James "Bud" Edgar Miller (March 31, 1923 – January 23, 2015) was a provincial level politician and farmer from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. He served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

from 1971 to 1986. During his time in provincial office he served in the Executive Council as the Minister of Public Lands and Wildlife from 1975 to 1982.

Early life

James Edgar Miller was born in Kitscoty,

. He grew up on his family farm and later attended the University of Saskatchewan where he earned a degree in Agriculture.

Political career

Miller ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature for the first time in the

1948 Alberta general election The 1948 Alberta general election was held on August 17, 1948, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further ab ...

in the electoral district of

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

. He ran under the Liberal banner while he was still attending the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. The election would see him finish in last place in the field of three candidates losing to

Anders Aalborg Anders Olav Aalborg (August 24, 1914 – February 13, 2000) was a teacher and a politician from Alberta, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1948 to 1971 as a member of the Social Credit caucus, and served in the cabine ...

of Social Credit. Miller ran for a second attempt at office in the

1971 Alberta general election The 1971 Alberta general election was the seventeenth general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada on August 30, 1971, to elect seventy-five members of the Alberta Legislature The Alberta Legislature is the unicameral legislatur ...

. He won the new electoral district of Lloydminster under the Progressive Conservative banner. The race was hotly contested with Miller just barely edging out Campbell Hancock to pick up the district. He ran for a second term in the 1975 Alberta general election. In that election Miller more than doubled his popular vote defeating New Democrat challenger Dave Listoe in a straight fight. He ran for a third term in office this time defeating three other candidates with a landslide margin to hold his seat. After the election Premier

Peter Lougheed Edgar Peter Lougheed ( ; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth. ...

appointed Miller to the Executive Council of Alberta to serve as the Minister of Public Lands and Wildlife. He ran for a fourth term in office in the 1982 general election and won the biggest plurality of his career. Miller did not return to cabinet after the 1982 election. After his term was over he retired from provincial politics at the dissolution of the legislature in 1986.

Late life

After leaving the provincial legislature Miller continued to serve on provincial and federal boards. He later became a council for the Kitscoty town council. He died at the Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton at the age of 91 on January 23, 2015. Bud Miller All Seasons Park a 90-acre (360,000 m2) park in the city of Lloydminster is named in his honor.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Bud Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs 2015 deaths 1923 births Members of the Executive Council of Alberta 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta