Dan Albas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Dan Albas is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

politician, who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

in the 2011 election. He represents the electoral district of Okanagan—Coquihalla

Okanagan—Coquihalla

Okanagan—Coquihalla is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997.-Geography:...

as a member of the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

. In the 41st Canadian Parliament

41st Canadian Parliament

The 41st Canadian Parliament is the current Parliament of Canada, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011...

, Albas was appointed to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is a committee in the Canadian House of Commons. It focuses on transport, infrastructure and communities...

and introduced one piece of legislation, a private members bill called An Act to amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (interprovincial importation of wine for personal use) (C-311) which would allow individuals to import wine from another province for the purpose of personal consumption.

Background

Born in 1976, Dan Albas' family moved to Penticton when he was three years old. With his two sisters, he was raised in mostly in Penticton by a father who worked as a lawyer and was active in conservative politics and a mother who worked as a social worker. The family spent a short time living in Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...

, but moved to Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

to seek medical treatment after an accident left Dan with severe burns over much of his body. They moved back to Penticton where Albas attended Penticton Secondary School

School District 67 Okanagan Skaha

School District 67 Okanagan Skaha is a school district in the Okanagan region of British Columbia. It operates the public schools in Penticton and Summerland.-History:...

and Okanagan University College

Okanagan University College

Okanagan University College was a public, post-secondary educational institution based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It evolved from Okanagan College , and the college's predecessor, the B.C. Vocational School 1963-1965...

. He worked as a martial arts instructor and in the late-1990s he opened his own martial arts studio, Kick City Martial Arts (later re-named Premier Martial Arts). In 2005 his studio held a fund-raiser in which pledges were taken by students who would break boards with martial arts moves in support of a Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

-related charity. The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce named Albas the 2005 young entrepreneur of the year. In the same year Albas became a board member on the Chamber of Commerce and was appointed to represent the region on the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce. He helped merge the independent Chambers of Commerce in Penticton, Okanagan Falls

Okanagan Falls, British Columbia

Okanagan Falls is a community located on the south end of Skaha Lake in British Columbia. Originally named Dogtown, which was derived from the name Dog Lake , the current name derives from the former small set of the falls that used to lie on the Okanagan River at the outlet of the lake.-References:...

, Oliver

Oliver, British Columbia

Oliver is a community at the south end of the Okanagan Valley in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, with a population of 4370. The community of Oliver is made up of land governed by three different bodies: the Town of Oliver, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the...

and Osoyoos

Osoyoos, British Columbia

Osoyoos is a town in the southern part of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia near the border with Washington state. The town is also adjacent to the Indian Reserve of the Osoyoos Indian Band. The origin of the name Osoyoos was the word suius meaning "narrowing of the waters" in the local...

into the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce. He ran the regional United Way

United Way of Canada

United Way of Canada is the national organization for the 117 autonomous, volunteer-based United Ways across Canada. United Way campaigns raise money for local groups that address community issues and problems, and the national organization provides leadership, services and coordination to the...

fund-raising campaign in 2007 and again in 2010. In 2008 he became active with a community group called the Penticton Housing Coalition advocating for affordable housing in the city, like secondary suite

Secondary suite

Secondary suite is an urban planning term for an additional separate dwelling unit on a property that would normally accommodate only one dwelling unit. A secondary suite is considered "secondary" or "accessory" to the primary residence on the parcel. It normally has its own entrance, kitchen,...

Municipal politics

In the 2008 local government elections the 31-year-old Albas ran, and placed first with 5,656 votes, for a seat on the Penticton City Council. Albas became known as the most fiscally-conservative councillor on an already fiscally-conservative council. Beyond the measures agreed to by the council, Albas sought to avoid having the city purchase or pay for a fire-rescue boat, the restoration of the SS Sicamous, landscaping improvements at the South Okanagan Events Centre and the beaches, mobile radar speed signs, building an agricultural centre in the downtown area and unsuccessfully tried to defer the hiring of additional fire department officers and eliminate a 2.1% raise in councillor salaries (though all were approved by council despite Albas opposing the motions). He voted against opening public library on Sundays to avoid the extra costs and against raising the electricity rate to match FortisBC rate increases (the city purchases power from FortisBC and sells it to citizens), and requiring developers who work with the city to have professional liability insurance, though all were approved by council. Initiatives that Albas began or assisted with included bylaw enforcement fines for aggressive pan-handling, keeping a Canada Post outlet in the downtown area. Believing public transit should be funded through user fees, he voted against acquiring new buses from BC Transit unless it was paid for through higher fares and later sought to raise fares by 25% to fund operational costs. He drew criticism as a councillor for interfering with staff management and for posting speculative comments on his blog regarding privatization of city services. Albas was appointed to be a director at the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen where he was successful he reducing the Regional District's contribution to the Okanagan Film Commission by 50%; Albas became an alternate director in 2009 and 2010.

Federal politics

In March 2011, after Stockwell Day

Stockwell Day

Stockwell Burt Day, Jr., PC, MP is a former Canadian politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, and a former leader of the Canadian Alliance. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of...

, the MP for Okanagan—Coquihalla

Okanagan—Coquihalla

Okanagan—Coquihalla is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997.-Geography:...

for the last 11 years, unexpectedly announced his retirement, a nomination election was held to seek his replacement as the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Canada

nominee. Albas faced two other candidates: Marshall Neufeld who had worked as Day's parliamentary assistant and West Kelowna landscaper Russell Ensign. A fourth candidate, Chamber of Commerce president Jason Cox, campaigned but missed the deadline for submitting his nomination papers. The nomination election came under criticism from Conservative Party members for being rushed; the vote was held only 10 days after Day's announcement leaving several potential candidates unable to participate and leading to accusations that the three candidates had been given advanced notice of events.

The 2011 federal election campaign began soon after the nomination vote. Albas faced former Summerland

Summerland, British Columbia

Summerland is a community on the west side of Okanagan Lake in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. The district is between Peachland to the north and Penticton to the south...

councillor David Finnis of the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

, semi-retired Ashcroft businessman John Kidder for the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

, Penticton marketer Dan Bouchard for the Green Party

Green Party of Canada

The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

, Penticton doctor Dietrich Wittel (independent), and West Kelowna real estate agent Sean Upshaw who campaign in protest of the Conservative Party nomination process which he felt excluded from due to its rushed vote. Albas won the election in the Okanagan—Coquihalla

Okanagan—Coquihalla

Okanagan—Coquihalla is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997.-Geography:...

riding with 54% of the vote and his Conservative Party formed a majority government. When the 41st Parliament

41st Canadian Parliament

The 41st Canadian Parliament is the current Parliament of Canada, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011...

began Albas was appointed to the 'Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities' and the 'Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations'. In the House of Commons, Albas has to date introduced Bill C-311, a Private Members Bill entitled An Act to amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (interprovincial importation of wine for personal use) (Bill C-111) which would allow individuals to import wine from another province for the purpose of personal consumption. The existing law, which dates back to the Prohibition era

Prohibition in Canada

The temperance movement reached its height in Canada in the 1920s, when outside imports were cut off by provincial referendums. As legislation prohibiting consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation restricting the sale of alcohol to minors and imposing excise...

, only allows provincial liquor boards to do this. The bill has the support of members of the NDP, Liberal Party and Green Party and to date has been referred to committee following second reading.

Election history

|-

|Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

New Democratic Party

Liberal Party of Canada

Green Party of Canada

|Dan Bouchard
|align="right"|5,005
|align="right"|9%
|align="center"|-4
|align="right"|

|Independent
|Sean Upshaw
|align="right"|860
|align="right"|2%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|

|Independent
|Dietrich Wittel
|align="right"|180
|align="right"|0.3%
|align="center"|n/a
|align="right"|
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|53,238
!align="right"|100%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|121
!align="right"|0.2%
|- style="background:white;"
! style="text-align:right;" colspan="3"|Turnout
!align="right"|53,359
!align="right"|62%
|}

External links

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