Bob Turner (Canadian politician)

Summary

Andrew Robert "Bob" Turner (born June 23, 1948) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Edmonton-Whitemud as a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party.[1] He won his seat with 12,803 votes, defeating incumbent health minister and former mayor of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel by 5,622 votes, or around 57% of the vote to Mandel's 32%. Mandel had previously beaten Turner in an October, 2014 by-election after Mandel was appointed as an unelected minister by then-Premier Jim Prentice.[2][3]

Bob Turner
Turner in May 2015
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Whitemud
In office
May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019
Preceded byStephen Mandel
Succeeded byRakhi Pancholi
Personal details
Born
Andrew Robert Turner

(1948-06-23) June 23, 1948 (age 75)
Brandon, Manitoba
Political partyAlberta New Democratic Party
Residence(s)Edmonton, Alberta
OccupationMedical doctor, professor

Turner chose not to run for re-election in the 2019 election, stating "From the beginning, I spoke about the need to move forward in building Nellie Carlson School, with upgrading the Misericordia Hospital and eliminating flavoured tobacco...I've been proud to see all of these goals accomplished".[4]

In his place, the NDP ran Rakhi Pancholi as its candidate. She won the seat, defeating Elisabeth Hughes of the United Conservative Party.[5]

Political career edit

Turner served as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and as a member on the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. Previously he served as chair of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.[6]

Turner has been a supporter of issues such as LGBTQ2S+ rights, he replaced a rainbow flag that was cut down from Lillian Osborne High School in June 2017.[7]

Medical career edit

Turner is a retired hematologist/oncologist at the University of Alberta Hospital and Cross Cancer Institute and is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Oncology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He also served Stanton Medical Clinic in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He is a graduate of McGill University medical school and has training in Internal Medicine from Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Quebec and Hematology and Medical Oncology from the University of Pittsburgh.[8] He practiced hematology and oncology medicine, with a special interest in blood disorders such as acute and chronic leukemias, lymphomas, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative neoplasms, mast cell diseases and stem cell transplantation.[9] In the past, Turner was the medical director of the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service Center in Edmonton and director of the Division of Clinical Hematology of the University of Alberta. In 2007 he was selected as the Physician of the Year by the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association.

Electoral history edit

2014 by-election edit

Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Edmonton-Whitemud
Resignation of Dave Hancock on September 25, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Stephen Mandel 6,003 42.39 -17.85
New Democratic Bob Turner 3,150 22.24 13.24
Wildrose Tim Grover 2,680 18.92 2.72
Liberal Donna Wilson 2,033 14.35 2.39
Alberta Party Will Munsey 202 1.43 -0.92
Green René Malenfant 95 0.67
Total 14,163
Rejected, spoiled and declined 14 11 17
Eligible electors / turnout 35,795 39.36 -19.67
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -15.54
Source(s)
Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2015). Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections in: Calgary-Elbow, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-West, Edmonton-Whitemud (PDF) (Report). Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta; Chief Electoral Officer. ISBN 978-098653678-6. Retrieved April 20, 2021.

2015 general election edit

2015 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Whitemud
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Bob Turner 12,805 57.45% 35.21%
Progressive Conservative Stephen Mandel 7,177 32.20% -10.19%
Wildrose Chad Peters 1,423 6.38% -12.94%
Liberal Steven Townsend 629 2.82% -11.53%
Green Kathryn Jackson 182 0.82% 0.15%
Independent John Baloun 73 0.33%
Total 22,289
Rejected, spoiled and declined 57 45 11
Eligible electors / turnout 37,018 60.39% 21.03%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing 22.70%
Source(s)
Source: "46 - Edmonton-Whitemud, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Chief Electoral Officer (2016). 2015 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer (PDF) (Report). Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 254–258.

References edit

  1. ^ "Riding results: Edmonton-Whitemud". www.edmontonjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  2. ^ "Riding results: Edmonton-Whitemud". www.edmontonjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-03. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  3. ^ "Health Minister Stephen Mandel dethroned in Edmonton Whitemud". Metro. Archived from the original on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  4. ^ "Dr. Bob Turner Announces Retirement". www.daveberta.ca. 22 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Results: Rakhi Pancholi holds Edmonton-Whitemud for NDP". www.edmontonjournal.com.
  6. ^ "Legislative Assembly of Alberta". www.assembly.ab.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  7. ^ "Rainbow flag cut down on Pride day at Edmonton high school | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  8. ^ "Robert Turner - Department of Medicine - University of Alberta". ualberta.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
  9. ^ "Medical Oncology". ualberta.ca.