Brian Mason
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The Honourable Brian Mason MLA |
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Mason in May 2015
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| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood Edmonton Highlands (2000-2004) |
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Assumed office June 12, 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Pam Barrett |
| Leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party |
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In office July 13, 2004 – October 18, 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Raj Pannu |
| Succeeded by | Rachel Notley |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Brian David Mason October 12, 1953 Calgary, Alberta |
| Political party | Alberta New Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | University of Alberta |
| Occupation | Bus Driver |
| Portfolio | Minister of Infrastructure, Minister of Transportation |
Brian David Mason (born October 12, 1953) is a Canadian politician who was leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2014 and is currently the Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Transportation in Rachel Notley's NDP government. He also serves as the Government House Leader. Mason was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the now-defunct riding of Edmonton Highlands in a 2000 byelection. He was subsequently re-elected, and was elected in Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood after the riding was created in 2004. Mason is currently the longest serving NDP MLA in Alberta history, and his career in politics spans more than twenty years.
Mason was born in Calgary in 1953, the son of an electrical engineer. His father was a Red Tory who later helped found the Reform Party of Canada while his mother was a Liberal.
Mason first became politically active in the mid-1970s while studying political science at the University of Alberta. He served as executive director of the Federation of Alberta Students from 1977 to 1979. While there he boarded at the traditionally Tory fraternity Phi Gamma Delta and was roommates with future Progressive Conservative Premier Dave Hancock, who teased him by calling him a communist. Upon leaving university Mason began working as bus driver with the Edmonton Transit System.
Mason first ran for Edmonton city council after he was temporarily laid off from ETS in 1983, before becoming president of the Edmonton Voters Association, a municipal political party. He tried again for a seat on the council in 1989 with a dynamic campaign running in Ward 3. Mason's campaign came with a legal challenge he mounted against a provincial law forbidding municipal employees from running as candidates in a civic election unless they resigned their position with the city.
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