Richard John Feehan (born February 11, 1960) is a Canadian politician. He was 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 ...

(MLA), 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 ...

Edmonton-Rutherford Edmonton-Rutherford is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The district was created in t ...

from 2015 until 2023.

Early life and career

Richard Feehan was born on February 11, 1960 to parents Bernie and Kathleen Feehan. His father was a Judge on the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and his mother was chair of Grant MacEwan’s social work program for 30 years. Feehan has six siblings, and is married with three adult children. Feehan graduated from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in 1980, from the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

with a Bachelor of Social Work and from

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...

with a Masters of Social Work in 1986. Before entering politics, Feehan worked in a variety of roles, including as the program director of the Edmonton Social Planning Council and vice-president of Catholic Social Services in Edmonton. He taught in the Edmonton division of the University of Calgary’s faculty of social work for a decade, before being elected.

Politics

Feehan ran for

Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

in the 2013 Edmonton municipal election in Ward 10, on a platform of local sustainability and infrastructure renewal. He placed second, losing to community organizer Michael Walters. In the

2015 Alberta general election The 2015 Alberta general election was held on May 5, following a request of Premier Jim Prentice to the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Donald Ethell to dissolve the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Legislative Assembly on April 7. This election el ...

, Feehan was nominated as the

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democra ...

candidate for

. Feehan was elected as MLA, receiving 63.94% of the vote, a 55.62% increase in the NDP's share of the vote, which was the party's largest increase from the

2012 Alberta general election The 2012 Alberta general election was held on April 23, 2012, to elect members of the 28th Legislative Assembly of Alberta. A 2012 Alberta Senate nominee election, Senate nominee election was called for the same day. During the 2011 Progressive C ...

. Following the election, Feehan was appointed

Alberta NDP The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democrat ...

caucus chair by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Rachel Notley Rachel Anne Notley (born April 17, 1964) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who was the 17th premier of Alberta from 2015 to 2019 and leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2014 to 2024. Notley was the member of the Le ...

. Shortly after, he was elected Deputy Chairman of Committees in the

29th Alberta Legislature The 29th Alberta Legislative Assembly was constituted after the general election on May 5, 2015. The New Democrats, led by Rachel Notley, won a majority of seats and formed the government. The Wildrose Party, which won the second most seats, ...

. In 2016, Feehan was appointed to the

Executive Council of Alberta The Executive Council of Alberta (the Cabinet) is a body of ministers of the Crown in right of Alberta, who along with the lieutenant governor, exercises the powers of the Government of Alberta. Ministers are selected by the premier and typic ...

as Minister of Indigenous Relations. During his time as Minister, he oversaw the investment of $35 million in Indigenous-led renewable energy projects, implemented supports for families of

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First Nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples s ...

, and participated in engagement sessions for survivors of the

Sixties Scoop The Sixties Scoop (), also known as The Scoop, was a period in which a series of policies were enacted in Canada that enabled child welfare authorities to take, or "scoop up," Indigenous children from their families and communities for placement ...

, culminating in the Albertan government's apology for its role. Feehan also instituted training on Indigenous history and culture for all Albertan public servants in June 2018. Feehan was re-elected in the

2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...

and was appointed as the Official Opposition's Indigenous relations critic. In April 2022, Feehan announced he would not seek re-election in the

2023 Alberta general election The 2023 Alberta general election was held on May 29, 2023. Voters elected the members of the 31st Alberta Legislature. The United Conservative Party under Danielle Smith, the incumbent Premier of Alberta, was re-elected to a second term with a ...

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feehan, Richard Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Living people Politicians from Edmonton 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1960 births