Guy Boutilier
Encyclopedia
Guy C. Boutilier is a Canadian politician and current member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative
, and served in several capacities in the Cabinet of Alberta under Premiers
Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach
before being ejected from the P.C. caucus in July 2009; he joined the Wildrose Alliance Party after sitting as an independent for a year. Before entering provincial politics during the 1997 Alberta election
, he was involved in municipal politics, having served two terms on the city council of Fort McMurray
before being elected mayor of that city in 1992. When Fort McMurray was amalgamated with the surrounding area to form the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
in 1995, Boutilier served as the new municipality's first mayor.
, a Bachelor of Education
from St. Mary's University, and a Master of Public Administration
from Harvard University
. He has worked as a financial analyst in the petroleum industry and as a business management instructor at Keyano College
. He has also lectured at the University of Alberta
's school of business.
. He was the first mayor of this new municipality, serving until 1997 when he resigned to enter provincial politics.
in the 1997 Alberta election
, when he ran as the Progressive Conservative
candidate in Fort McMurray
. The incumbent Liberal
, Adam Germain
, was not seeking re-election, and Boutilier won by defeating John Vyboh by more than a thousand votes. As a backbencher, he moved several bills: the Mines and Minerals Amendment Act was a 1997 government bill designed to enable the implementation of a generic royalty regime for new development in the Alberta oilsands
and streamline the process for land leases to oil and gas companies by moving administrative elements from legislation to regulation. The bill passed with Liberal support, but New Democratic
leader Pam Barrett
opposed the bill out of concerns that it left the legislature out of debates in which it should play a role and provided overly-generous incentives to oil companies without requiring anything from them in return. Also in 1997, Boutilier sponsored the Cost Declaration Accountability Act, a private member's bill
that never reached second reading.
In 1998, Boutilier sponsored two more bills. The Railway Act was a government bill that modernized the rules governing the operation of railways in Alberta. The Liberals expressed general support for the bill, but ultimately opposed it on the basis of a clause that allowed cabinet to make regulations on "any matter that the Minister considers is not provided for or is insufficiently provided for" in the Act, which they considered to be dangerously broad. The bill passed. The same year, Boutilier sponsored the Government Accountability Amendment Act, a private member's bill that would have required all government bills to include an associated financial cost to come before the legislature with an estimate of those costs for the ensuing three years. The bill was hoisted
for six months on second reading on a motion by Wayne Cao
, which, since the legislature was not in session six months later, effectively killed the bill.
He was re-elected in the 2001 election
with a substantially increased margin over Vyboh. Following the 2001 election, Premier Ralph Klein named Boutilier to his cabinet as the Minister of Municipal Affairs. In this capacity, Boutilier sponsored the Municipal Government Amendment Act in 2003. The Act allowed municipalities to charge developers off-site road levies, a practice which had been common but which had recently been successfully challenged in court, and passed largely without controversy. Boutilier kept the municipal affairs until after the 2004 election
(in which he was again re-elected handily, this time in the newly-formed Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
riding), when Klein transferred him to the post of Minister of the Environment. He held this post in 2005, when a Canadian National Railway
train derailed, spilling oil into Wabamun Lake
. At the time, Boutilier described himself as "damn well pissed off" about the spill and about the allegation that CN had neglected to report that the spill contained carcinogen
ic chemical, and pledged "to bring to the full extent of the law anyone who has breached Alberta law." CN was eventually charged under federal statutes. He was also at the forefront of his government's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol
, at one point slipping his Quebec
counterpart Thomas Mulcair
a note during a United Nations conference on the subject in Montreal
, which Mulcair interpreted as a request that Quebec soften its support of Kyoto in exchange for investment in the Montreal Stock Exchange by Alberta industry. Boutilier characterized the note as "discussions in terms of what we would want to be able to do in a positive environmental initiative" and denied that he was trying to influence Quebec's position.
In the 2006 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Boutilier initially backed Lyle Oberg
, and switched his support to eventual winner Ed Stelmach
after Oberg was eliminated on the first ballot. When Stelmach succeeded Klein as premier, he named a smaller cabinet than Klein's. This included a merger of the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio with Intergovernmental and International Relations, and Stelmach gave the expanded portfolio to Boutilier. Boutilier was re-elected by another expanded margin in the 2008 election, but was not named to Stelmach's new cabinet, making him the only returning member of the pre-election cabinet not to receive a portfolio. His demotion was met with protest in his home riding, which contains much of the oilsands activity
driving Alberta's economy at the time, and the local Progressive Conservative riding association
sent a letter of protest to Stelmach.
In July 2009, Stelmach ejected Boutilier from the Progressive Conservative caucus for publicly criticizing the government. Boutilier was upset with delays in the construction of a long-term care facility in his riding, and said that without the facility seniors were being kept in "holding cells" in the local hospital. Stelmach's spokesman said that his ejection was due to his seeking "preferential treatment" for his riding; Boutilier denied that he had done so. In June 2010, after nearly a year as an independent, he joined the Wildrose Alliance Party, saying that the move was "a natural flow", and in hindsight calling his expulsion from the P.C. Party "the best thing that ever happened to me in my political career".
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...
. He was elected as a Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
, and served in several capacities in the Cabinet of Alberta under Premiers
Premier of Alberta
The Premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. The current Premier of Alberta is Alison Redford. She became Premier by winning the Progressive Conservative leadership elections on...
Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael "Ed" Stelmach, MLA is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and speaks fluent Ukrainian. He spent his entire pre-political adult life as a...
before being ejected from the P.C. caucus in July 2009; he joined the Wildrose Alliance Party after sitting as an independent for a year. Before entering provincial politics during the 1997 Alberta election
Alberta general election, 1997
The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, he was involved in municipal politics, having served two terms on the city council of Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray, Alberta
Fort McMurray is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It was previously incorporated as a city on September 1, 1980. It became an urban service area when it amalgamated with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995 to create the Municipality...
before being elected mayor of that city in 1992. When Fort McMurray was amalgamated with the surrounding area to form the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
Wood Buffalo, Alberta
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is a specialized municipality located in northeastern Alberta. Formed as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995, it is the second largest municipality in Alberta by area...
in 1995, Boutilier served as the new municipality's first mayor.
Early life
Guy Boutilier earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Francis Xavier UniversitySt. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a post-secondary institution located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school was founded in 1853, but did not offer degrees until 1868. The university has approximately 5000 students.-History:...
, a Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Education
A Bachelor of Education is an undergraduate academic degree which qualifies the graduate as a teacher in schools.-North America:...
from St. Mary's University, and a Master of Public Administration
Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He has worked as a financial analyst in the petroleum industry and as a business management instructor at Keyano College
Keyano College
Keyano College is a fully accredited comprehensive community college headquartered in Fort McMurray, in Wood Buffalo region Alberta, Canada which serves post-secondary courses and programs to communities throughout Northern Alberta through both in-classroom and distance education...
. He has also lectured at 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...
's school of business.
Municipal politics
Boutilier was elected to the Fort McMurray city council on October 20, 1986, to a three-year term as alderman. He was re-elected October 16, 1989, and was elected the youngest mayor in the city's history October 22, 1992. He served in this capacity until April 1, 1995, when Fort McMurray lost its status as a city and was rolled into the new Regional Municipality of Wood BuffaloWood Buffalo, Alberta
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is a specialized municipality located in northeastern Alberta. Formed as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Fort McMurray and Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995, it is the second largest municipality in Alberta by area...
. He was the first mayor of this new municipality, serving until 1997 when he resigned to enter provincial politics.
Provincial politics
Boutilier was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of AlbertaLegislative 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...
in the 1997 Alberta election
Alberta general election, 1997
The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
, when he ran as the Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
candidate in Fort McMurray
Fort McMurray (provincial electoral district)
Fort McMurray was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, from 1986 until 2004, when it was included in the new district of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.-MLAs:The district elected the following members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta:...
. The incumbent 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...
, Adam Germain
Adam Germain
Adam Germain is a former provincial level politician, lawyer and current Court of Queen's Bench Justice from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 to 1997.-Political career:...
, was not seeking re-election, and Boutilier won by defeating John Vyboh by more than a thousand votes. As a backbencher, he moved several bills: the Mines and Minerals Amendment Act was a 1997 government bill designed to enable the implementation of a generic royalty regime for new development in the Alberta oilsands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
and streamline the process for land leases to oil and gas companies by moving administrative elements from legislation to regulation. The bill passed with Liberal support, but New Democratic
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...
leader Pam Barrett
Pam Barrett
Pam Barrett was a politician who left politics in February 2000, after having a life-changing near-death experience.-Early political career:...
opposed the bill out of concerns that it left the legislature out of debates in which it should play a role and provided overly-generous incentives to oil companies without requiring anything from them in return. Also in 1997, Boutilier sponsored the Cost Declaration Accountability Act, a private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
that never reached second reading.
In 1998, Boutilier sponsored two more bills. The Railway Act was a government bill that modernized the rules governing the operation of railways in Alberta. The Liberals expressed general support for the bill, but ultimately opposed it on the basis of a clause that allowed cabinet to make regulations on "any matter that the Minister considers is not provided for or is insufficiently provided for" in the Act, which they considered to be dangerously broad. The bill passed. The same year, Boutilier sponsored the Government Accountability Amendment Act, a private member's bill that would have required all government bills to include an associated financial cost to come before the legislature with an estimate of those costs for the ensuing three years. The bill was hoisted
Hoist (motion)
A hoist motion is used in Canadian legislative bodies to cause a bill not to be read now, but six months hence, or any number of months hence....
for six months on second reading on a motion by Wayne Cao
Wayne Cao
Wayne Cao is a Canadian politician and current member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, where he represents the district of Calgary-Fort as a Progressive Conservative. He was first elected in the 1997 provincial election and has been re-elected four times since...
, which, since the legislature was not in session six months later, effectively killed the bill.
He was re-elected in the 2001 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....
with a substantially increased margin over Vyboh. Following the 2001 election, Premier Ralph Klein named Boutilier to his cabinet as the Minister of Municipal Affairs. In this capacity, Boutilier sponsored the Municipal Government Amendment Act in 2003. The Act allowed municipalities to charge developers off-site road levies, a practice which had been common but which had recently been successfully challenged in court, and passed largely without controversy. Boutilier kept the municipal affairs until after the 2004 election
Alberta general election, 2004
The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
(in which he was again re-elected handily, this time in the newly-formed Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of current districts 83 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting....
riding), when Klein transferred him to the post of Minister of the Environment. He held this post in 2005, when a Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
train derailed, spilling oil into Wabamun Lake
Wabamun Lake
Wabamun Lake is one of the most heavily used lakes in Alberta, Canada. It lies west of Edmonton, Alberta. It is long and narrow, covers and is 11 meters deep at its deepest, with somewhat clear water....
. At the time, Boutilier described himself as "damn well pissed off" about the spill and about the allegation that CN had neglected to report that the spill contained carcinogen
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic chemical, and pledged "to bring to the full extent of the law anyone who has breached Alberta law." CN was eventually charged under federal statutes. He was also at the forefront of his government's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
, at one point slipping his Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
counterpart Thomas Mulcair
Thomas Mulcair
Thomas J. "Tom" Mulcair is a Canadian lawyer, university professor, and politician. He is the federal Member of Parliament for Outremont, Quebec, Canada, and currently holds a seat in the New Democratic Party of Canada...
a note during a United Nations conference on the subject in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, which Mulcair interpreted as a request that Quebec soften its support of Kyoto in exchange for investment in the Montreal Stock Exchange by Alberta industry. Boutilier characterized the note as "discussions in terms of what we would want to be able to do in a positive environmental initiative" and denied that he was trying to influence Quebec's position.
In the 2006 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Boutilier initially backed Lyle Oberg
Lyle Oberg
Lyle Oberg is an Albertan politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly.Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A physician by profession, Oberg was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as an Progressive Conservative in 1993. He was first appointed to the...
, and switched his support to eventual winner Ed Stelmach
Ed Stelmach
Edward Michael "Ed" Stelmach, MLA is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th Premier of Alberta, Canada, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and speaks fluent Ukrainian. He spent his entire pre-political adult life as a...
after Oberg was eliminated on the first ballot. When Stelmach succeeded Klein as premier, he named a smaller cabinet than Klein's. This included a merger of the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio with Intergovernmental and International Relations, and Stelmach gave the expanded portfolio to Boutilier. Boutilier was re-elected by another expanded margin in the 2008 election, but was not named to Stelmach's new cabinet, making him the only returning member of the pre-election cabinet not to receive a portfolio. His demotion was met with protest in his home riding, which contains much of the oilsands activity
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
driving Alberta's economy at the time, and the local Progressive Conservative riding association
Riding association
In Canadian politics a riding association , officially called an electoral district association is the basic unit of a political party, that is it is the party's organization at the level of the electoral district, or "riding"...
sent a letter of protest to Stelmach.
In July 2009, Stelmach ejected Boutilier from the Progressive Conservative caucus for publicly criticizing the government. Boutilier was upset with delays in the construction of a long-term care facility in his riding, and said that without the facility seniors were being kept in "holding cells" in the local hospital. Stelmach's spokesman said that his ejection was due to his seeking "preferential treatment" for his riding; Boutilier denied that he had done so. In June 2010, after nearly a year as an independent, he joined the Wildrose Alliance Party, saying that the move was "a natural flow", and in hindsight calling his expulsion from the P.C. Party "the best thing that ever happened to me in my political career".
Election results
| 2008 Alberta general election results (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of current districts 83 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.... ) |
font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 21.6% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
Progressive Conservative | Guy Boutilier | 4,534 | 63.5% |
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... |
Ross Jacobs | 1,751 | 24.5% |
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... |
Mel Kraley | 550 | 7.7% |
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... |
Reg Normore | 301 | 4.2% | |||||
| 2004 Alberta general election Alberta general election, 2004 The Alberta general election of 2004 was the twenty-sixth general election for the province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.... results (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of current districts 83 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.... ) |
font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 26.4% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
Progressive Conservative | Guy Boutilier | 4,429 | 63.2% |
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... |
Russell Collicott | 1,800 | 25.7% |
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... |
Dave Malka | 460 | 6.6% |
Alberta Alliance | Eugene Eklund | 224 | 3.2% |
Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
Reg Normore | 94 | 1.3% | |
| 2001 Alberta general 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.... results (Fort McMurray Fort McMurray (provincial electoral district) Fort McMurray was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, from 1986 until 2004, when it was included in the new district of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.-MLAs:The district elected the following members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta:... ) |
font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 38.0% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
Progressive Conservative | Guy Boutilier | 5,914 | 64.4% |
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... |
John Vyboh | 1,759 | 19.2% |
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... |
Lyn Gorman | 1,498 | 16.3% | |||||||||
| 1997 Alberta general election Alberta general election, 1997 The Alberta general election of 1997 was the twenty-fourth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on March 11, 1997 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.... results (Fort McMurray Fort McMurray (provincial electoral district) Fort McMurray was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, from 1986 until 2004, when it was included in the new district of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo.-MLAs:The district elected the following members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta:... ) |
font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 45.6% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Affiliation | Candidate | Votes | % |
Progressive Conservative | Guy Boutilier | 5,420 | 55.8% |
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... |
John Vyboh | 4,008 | 41.3% |
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... |
Rodney McCallum | 280 | 2.9% | |||||||||