Michael Robert Davies Connolly (born March 3, 1994) is a Canadian politician who was an elected member to 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 ...

representing the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Calgary-Hawkwood Calgary-Hawkwood was a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 2012 to 2019. History The Calgary-H ...

. Upon election he became the second youngest elected MLA at the age of 21 and one of the first three openly

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people elected to the Alberta legislature, alongside caucus colleagues

Ricardo Miranda Ricardo Miranda (born August 22, 1976) is a Canadian politician and trade unionist who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 2015 Alberta general election representing the electoral district of Calgary-Cross. On February 2, ...

and

Estefania Cortes-Vargas Estefan Cortes-Vargas (born Estefania Cortes-Vargas, 1991) is a Colombian-born Canadian politician and non-profit administrator who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the electo ...

. He served as deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Private Bills and as a member of the Standing Committee on Alberta's Economic Future. He previously served as a member of the Standing Committee on Legislative Offices and the Select Special Ethics and Accountability Committee. Connolly did not seek reelection in 2019.

Early career

Connolly graduated from Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School in 2012 and began studying history and political science in French immersion at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

(specializing in

Scottish politics The politics of Scotland () operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is a country. Scotland is a democracy, being represented in both the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the Sc ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

) that same year. Connolly gained political experience while completing an internship with an office of a Member of Parliament. During this time he helped to organize a forum for young women leaders from all over Canada. He has also worked in the retail and hospitality industries. Connolly was active in the federal and provincial NDP before this nomination. He was nominated in 2014 as the NDP's candidate for the 2015 federal election in the riding of

Calgary Midnapore Calgary Midnapore is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. It has been represented by Stephanie Kusie since she won the 2017 Calgary ...

, but withdrew upon his election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Legislative Assembly

Connolly was known to be a fiercely outspoken MLA sparring with his counterparts on numerous issues, specifically when it came to Gay-Straight Alliances in the province’s schools,

LGBTQ rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Nota ...

, and Francophone rights. Connolly co-sponsored Bill 2: ''Supporting Economic and Trade Futures Act'', Bill 7: ''The Alberta Human Rights Amendment Act'' (which added

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

and

gender expression Gender expression (or gender presentation) is a person's behavior, mannerisms, interests, and appearance that are associated with gender in a particular cultural context, typically understood in terms of masculinity and femininity. Gender expr ...

as expressly

prohibited grounds A protected group, protected class (US), or prohibited ground (Canada) is a category by which people are qualified for special protection by a law, policy, or similar authority. In Canada and the United States, the term is frequently used in co ...

of discrimination into the '' Alberta Human Rights Act),'' Bill 12: ''Preserving Canada’s Economic Prosperity Act'', Bill 29: ''Vital Statistics and Life Events Modernization Act'', and Bill 32: ''An Act to Strengthen and Protect Democracy in Alberta''. Connolly was at the forefront of the debate on Bill 24, ''An Act to support Gay-Straight Alliances'', which he also co-sponsored. During the debate, Connolly drew on his own past to drum up support for the bill and lambasted

Jason Kenney Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022, and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member o ...

and the

United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...

when they declared they were going to vote against the Bill. During debate, Connolly stated:

"When we have politicians spewing their hateful, bigoted ideology about LGBTQ+ kids, it only makes matters worse for our youth. The words of Jason Kenney and the members of that side of the house eferring to the UCPmatter to our youth. And the fact they are opposing this based on
social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...
and the hatred for the LGBTQ community is disgusting. The members opposite should be ashamed of themselves."

When Mike Ellis, the UCP MLA for Calgary-West, proposed an amendment that would have effectively neutered the Bill, Connolly proclaimed that it was "deeply disappointing that the members opposite continue to peddle dangerous conspiracy theories instead of accepting the simple fact that this is about protecting kids," and told the UCP that if they couldn’t support the LGBTQ+ community in the legislature they were not welcome at Pride. In 2016, Connolly was awarded with the Harvey Milk Equality Award at the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast in San Diego for his work with the LGBTQ community. In 2018, Connolly was awarded the Georges A. Arès Award for Political Leadership by the Association Canadien-Francais de l'Alberta for his work towards creating and implementing the first French Policy by the government of Alberta.

Electoral history

2015 general election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Michael 1994 births Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Canadian LGBTQ people in provincial and territorial legislatures Living people Canadian gay politicians Politicians from Calgary University of Ottawa alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Canadian LGBTQ rights activists Language activists 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people