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The Honourable Alison Redford QC MLA
File:Alison Redford headshot.jpg
14th Premier of Alberta
Incumbent
Assumed office October 7, 2011
Lieutenant Governor	Donald Ethell
Preceded by	Ed Stelmach
Leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
Incumbent
Assumed office October 2, 2011
Preceded by	Ed Stelmach
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Alberta
In office March 13, 2008 – February 18, 2011
Premier	Ed Stelmach
Preceded by	Ron Stevens
Succeeded by	Verlyn Olson
Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly for Calgary-Elbow
Incumbent
Assumed office March 3, 2008
Preceded by	Craig Cheffins
Personal details
Born	(1965-03-07) March 7, 1965 (age 59) Kitimat, British Columbia
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse	Glen Jermyn
Children	Sarah
Alma mater	University of Saskatchewan
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Alison Merrilla Redford Q.C., MLA, (born March 7, 1965) is a Canadian politician, and the 14th and current Premier of Alberta, Canada. Upon winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta, in October 2011, she became the first female premier in Alberta. Redford was born in Kitimat, British Columbia and raised in Calgary, Alberta; before entering politics she worked as lawyer.

In the 2008 provincial election, Redford was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Calgary-Elbow. She is Canada's eighth female premier, and for the first time in Canadian history, four provinces or territories simultaneously have female premiers.

Early life

Redford was born March 7, 1965 in Kitimat, British Columbia. Her family moved to Nova Scotia and Borneo, and to Calgary by the time Redford was 12. She graduated from Bishop Carroll High School, Calgary, and from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in 1988.

The Secretary General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali appointed and assigned Alison Redford to a post in the United Nations as a special legal adviser.

Throughout the 1990s, Redford worked as a technical advisor on constitutional and legal reform issues in various parts of Africa for the European Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Canadian Government and the Government of Australia. Her work in Africa focused on human rights litigation, developing education programs and policy reform with respect to gender issues.

In 1999, Redford was employed by the Government of Alberta as the communications officer on the committee for Justice Reform. The criminal Justice Reform Committee advised a program of reform in which the criminalization of mental health issues and the ongoing plea bargaining system was criticized by such organizations as the Elizabeth Fry Society, a national body representing women. convicted of crimes. Checks and balances within the Crown Prosecutors office were removed permitting each of the prosecutors to act independently and according to their own view. Several programs of advocacy were removed or absorbed into the Alberta Justice programs.

One of Redford's most notable appointments was by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as one of the four International Election Commissioners to administer Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections held in September 2005. Political issues in the elections program within Alberta at that time were under question by the Elections Commissioner. She also served as an advisor to the Privy Council Office on Canada's future involvement in Afghanistan subsequent to the elections. Her work has included assignments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Namibia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Philippines. Before her most current post, Redford managed a judicial training and legal reform project for the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme People's Court in Vietnam.

Political career

Redford has been actively involved in both provincial and national politics since the 1980s. She served as Senior Policy Advisor to Joe Clark, Secretary of State for External Affairs and in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada from 1988 to 1990. In this capacity, Redford organized a series of national foreign policy consultations facilitating public input on the Government of Canada's White Papers on Foreign Affairs and Defence. In the Canadian Parliament, she was also the Principal Legislative Advisor to the Secretary of State for External Affairs.

On March 13, 2008, after being elected MLA for the constituency of Calgary-Elbow, Redford was named Minister of Justice and Attorney General by Premier Ed Stelmach. In addition, she also served as a member of the Agenda and Priorities Committee, the Treasury Board, and the Cabinet Policy Committee on Public Safety and Services. She resigned from the cabinet in early 2011 to devote herself to her campaign to succeed Stelmach as leader of the governing Progressive Conservative Party.

On October 2, 2011, Redford won the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership, effectively making her premier-designate of the province of Alberta. Redford was sworn in as Alberta's 14th Premier at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on October 7, 2011.

Personal life

Redford has been an active member of many community boards, including the Lycee Louis Pasteur Society, the Heritage Park Foundation and the Calgary Winter Club. She previously served on the Board of the Lakeview Community Association and the Alberta Human Rights Education Advisory Board.

Redford lives in Calgary with her husband Glen Jermyn and daughter Sarah.

Election results

References

1. "Premier Alison Redford: quick facts". Edmonton Journal. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
2. "PROFILE: Alison Redford, Alberta premier". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
3. ^ "Redford's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography".
4. Fong, Petti (October 2, 2011). "Alison Redford new leader of Alberta's PC party". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
5. "Alison Redford sworn in as Alberta Premier". CBC News. October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
6. "Alison Redford". Alison Redford.ca. Alison Redford. Retrieved October 4, 2011.

External links

• Website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
• Calgary-Elbow Constituency Website
• CBC interview, October 3, 2011.
• Global Edmonton interview, October 2, 2011.

v t e Politics of Alberta
Crown in Alberta	Charles III
Lieutenant Governor	Salma Lakhani Former lieutenant governors
Premier	Danielle Smith (Premiership) Former premiers List of premiers by time in office
Legislature	Current assembly Former legislatures Executive Council (Cabinet) Speaker of the Assembly Nathan Cooper Opposition Leader Rachel Notley Former Opposition Leaders
Political parties	United Conservative Danielle Smith New Democratic Naheed Nenshi Alberta Party Lindsay Amantea Alberta Advantage Marilyn Burns Buffalo Andrew Jacobson Communist Naomi Rankin Green Vacant Independence Vacant Liberal John Roggeveen Pro-Life Murray Ruhl Reform Randy Thorsteinson Solidarity Movement Artur Pawlowski Wildrose Independence Jeevan Singh Mangat Wildrose Loyalty Coalition Paul Hinman
Elections	31st general election (2023) Past elections Electoral districts
Other Canadian politics: Federal AB BC MB NB NL NS ON PE QC SK NT NU YU

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• 1965 births
• Premiers of Alberta
• Female Canadian political party leaders
• Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
• Living people
• People from Calgary
• People from Kitimat, British Columbia
• Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs
• University of Saskatchewan alumni
• Women MLAs in Alberta