Brian Mason

For the meteoriticist, see Brian Harold Mason.

Brian Mason MLA
Mason in May 2015
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton Highlands-Norwood
Incumbent
Assumed office November 22, 2004
Preceded by	New district
Leader of the Alberta New Democrats
In office July 13, 2004 – October 18, 2014
Preceded by	Raj Pannu
Succeeded by	Rachel Notley
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton Highlands
In office 2000–2004
Preceded by	Pam Barrett
Succeeded by	District abolished
Personal details
Born	Brian David Mason (1953-10-12) October 12, 1953 Calgary, Alberta
Political party	Alberta New Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Alberta
Occupation	Bus Driver
Portfolio	Minister of Infrastructure, Minister of Transportation

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 is currently the Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Transportation in Rachel Notley's NDP government. Mason was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood in a 2000 byelection, and his career in politics spans more than twenty years. Mason is currently the longest serving NDP MLA in Alberta history.

Early political involvement

Mason was born in Calgary in 1953, 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. His grandfather was Conservative Senator James Mason.

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. Upon leaving university Mason began working as bus driver with the Edmonton Transit System.

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. He tried again for a seat on the council in 1989 with a dynamic campaign running in Ward 3. Mason's campaign came on the heels of 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.

The legal challenge was unsuccessful, however Mason was elected city councilor for Ward 3 in October 1989. Shortly after the election the law Mason challenged was repealed, and municipal workers in Edmonton are today allowed to run for civic office without resigning their positions. Mason remained on city council until 2000.

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 easily held the Legislative Assembly seat and was re-elected in the 2001 provincial election.

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.

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. 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 new leader Rachel Notley that resulted in the formation of Alberta's first ever NDP government.

Member of Notley cabinet

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

Edmonton Highlands-Norwood riding results, 2004 to present

2004 general election

2004 Alberta general election results Edmonton Highlands-Norwood			Turnout 42.74%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	NDP	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			9,668	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			91
20,681 Eligible Electors
	NDP pickup new district				Swing N/A

2008 general election

2008 Alberta general election results Edmonton Highlands-Norwood			Turnout 32.54%		Swing
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Party	Personal
	NDP	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			9,330	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			39
28,795 Eligible Electors
	NDP hold				Swing -10.38%

2012 general election

Alberta general election, 2012
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	–	–

2015 general election

Alberta general election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Brian Mason	11,558	78.1
	Progressive Conservative	Jonathan Dai	1,778	12.0
	Wildrose	Joshua Loeppky	964	6.5
	Liberal	Matthew Smith	504	3.4

External links

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