Laurie Blakeman

Laurie Blakeman
File:Laurie Blakeman.jpg
MLA for Edmonton-Centre
In office March 11, 1997 – May 5, 2015
Preceded by	Michael Henry
Succeeded by	David Shepherd
Personal details
Born	(1958-05-23) May 23, 1958 Edmonton, Alberta
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Ben Henderson
Residence	Edmonton, Alberta
Occupation	Non-profit manager
Website	http://www.laurieblakeman.ca

Laurie Blakeman (born May 23, 1958) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Edmonton-Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. She is a member of the Alberta Liberal Party, and was first elected in the 1997 election.

Early life

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts in acting and a certificate in public administration from the University of Alberta. Before entering politics, she worked for the Alberta Advisory Council on Women's Issues, the Phoenix Theatre and Theatre Network, the Medical Council of Canada, and the Alberta Snowmobile Association.

Political career

Electoral record

Blakeman first sought political office in the 1997 provincial election, when she ran as a Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Centre to replace retiring Liberal MLA Michael Henry. She was elected, finishing more than a thousand votes ahead of the second place finisher, Progressive Conservative Don Weideman. This gap narrowed when Weideman challenged her re-election bid in the 2001 election, but grew to more than three thousand votes in 2004. The 2008 election would bring a new Progressive Conservative Opponent, in Bill Donahue, but a similar result, as Blakeman handily retained her seat. For the 2015 election, Laurie ran for three political parties, Liberal, Alberta Party and Greens. All to no avail as she lost her seat in the legislature in the 2015 election which saw the NDP sweep to power for the first time.

Legislative initiatives

In 1997, Blakeman sponsored the Domestic Abuse Act, a private member's bill that never reached second reading. In 1998, she brought forward the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Amendment Act, another private member's bill, which would have expanded the province's anti-discrimination legislation to include sexual orientation as a basis on which discrimination was prohibited (later the same year, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Vriend v. Alberta, ruled Alberta's failure to include this to be in contravention of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms); it too failed to advance to second reading.

In 1999, Blakeman sponsored the Consumers Insurance Company Act, a private bill designed to create a new insurance company, in compliance with the law that new insurance companies could only be created by acts of the legislature. However, the bill faced some opposition from Blakeman's Liberal colleagues, including Linda Sloan, Hugh MacDonald, and Gary Dickson, who expressed concern that the bill might be a step towards privatized medicine. The bill passed.

In 2007, Blakeman sponsored the Healthy Futures Act, which would have required major policy and funding decisions to undergo "health impact assessments", which would look at their impacts on Albertans' health through social and environmental impacts. Blakeman's Liberal colleagues supported the bill, as did the New Democrats (although NDP MLA Ray Martin expressed concern that the bill only required assessment, rather than action, on potential adverse health impacts) and several Progressive Conservatives. Even so, it was defeated through majority opposition of the Progressive Conservatives, many of whom expressed the view that the bill would add nothing meaningful that did not already exist under the existing regulatory framework, while, in the words of PC MLA Dave Rodney, "effectively bring[ing] the decision- making apparatus of the government and this Assembly to a grinding halt."

Leadership aspirations

After Kevin Taft announced his intention to resign the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party following its defeat in the 2008 election, Blakeman was one of four MLAs to express interest in running in the ensuing election to replace him. However, in August she announced that she would not do so, citing the cost of a candidacy. She was a candidate in the 2011 leadership election, placing third.

Critic Portfolios

• Liberal Opposition House Leader
• Critic for Environment and Sustainable Resource Development
• Critic for Culture
• Critic for Justice and Solicitor General
• Critic for Municipal Affairs

Personal life

Blakeman is married to Edmonton city councillor Ben Henderson.

Election results

Alberta general election, 1997: Edmonton-Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Laurie Blakeman	4,769	43.96%	−3.63%
	Progressive Conservative	Don Weideman	3,634	33.50%	4.74%
	New Democratic	Jenn Smith	1,845	17.01%	−2.70%
	Social Credit	Alan Cruikshank	420	3.87%	2.17%
	Forum	Emil van der Poorten	98	0.90%
	Natural Law	Richard Johnsen	83	0.76%	−0.04%
Total			10,849
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			43
Eligible electors / Turnout			20,907	52.10%
	Liberal hold		Swing		−4.19%
Source:

Alberta general election, 2001: Edmonton-Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Laurie Blakeman	5,095	44.01%	0.05%
	Progressive Conservative	Don Weideman	4,446	38.41%	4.91%
	New Democratic	David Eggen	1,959	16.92%	-0.09%
	Communist	Naomi Rankin	76	0.66%	*
Total			11,576
Rejected, spoiled and declined			105
Eligible electors / Turnout			20,907	51.58%
	Liberal hold		Swing		2.48%

2004 Alberta general election results (Edmonton-Centre)			Turnout 49.0%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Laurie Blakeman	6,203	57.1%
	Progressive Conservative	Don Weideman	2,622	24.1%
	NDP	Mary Elizabeth Archer	1,319	12.1%
	Green	David Parker	333	3.1%
	Alberta Alliance	Tony Caterina	280	2.6%
	Social Credit	Linda Clements	112	1.0%

Alberta general election, 2008: Edmonton-Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Laurie Blakeman	5,042	44.98%	−12.09%
	Progressive Conservative	Bill Donahue	3,291	29.36%	5.24%
	New Democratic	Deron Bilous	2,163	19.30%	7.16%
	Greens	David Parker	472	4.21%	1.15%
	Wildrose Alliance	James Iverson	200	1.78%	−0.80%
	Alberta Party	Margaret Saunter	42	0.37%
Total			11,210
Rejected, spoiled, and declined			109
Eligible electors / Turnout			35,186	32.17%
	Liberal hold		Swing		−8.67%
Source:

Alberta general election, 2012: Edmonton-Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Laurie Blakeman	5,589	40.22%	−4.76%
	Progressive Conservative	Akash Khokhar	4,289	30.87%	+1.51%
	New Democratic	Nadine Bailey	2,258	16.25%	−3.05%
	Wildrose Alliance	Barb de Groot	1,759	12.66%	10.88%
Turnout			13,895	49.5%
Source: "Edmonton-Centre Statement of Official Results 2012 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta.

Alberta general election, 2015: Edmonton-Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	New Democratic	David Shepherd	8,980	54.41%	-
	Liberal	Laurie Blakeman	4,198	25.44%	−14.78%
	Progressive Conservative	Catherine Keill	2,218	13.44%	-
	Wildrose	Joe Byram	772	4.68%	-
	Independent	Greg Keating	295	1.79%	-
	Independent	Rory Joe Koopmans	40	0.24%	-
Turnout			16,503	56.4%
Source: "Edmonton-Centre Unofficial Poll Results 2015 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta.