Robert William Renner 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...

 for the constituency of Medicine Hat

Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district)

Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...

 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...

.

Early life

Renner was born October 6, 1954 in Medicine Hat, Alberta

Medicine Hat, Alberta

Medicine Hat, known to locals as "The Hat", is a city of 61,097 people located in the southeastern part of the province of Alberta, Canada. It is enclaved within Cypress County along with the nearby Town of Redcliff, although neither is part of the county....

. He graduated from the University of Calgary

University of Calgary

The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...

 in 1976 with a Bachelor of Commerce. Before entering provincial politics, Renner owned and operated a family florist business in Medicine Hat.

Political career

Renner was first elected in the 1993 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 1993

The Alberta general election of 1993 was the twenty-third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 15, 1993 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...

. During his political tenure, Renner has served in numerous capacities; including, member of Treasury Board, Chief Government Caucus Whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

, president of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region

Pacific Northwest Economic Region

The Pacific Northwest Economic Region includes British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. It is designed to improve cooperation and communication between member jurisdictions as well as improve communication between...

, chair of the Health Professions Act Implementation Steering Committee, and co-chair of the Automobile Insurance Implementation Team.

On March 13, 2008, Renner was sworn into his second term as Minister of Alberta Environment, a position that he has held since December 15, 2006. Renner also serves as Deputy Government House Leader, vice-chair of the Cabinet Policy Committee on Resources and the Environment, and as a member of the Agenda and Priorities Committee. Renner was Minister of Alberta Municipal Affairs from 2004–2006.

Since becoming Minister of Alberta Environment, Renner has overseen the development of Alberta’s 2008 Climate Change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

 Strategy, released in January 2008. During the Spring 2007 Legislature session, Renner led Bill 3 - The Climate Change and Emissions Management Amendment Act, 2007 - creating the first-ever legislated greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gas

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...

 emission reduction targets in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Renner has also renewed Water for Life, Alberta's water management framework, and he continues to develop the cumulative effects environmental management system.

Personal life

Renner helped champion improvements to the historic downtown Medicine Hat streetscape and is a former president of the Downtown Business Association. He held the position of Director of the Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce and was a member of Medicine Hat’s Rotary and Jaycee Clubs

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

.

Election results

2008 Alberta general election results ( Medicine Hat Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district) Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 35.4%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Rob Renner	5,391	51%	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...	Karen Charlton	3,626	34%	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...	Clint Rabb	747	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...	Karen Krauss	286	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...	Diana Arnott	483	5%
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 ( Medicine Hat Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district) Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 41.2%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Rob Renner	5,261	50.0%	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...	Karen Charlton	3,419	32.5%	Alberta Alliance	Scott Cowan	1,060	10.1%	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...	Diana Arnott	547	5.2%	Social Credit Social Credit Party of Alberta The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....	Jonathan Lorentzen	242	2.3%
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 ( Medicine Hat Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district) Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 51.7%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Rob Renner	8,109	62.1%	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...	Karen Charlton	4,166	31.9%	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...	Luke Lacasse	787	6.0%
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 ( Medicine Hat Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district) Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 47.5%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Rob Renner	5,853	51.7%	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...	Trevor Butts	3,232	28.5%	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...	George Peterson	787	9.4%	Social Credit Social Credit Party of Alberta The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....	Dale Glasier	1,177	10.4%
1993 Alberta general election Alberta general election, 1993 The Alberta general election of 1993 was the twenty-third general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 15, 1993 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta...  results ( Medicine Hat Medicine Hat (provincial electoral district) Medicine Hat is an Albertan provincial electoral district, covering most of the city of Medicine Hat.Under the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the constituency covers the portion of the city north of the South Saskatchewan River, the Trans-Canada Highway and Carry Drive...  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 56.1%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Rob Renner	5,853	51.7%	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...	Trevor Butts	3,232	28.5%	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...	George Peterson	787	9.4%	Social Credit Social Credit Party of Alberta The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....	Dale Glasier	1,177	10.4%