Brian Mason

Brian Mason (born October 12, 1953) is a Canadian politician and current leader of the Alberta New Democrats.

Mason studied political science at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and went on to serve as executive director of the Federation of Alberta Students (FAS) from 1977-79. Mason then worked as a bus driver for Edmonton Transit Services.

Mason re-entered politics in 1989, when he launched a legal challenge to a provincial law that required municipal employees to resign their positions to run as municipal candidates. The challenge was unsuccessful, but Mason nonetheless pursued his political ambitions and was elected in October of that year as a city councillor for Ward 3 in Edmonton. The law he challenged was repealed shortly after the election.

Mason remained on the council until the resignation of then-leader of the New Democrats, Pam Barrett in 2000. Mason ran in the ensuing Edmonton-Highlands by-election and easily held the Legislative Assembly of Alberta seat for the NDP. He was re-elected in the general election held on March 12, 2001.

During his tenure as an MLA, Mason's supporters have credited him for bringing issues such as energy deregulation, high automobile insurance rates, education funding and treatment of senior citizens to the forefront of Alberta politics.

When his sole NDP colleague in the legislature, Raj Pannu resigned as party leader in July 2004, Mason was appointed to the role of interim leader. Mason was formally selected leader of the New Democrats at a leadership convention in Edmonton on September 18, 2004. At the 2004 Alberta general election Mason held his seat while former leaders Pannu and Ray Martin, along with newcomer David Eggen, also won seats in the City of Edmonton. In the 2008 Alberta general election, Mason retained his seat while Rachel Notley, running in Edmonton-Strathcona, the seat held previously by Pannu, was the only other candidate for the NDP to be elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly in 2008, with both Martin and Eggen losing closely contested races to their PC challengers.

External links

* [http://www.albertandp.ca/ Alberta NDP homepage]
* [http://www.albertandp.ca/About_Brian_Mason.cfm Party info about Brian Mason]
* [http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_bio&rnumber=33 Biography of Brian Mason on the website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta]