Devin Dreeshen
Devin Dreeshen | |
|---|---|
| File:Devin Dreeshan November 3016.jpg | |
| Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Alberta | |
| Assumed office April 30, 2019 | |
| Premier | Jason Kenney |
| Preceded by | Oneil Carlier |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake | |
| Assumed office July 12, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Don MacIntyre |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1987 or 1988 (age 36–37)[1] Innisfail, Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | United Conservative Party |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative Party of Canada |
| Relations | Earl Dreeshen (father) |
| Residence | Pine Lake, Alberta |
| Alma mater | University of Alberta |
Devin Dreeshen (born 1987/1988) is a Canadian politician. A member of the United Conservative Party, Dreeshen is the current Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and has represented the electoral district of Innisfail-Sylvan Lakesince since winning a by-election in July 2018. He was reelected in the 2019 Alberta general election to the 30th Alberta Legislature, and on April 30, 2019, was appointed by Premier Jason Kenney to the Executive Council of Alberta as the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. Outside of politics, Dreeshen is a farmer, a MAGA supporter, and businessman.
Early life and career
Dreeshen was born in Innisfail, Alberta. His father, Earl Dreeshen, is a Conservative member of parliament for Red Deer—Mountain View, first elected in 2008. From 2008 until 2015, Dreeshen worked as a policy advisor to Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz.[2] Between February and November 2016 Dreeshen worked on Donald Trump's presidential campaign.[3] Dreeshen visited 28 states and shadowed Ivanka Trump. As a result of his work, Dreeshen was invited to the Trump's victory party in New York City, where he was photographed wearing a red MAGA hat.[4]
Before entering politics himself, Dreeshen worked as a farmer, businessman, and agricultural trade consultant. He was also a director of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association and a board member on the Crossroads Agricultural Society.[2][5]
Provincial politics
Dreeshen won the United Conservative nomination for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake in 2018, and won the ensuing by-election with about 80% of the vote.[3] Dreeshen was appointed by Jason Kenney as the Opposition Critic for Trade and was a member on the Standing Committee on Alberta's Economic Future. After winning reelection in the 2019 Alberta general election, Dreeshen was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.[6]
Cargill meat processing plant COVID-19 outbreak
On April 13, 2020, the union representing employees of the Cargill meat processing plant called for the plant to be shut down due to 38 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among plant workers.[7] On April 16, Rachel Notley called on Dreeshen and the provincial government to shut down the plant to create a safe working place;[8] Dreeshen responded, calling her statement "misinformation and fear-mongering."[9] During a virtual town hall meeting on April 18, Dreeshen assured plant employees that the Cargill plant has taken all necessary measures to mitigate risk to its staff.[10] By April 20, 484 cases had been linked to the Cargill plant outbreak, at which point the plant closed for two weeks.[11] On May 11, after the plant had reopened, NDP labour critic Christina Gray called on Dreeshen to close the plant again, but the plant remained open.[12] Three deaths were linked with the outbreak at the Cargill plant, and at more than 1500 confirmed cases, it was the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in Canada.[13]
Electoral results
| 2019 Alberta general election: Innisfail-Sylvan Lake | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Devin Dreeshen | 19,030 | 74.55% | -7.12% | ||||
| New Democratic | Robyn O'Brien | 3,453 | 13.53% | 4.22% | ||||
| Alberta Party | Danielle Klooster | 2,337 | 9.15% | 1.71% | ||||
| Freedom Conservative | Chad Miller | 359 | 1.41% | – | ||||
| Alberta Advantage | Brian Vanderkley | 164 | 0.64% | – | ||||
| Independent | Ed Wychopen | 106 | 0.42% | – | ||||
| Reform | Lauren Thorsteinson | 79 | 0.31% | – | ||||
| Total | 25,528 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 31 | 57 | 10 | |||||
| Eligible electors / turnout | 34,873 | 73.32% | 17.93% | |||||
| United Conservative gain from Wildrose | Swing | 23.17% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "66 - Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020. Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 302–308. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021. | ||||||||
| Alberta provincial by-election, July 12, 2018: Innisfail-Sylvan Lake upon the resignation of Don MacIntyre on February 2, 2018 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Devin Dreeshen | 8,029 | 81.67 | +10.99 | ||||
| New Democratic | Nicole Mooney | 915 | 9.31 | -13.83 | ||||
| Alberta Party | Abigail Douglass | 731 | 7.44 | +1.25 | ||||
| Liberal | Nicolaas Jansen | 93 | 0.95 | — | ||||
| Independent | David Inscho | 63 | 0.64 | — | ||||
| Total valid votes | 9,831 | |||||||
| Rejected, spoiled, and declined | 37 | |||||||
| Turnout | 9,868 | 31.22 | -24.27 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 31,604 | |||||||
| United Conservative notional hold | Swing | +12.41 | ||||||
Source(s)
Elections Alberta. "Election results". Retrieved August 13, 2018. | ||||||||
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Roth, Megan (February 14, 2018). "Devin Dreeshen adds his name to UCP race". Red Deer Express. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Krugel, Lauren (2018-07-13). "Alberta's Jason Kenney sees advantage to new member's history with Donald Trump". Global News. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Leavitt, Kieran (July 14, 2018). "'I am my own person,' says new UCP byelection winner on working for Donald Trump campaign". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ McDermott, Vincent (July 13, 2013). "United Conservatives win Alberta byelections". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Honourable Devin Dreeshen". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Bell, David (April 13, 2020). "Union says 38 confirmed COVID-19 cases at Cargill meat plant cause for closure".
- ^ Notley, Rachel [@RachelNotley] (2020-04-16). "We are deeply concerned that hundreds of workers at a High River-area meat processing plant have been laid off or had their hours cut substantially for exercising their legal right to speak out about unsafe work conditions. 1/ #AbLeg" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-01-04 – via Twitter.
- ^ Dreeshen, Devin [@DevinDVote] (2020-04-16). "It's deeply concerning that you're recklessly advocating against the AHS advice and protocols that have made meat processing plants in Alberta, safe worksites. https://t.co/J22k5G0PaW" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-01-04 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Cargill employees take part in virtual town hall meeting with officials". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
- ^ "'A difficult decision': Cargill meat-packing plant pausing production". thestar.com. 2020-04-20. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
- ^ Blanke, Jason. "Alberta NDP Again Demands Cargill Plant to Shut Down". DrumhellerOnline.com. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
- ^ Rieger, Sarah (May 11, 2020). "3rd death linked to Canada's largest COVID-19 outbreak at Alberta slaughterhouse". Retrieved August 13, 2020.
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