Lyle Knute Oberg (born January 6, 1960) is a Canadian politician, business executive, and former

member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

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 ...

. He is also a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Life and career

Oberg was born near Forestburg, Alberta in 1960. A

by profession, Oberg was first elected to the MLA as a member of the Progressive Conservative in 1993. He was first appointed to the Alberta Cabinet in 1997 and served in numerous posts. Oberg was appointed Minister of Family and Social Services in March 1997. Over the next two years, he oversaw the move of children's services and services for persons with developmental disabilities to community-based delivery. He launched a western Canadian initiative to address Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and implemented an interprovincial strategy to share resources and develop new approaches for addressing FAS. As part of the Alberta Children's Agenda, he introduced the Alberta Child Health Benefit Program and played a role in the development of the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act. On May 26, 1999, Oberg was appointed Minister of Learning, a post he held until November 2004. During this appointment, he awarded a 14% increase to Alberta's teachers but only granted a 6% increase to the school boards. To cover this funding shortfall, Calgary school boards took funding from school maintenance, leading to issues with school roofs collapsing. During that time, he also served as a member of the Treasury Board and as the Minister responsible for immigration. Oberg was an active member of the Canadian Ministers of Education and led the Canadian delegation to an International Group of Eight ( G8) Education Ministers meeting. He oversaw the creation of Alberta's Commission on Learning and implemented many of its recommendations, including the reduction of provincial class sizes. He began the second language initiative in Alberta schools to give students an edge in the world marketplace and initiated the development of the daily physical activity program to improve the health of Alberta students. Following his re-election in the November 22, 2004 election, Oberg was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. On March 22, 2006, shortly after announcing his resignation from his ministerial position following a directive from Premier

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2 ...

to all ministers running to replace him, Oberg was removed from the Progressive Conservative

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

after making comments at a Strathmore-Brooks Constituency Association

annual general meeting An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders. These meetings may be required ...

, urging the membership to vote their conscience in a crucial leadership vote at the March 2006 AGM of the party. He was re-admitted to caucus on July 25, 2006. On June 19, 2006, Oberg entered the race for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in Alberta. He failed to place in the top three in the November 25 first ballot (he placed fourth) and was not eligible for the second ballot to be held on December 2. Oberg's allegations of scandal regarding front runner Jim Dinning in the summer of 2006 appeared to have had a negative effect on his campaign. He later threw his support to third-place finisher and eventual winner Ed Stelmach. On December 15, 2006, Oberg was named Minister of Finance in Premier Ed Stelmach's cabinet. Oberg announced in December 2007 that he would not seek re-election in the next election in March 2008. On June 2, 2010, Oberg opened C2DNA in Edmonton, the first private DNA testing facility in Canada. He founded the lab with his brother and other investors. He stepped down as president and CEO the following day to avoid any conflict of interest arising from a medical doctor being involved with such a high tech company, but said he would remain an advisor. On March 1, 2011, Oberg announced that he was joining the right-wing Wildrose Alliance Party. He said he would not be running for office but would participate in an advisory role to party leader Danielle Smith. He cited the Conservative government's decision to abolish the multiple health districts in Alberta and replace them with an Edmonton-based super board, and the recently announced deficit budget (the fourth in as many years) as his reasons for the switch. In November 2023, Alberta Premier

Danielle Smith Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician, former lobbyist, and former columnist and media personality who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since 20 ...

announced Oberg as the new chair of the board of

Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services (AHS) is the single Health regions of Canada, health authority for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. Headquartered ...

After politics

He is chief executive officer of MYND Life Sciences Inc., a Canadian company that has developed biomarker test technology which will be used in a clinical trial of

psilocybin Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), is a natural product, naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug found in more than List of psilocybin mushroom ...

-assisted

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

. He has also served on the boards of other companies.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberg, Lyle Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Independent Alberta MLAs Living people 1960 births Physicians from Alberta Members of the Executive Council of Alberta 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Canadian chief executives