Joan Crockatt
Joan Crockatt (born December 5, 1955) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a by-election on November 26, 2012.[1] A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, she represented the electoral district of Calgary Centre until November 2015.
Joan Crockatt | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre | |
| In office November 26, 2012 – October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Lee Richardson |
| Succeeded by | Kent Hehr |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 5, 1955 Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence(s) | Calgary, Alberta |
| Profession | Journalist |
From Alberta, Crockatt is a business journalist who worked most notably as a senior newspaper executive with the Calgary Herald, and later as a communications consultant and national public affairs commentator.
Personal life edit
Crockatt was born and raised in Lloydminster and has called Calgary home for more than 18 years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan and was awarded a Southam Fellowship in Journalism at the University of Toronto. She studied strategic thinking at the London School of Economics.[2]
Crockatt has been an active community volunteer, chairing the Alberta College of Art and Design's major fundraiser for student scholarships, being a founder of the Lloydminster Sexual Assault Centre, serving as a mentor for the Famous Five Foundation, and competing as a competitive synchronized figure skater (1993 Canadian Silver Medal, 2003 Canadian Festival Silver Medal).[2]
Journalism edit
Crockatt has worked as director of editorial for CanWest Global Communications, and managing editor and editorialist for the Calgary Herald. For the past decade, before election to parliament, she has been a communications consultant, working for clients including the Calgary Stampede, corporations and non-profits.[2] During her time as the Calgary Herald's managing editor, the newspaper's journalists went on a union drive and then a prolonged strike in 1999.[3]
In her career in journalism, much of Crockatt's work focused on politics. She has appeared as a political commentator on CBC News Network and Sun News Network.[2]
Politics edit
In November 2012, Crockatt won a by-election against Liberal candidate Harvey Locke and Green candidate Chris Turner, focusing her campaign on door-knocking and personal interactions with constituents.[3] However, she won with only 37 percent of the vote, the worst showing for a centre-right candidate in the riding in decades and the closest that a centre-left candidate had come in recent memory to winning a Calgary seat.
She served on the House of Commons Standing Committees for Natural Resources and the Status of Women.[4] As part of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Crockatt has participated in numerous studies that promote equality for women and their full participation in the economic, social and democratic life of Canada.[5]
Since being elected she has been a featured speaker at the 2013 annual Manning Conference in Ottawa, where she took part in a panel to discuss issues of gender and politics.[6] She has been named one of the top 10 Alberta politicians in the use of social media.[7]
in the 2015 federal election on October 19, former Liberal MLA Kent Hehr defeated Crockatt, gaining one of two seats for the Liberals in Calgary.[8]
2013 Alberta floods edit
Following the 2013 Alberta floods, Crockatt has become a strong advocate for those affected and continues to push for flood mitigation,[9] leading to $2.8 billion being set aside for 2013 Alberta flood recovery, including the $200 million National Disaster Mitigation Program in the 2014 federal budget, and eligibility for disaster mitigation infrastructure projects under the New Building Canada Fund, of which Alberta will see $3.2 billion over the next 10 years.
Crockatt also joined the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Environment, in announcing a $135 million investment that will allow Environment Canada to make significant upgrades to the monitoring networks and to the weather warning and forecast systems,[10] as to better predict events like the 2013 Alberta floods.
Electoral record edit
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Calgary Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures - Calgary Centre | |||
| Liberal | Kent Hehr | 28,496 | 46.52 | +27.40 | – | |||
| Conservative | Joan Crockatt | 27,746 | 45.30 | -10.07 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Jillian Ratti | 3,412 | 5.57 | -9.59 | – | |||
| Green | Thana Boonlert | 1,347 | 2.20 | -8.13 | – | |||
| Independent | Yogi Henderson | 248 | 0.39 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 61,249 | 100.00 | $221,059.99 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 227 | 0.37 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 61,476 | 72.36 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 84,960 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +18.73 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[11][12] | ||||||||
| Canadian federal by-election, November 26, 2012: Calgary Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Joan Crockatt | 10,191 | 36.87 | −20.81 | $95,251 | |||
| Liberal | Harvey Locke | 9,033 | 32.68 | +15.15 | $97,025 | |||
| Green | Chris Turner | 7,090 | 25.65 | +15.74 | $100,180 | |||
| New Democratic | Dan Meades | 1,064 | 3.85 | −11.01 | $90,148 | |||
| Independent | Antoni Grochowski | 141 | 0.51 | – | $0 | |||
| Libertarian | Tony Prashad | 121 | 0.44 | – | $255 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 27,640 | 100.00 | – | $102,128.86 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 92 | |||||||
| Turnout | 27,732 | 29.51 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 93,984 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −35.96 | ||||||
| By-election due to the resignation of Lee Richardson. | ||||||||
| Source: "November 26, 2012 By-elections". Elections Canada. November 27, 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012. | ||||||||
References edit
- ^ "Tories hold Calgary Centre in byelection as Victoria race tight". CBC News, November 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c d . Joan Crockatt MP website. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- ^ a b "New Conservative nominee seen as polarizing candidate in Calgary riding". The Globe and Mail. November 18, 2013.
- ^ "Joan Crockatt Parliamentary Profile". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- ^ "FEWO Committee Business". FEWO Committee Business/Studies. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- ^ "Manning Conference 2013 Website". Manning Conference 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- ^ "Best Alberta MPs and MLAs On Twitter: Our List Of The Politicians To Follow". HuffPost. January 26, 2013.
- ^ Erika Tucker; Jayme Doll (October 20, 2015). "Liberal Kent Hehr beats out Joan Crockatt in close Calgary Centre race". Global Calgary. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ^ "Calgary Centre MP issues friendly reminder over billions of unused infrastructure dollars". 660NEWS. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- ^ "Harper Government invests in weather infrastructure to improve forecasts, warnings Website". Government of Canada. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- ^ "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Calgary Centre (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
External links edit
- Joan Crockatt – Parliament of Canada biography
- Official website
- Candidate Website