity sport dinners and several fundraising campaigns and benefits. He also volunteers his time at a variety of other community events.[8]

Electoral record

Federal

2019 Canadian federal election: Calgary Signal Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Ron Liepert	44,421	70.0	+9.45
	Liberal	Ghada Alatrash	9,722	15.3	-15.26
	New Democratic	Khalis Ahmed	5,355	8.4	+3.4
	Green	Marco Reid	2,139	3.4	+0.86
	People's	Gord Squire	1,130	1.8	-
	Rhinoceros	Christina Bassett	511	0.8	-
	Christian Heritage	Garry Dirk	200	0.3	+0.04
Total valid votes/Expense limit			63,478	100.0
Total rejected ballots			241
Turnout			63,719	72.1
Eligible voters			88,317
	Conservative hold		Swing		+12.36
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]

2015 Canadian federal election: Calgary Signal Hill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Ron Liepert	37,858	60.55	–4.38	–
	Liberal	Kerry Cundal	19,108	30.56	+15.12	–
	New Democratic	Khalis Ahmed	3,128	5.01	–5.57	–
	Green	Taryn Knorren	1,586	2.54	–6.24	–
	Libertarian	Tim Moen	679	1.09	–	–
	Christian Heritage	Jesse Rau	160	0.25	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			62,519	100.0		$220,624.93
Total rejected ballots			189	–	–
Turnout			62,708	–	–
Eligible voters			84,765
	Conservative hold		Swing		–9.75
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]

Provincial

2008 Alberta general election results[15]			Turnout 39.78%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Liepert	8,428	47.97%	-4.11%
	Liberal	Beth Gignac	5,693	32.41%	0.39%
	Wildrose Alliance	Bob Babcock	2,273	12.94%	5.55%
	Green	James Kohut	773	4.40%	-1.06%
	New Democratic	Chantelle Dubois	401	2.28%	-0.77%
Total			17,568
Rejected, spoiled and declined			58
Eligible electors / Turnout			44,306	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-2.25%

2004 Alberta general election results[16]			Turnout 42.38%		Swing
	Affiliation	Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Liepert	6,969	52.08%	-21.07%
	Liberal	Derek Smith	4,284	32.02%	12.35%
	Alberta Alliance	John Keyes	989	7.39%
	Green	James Kohut	731	5.46%	*
	New Democratic	Chantelle Dubois	408	3.05%	-4.13%
Total			13,381
Rejected, spoiled and declined			70
Eligible electors / Turnout			31,736	%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-16.71%

1993 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Highlands-Beverly
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alice Hanson	5,189	45.59%	+27.17%
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Liepert	2,787	24.48%	-2.10%
	New Democratic	John McInnis	2,885	25.34%	-29.66%
	Social Credit	Tim Friesen	428	3.76%	–
	Natural Law	Cliff Kinzel	94	0.83%	–
Total			11,383	–	–
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			31	–	–
Eligible electors / Turnout			20,798	54.88%	+1.14%
	Liberal notional gain from New Democratic		Swing		+14.63%
Source(s) "Results for Edmonton-Highlands". Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 4 June 2020. Swing is calculated from the Edmonton-Highlands result in 1989.

Alberta Provincial Government of Alison Redford
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Iris Evans	Minister of Finance October 12, 2011–May 8, 2012	Doug Horner
Alberta Provincial Government of Ed Stelmach
Cabinet posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Mel Knight	Minister of Energy January 15, 2010–October 12, 2011	Ted Morton
Dave Hancock	Minister of Health and Wellness March 12, 2008–January 15, 2010	Gene Zwozdesky
Gene Zwozdesky	Minister of Education December 15, 2006–March 12, 2008	Dave Hancock

References

1. "Ron Liepert beats Rob Anders, tells Jason Kenney to 'mind his own business'". CBC. The Canadian Press. April 13, 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
2. Ron Liepert – Parliament of Canada biography
3. "Interview for RadioWest.ca".
4. "Edmonton-Highlands-Beverly results 1993". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
5. Liepert gives 25% raise to newly created part time board
6. Edmonton Sun (2009-11-02). "Liepert should lose job: Liberals". Retrieved 2009-11-06.
7. Edmonton Journal (2009-11-05). "Braid: Liepert obvious sacrifice for flu fiasco". Retrieved 2009-11-06.
8. "Liepert's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography".
9. "Ron Liepert on C-51: Civil liberties? "That's not the country we live in."". September 21, 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
10. O'Malley, Kady (March 5, 2016). "Everything you need to know about the first batch of bills from the backbench". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
11. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
12. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
13. "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Calgary Signal Hill (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
14. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
15. The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 264–267.
16. "Calgary-West Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved February 9, 2012.