Mary O'Neill (Canadian politician)

Mary O'Neill
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for St. Albert
In office
March 11, 1997 – November 22, 2004
Preceded byLen Bracko
Succeeded byJack Flaherty
Personal details
Born (1941-11-07) November 7, 1941 (age 83)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative Association of Alberta
Spouse
John Stafford O'Neill
​
​
(m. 1975; died 2023)​
Children2
OccupationTeacher

Mary O'Neill (née Paterson;[1] November 7, 1941) is a politician and former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.[2]

O'Neill graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts, and subsequently received her teaching certification from the Ontario College of Education. She taught in both public and private schools.[3] After retiring from teaching, she worked as a realtor and served as a school trustee with the Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools. She was married to John Stafford "Jack" O'Neill, who was chief commissioner of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. They had two children.[4]

In the 1997 provincial election, O'Neill was the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of St. Albert, where she faced Liberal incumbent Len Bracko. In the closest race of the election, O'Neill defeated Bracko by 16 votes.[5] In a rematch during the 2001 election, O'Neill increased her lead over Bracko to more than two thousand votes in her successful bid for re-election.[6]

In office, O'Neill was best known for sponsoring the School Trustee Statutes Amendment Act, 2002, which proposed to prohibit teachers from serving as school trustees anywhere in the province (at the time, teachers were only prohibited from serving as trustees in the district in which they taught).[7] The Act was passed by the legislature, but was struck down as contravening the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench two years later.[8] O'Neill also served as a member of one of the Ralph Klein government's "truth squads", formed to defend the government's highly controversial Health Care Protection Act (Bill 11).[9] She chaired the 2000 Fees and Charges Review Committee, which made recommendations on a wide variety of government-assessed fees.[10]

In the 2004 provincial election, O'Neill was defeated by Liberal Jack Flaherty. Since her defeat, she has served on the University of Alberta Senate,[11] on the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Board of Governors,[12] and as the Executive Director of the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.[13] She has remained politically active, organizing the first debate of the 2006 Progressive Conservative leadership election[14] and endorsing Brent Rathgeber in his bid to secure the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Edmonton—St. Albert.[15] In May 2007, O'Neill quelled speculation that she would run in the next provincial election, stating that she wasn't interested.[16]

  1. ^ The Canadian Parliamentary Guide. Gale Canada. 2005. ISBN 978-1-4144-0141-6.
  2. ^ The Canadian Parliamentary Guide. P. G. Normandin. 1999. ISBN 9780787635602.
  3. ^ "Alberta Teachers' Association - In the News - Face-to-face". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
  4. ^ "St. Albert Order of Canada recipient laid to rest". 29 September 2023.
  5. ^ 1997 Provincial General Election Archived 2007-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ *~Statement of Official Results - ED73 St. Albert~* Archived 2006-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Alberta Teachers' Association - Bills and Motions - 2002". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
  8. ^ Alberta court strikes down 'oppressive' election law Archived 2007-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Tough ride for Tory MLA
  10. ^ "Fees & Charges Review Committee" (PDF). www.finance.gov.ab.ca. June 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2005.
  11. ^ "O'Neill, Mary - Alberta Foundation for the Arts". Archived from the original on 26 June 2006. Retrieved 28 May 2007.
  12. ^ NAIT Board of Governors Archived 2007-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ daveberta.ca: alberta tory watch update!
  14. ^ PROV – Forum is official kickoff for Tory hopefuls – Government Relations – University of Alberta Archived 2017-01-13 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ BrentRathgeber.com -PhotoGallery Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)