Bert Brown (March 22, 1938 – February 3, 2018) was a Canadiansenator, farmer, and development consultant.
Bert Brown | |
---|---|
Senator fromAlberta | |
In office July 10, 2007 – March 22, 2013 | |
Constituency | Alberta |
Personal details | |
Born | (1938-03-22)March 22, 1938 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
Died | February 3, 2018(2018-02-03) (aged 79) |
Political party | Conservative |
Early life
editBrown farmed inKathyrn, Alberta, from 1969 to 1999, after which they sold their family farm. After retiring from the Senate of Canada in March 2013, he returned to land development consulting. He attended Mount Royal College and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Civil Engineering. He was married to Alice Taylor (1965) and has one child.
Campaign for a Triple E Senate
editBrown was the only person to run in all three of Canada's elected senatorial elections. In 1989 and 2004 he ran under theAlberta Progressive Conservative Party. In 1998, he ran under theReform Party of Alberta, losing to Stan Waters. He was elected as asenator-in-waiting in 1998 and re-elected in 2004. Brown was the only person ever to be elected to a second term as senator-in-waiting.
He had been campaigning for an electedSenate of Canada for over 23 years. He was the founder and chair of the Canadian Committee for aTriple-E Senate. The definitive symbol for the cause, he had been documented in countlessHansard transcripts in provincial legislatures across the country, as well as the federal Parliament and Senate.
He first gained fame for his cause when he used his tractor to plow "Triple E Senate or Else"[1] into his neighbour's two-mile long field.
Senatorial career
editPrime MinisterStephen Harper promised to advise theGovernor General to appoint Brown to the next available Senate seat from Alberta, according to comments made in the House of Commons April 18, 2007. The announcement came after long-serving senatorDan Hays announced his intent to vacate his seat in the Senate at the end of June 2007.[2]
Brown was appointed to the Canadian Senate on July 10, 2007.[3] Brown served five and a half years until mandatory retirement.
Brown became the second person in Canadian history, afterStan Waters, to be appointed to his Senate seat following a provincial senator-in-waitingelection. Brown chose to run with the Conservative Party of Canada caucus (federal party), even though he ran under the Progressive Conservative banner (provincial party counterpart), in the Alberta Senate election.
On his 75th birthday, March 22, 2013, Brown retired from the Senate as per Senate rules.
Awards
editIn 2005, Brown was a recipient of theAlberta Centennial Medal. The award was given to notable Albertans who made a lasting contribution in the province over the preceding 100 years.[4]
Views
editBert Brown did not acknowledge thescientific consensus onanthropogenic climate change he identified as a denier.[5]
Death
editReferences
edit- ^"Harper appoints Albertan senator-in-waiting". CBC.ca. April 18, 2007. RetrievedMarch 31, 2023.
- ^Licia Corbella (June 22, 2007)."Senators, awake". Edmonton Sun. Archived fromthe original on December 24, 2019. RetrievedJuly 17, 2007.
- ^"Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirms Albertans' choice for Senate". Prime Ministers Office of Canada. Archived fromthe original on July 14, 2007. RetrievedJuly 10, 2007.
- ^"Centennial Medal Recipients A - G". Alberta Government. Archived fromthe original on September 27, 2007. RetrievedJuly 17, 2007.
- ^"Climate skeptics gathering influence in Tory Senate seats". Archived fromthe original on December 15, 2014. RetrievedOctober 13, 2013.
- ^"Former Alberta Senator Bert Brown dead at 79".CBC News. February 15, 2018.Archived from the original on November 9, 2020.
- ^Senator Bert (Retired) Brown Obituary