Carlito Benito 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 and current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...

, representing the constituency of Edmonton-Mill Woods

Edmonton Mill Woods

Edmonton-Mill Woods is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 83 current electoral districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....

 as a member of the Progressive Conservatives

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

.

Early life

Benito was born February 21, 1954 in Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 to father Herminio Benito, an employee with the Philippines health department, and mother Rosa Manansala-Benito. He was the fourth of five children. Benito immigrated to Canada in March 1982. Prior to his election in 2008, Benito was a licensed real estate and insurance agent in Edmonton for 23 years. He holds a commerce degree from Far Eastern University

Far Eastern University

Far Eastern University in the University Belt area, West Sampaloc, City of Manila, is a nonsectarian, private university in the Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, FEU became a university in 1934 under the guidance of...

 in Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 and an economics degree from the University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

.

Political career

Benito first sought public office in the 2001 provincial election

Alberta general election, 2001

The Alberta general election of 2001 was the twenty-fifth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 12, 2001 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....

 in the constituency of Edmonton-Mill Woods

Edmonton Mill Woods

Edmonton-Mill Woods is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. It is one of 83 current electoral districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....

. He was unsuccessful in the electoral bid losing to Liberal Don Massey

Don Massey

Don Massey is a former municipal and provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 until 2004. In that period he also served as Leader of the Official Opposition and Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party in 2004...

 by 518 votes. In the 2008 provincial election, Benito unseated the first-term Liberal incumbent Weslyn Mather

Weslyn Mather

Weslyn Mather is a former provincial politician in the Canadian province of Alberta. She served as a member in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2004 to 2008 sitting with the Liberal caucus in opposition.-Early life:...

 by 756 votes. He is the first Filipino elected to the provincial legislature in Alberta.  
His campaign promises were:

• Donate MLA salary as a scholarship to young people in Mill Woods
• Outstanding Young Men Award
• Free Notary and Commissioner of Oath
• Scholarship Awards Night
• Family Picnic in the Park
• Constituency Office Christmas Open House
• Constituency Pop, Hotdog and Donair Day
• Job Fair
• News Letter
• Festival of Martial Arts
• School Council Outstanding Project Cup
• Model Citizen Medal
• Outstanding Mother of the Year Award

Personal life

Benito has been married to Estrella Benito, a registered nurse, for 28 years, and they have three children together. An avid martial arts enthusiast, Benito has been a trainer at the YMCA in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

 and with the Philippine Military Academy

Philippine Military Academy

The Philippine Military Academy or PMA, is the Philippine military school for the Armed Forces of the Philippines . PMA was established on December 21, 1936 by the virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 1 . PMA is located in Baguio, Benguet province...

. He has collaborated on a book on the stick-fighting art of Arnis.

Controversies

Benito made a campaign promise that, if elected, he would donate his salary to charity. He has since claimed that he didn't mean he'd give away his entire salary, just a part of it.

Carl Benito blames his wife for a failure to pay property taxes on their rental properties.

Benito made sure to get the taxes paid—but only after his picture appeared on The Journal's front page under the headline, "Backbencher hasn't paid property taxes on rental properties."

Election results

2008 Alberta general election results (Edmonton-Mill Woods)			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 40.1%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Carl Benito	4752	44%	Wildrose Alliance Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta The Wildrose Party, formerly Wildrose Alliance Party, is a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. It includes free market conservative, libertarian and socially conservative factions and was formed in 2008 following a merger of the Wildrose Party of Alberta and the Alberta...	Robert Leddy Robert Leddy Robert Leddy is a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. The former interim leader of the Alberta Party, he was elected in Red Deer, Alberta on August 29, 2009.-Political career:...	320	3%	Liberal Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...	Weslyn Mather	3996	37%	Green Green Party of Alberta The Green Party of Alberta, also known as the Alberta Greens, was a provincial political party in the province of Alberta, Canada.The Alberta Greens were formed in 1986 and received official party status on April 6, 1990...	David A. Hrushka	290	3%	NDP Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...	Christina Gray	1474	14%
Total			10832	100%