Blake Richards
 |
Blake Richards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Official Opposition Critic for Tourism | |
| Assumed office 20 November 2015 | |
| Leader | Rona Ambrose |
| Preceded by | Brian Masse |
| Member of Parliament for Banff—Airdrie Wild Rose (2008-2015) | |
| Assumed office October 14, 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Myron Thompson |
| Chair of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs | |
| In office 19 February 2015 – 4 February 2016 | |
| Minister | Bernard Valcourt |
| Preceded by | Chris Warkentin |
| Succeeded by | Andy Fillmore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 8, 1974 Olds, Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence(s) | Airdrie, Alberta, Canada |
| Education | Red Deer College, University of Calgary |
| Profession | Real Estate Agent Firefighter |
Blake Richards (born November 8, 1974 in Olds, Alberta) is a Canadian politician, who was re-elected for a third term in the riding of Banff—Airdrie on October 19, 2015. He was previously elected in the electoral district of Wild Rose in the 2008 Canadian federal election and the 2011 election, and is a member of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of Canada.
Early life and career
Prior to starting his real estate business, Richards worked in the oil field and agriculture-related industries, and attended Red Deer College and the University of Calgary, where he earned a degree in political science.
He served his community as a volunteer firefighter and minor hockey coach before being elected to the House of Commons in 2008.
Federal politics
Richards is currently the Official Opposition Critic for Tourism and Deputy Critic for Democratic Institutions. He also serves as the Vice-Chair of the influential Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. In the 41st Parliament, Richards was Chair of the Parliamentary Tourism Caucus and served as Chair of the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development and the Special Committee on Co-operatives. He has also been a member of the committees on Finance; International Trade; Canadian Heritage; Agriculture; and Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
Richards has hosted the Rocky Mountain Hockey Challenge to raise funds for the RCMP Victims Services Units in Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, Airdrie and Olds, Alberta. Since 2009, Richards' charity game has raised a combined total of over $360,000 for regional victims of crime assistance groups.
In 2010, Richards spearheaded a national petition that called for changes to the national pardons system after it was revealed that convicted sex offender Graham James had received a pardon in 2007 for his offences. The petition attracted thousands of supporters from across Canada and in June 2010 Bill C-23A, a new law to limit pardons for serious crimes, received Royal Assent.
In October 2011, Richards introduced Private Member’s Bill C-309 in the House of Commons, and guided it through the House of Commons and Senate, allowing it to receive Royal Assent in June 2013. As a result, it is now a Criminal Code offence to wear a mask or to otherwise conceal one’s identity during a riot or an unlawful assembly.
Richards was recognized as the Hardest Working and Best Constituency MP in The Hill Times' 23rd Annual Politically Savvy Survey published in May 2015.
Electoral record
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Banff—Airdrie | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Blake Richards | 42,228 | 63.37 | –7.36 | – | |||
| Liberal | Marlo Raynolds | 17,380 | 26.08 | +18.02 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Joanne Boissonneault | 4,521 | 6.78 | –6.29 | – | |||
| Green | Mike MacDonald | 2,509 | 3.77 | –3.98 | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 66,638 | 100.00 | $238,910.38 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 179 | 0.27 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 66,817 | 73.25 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 91,222 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | –12.69 | ||||||
| This riding was created from parts of Wild Rose and Macleod, both of which elected Conservative candidates in the 2011 election. Blake Richards was the incumbent from Wild Rose. Changes are based on redistributed results. | ||||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[1][2] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election: Wild Rose | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Blake Richards | 43,669 | 74.7 | +1.8 | $49,673 | |||
| New Democratic | Jeff Horvath | 6,595 | 11.3 | +3.1 | $3,784 | |||
| Green | Michael MacDonald | 4,071 | 7.0 | -5.6 | $5,270 | |||
| Liberal | John Reilly | 3,908 | 6.7 | +1.0 | $43,616 | |||
| Christian Heritage | Randy VandenBroek | 181 | 0.3 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 58,424 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 128 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |||||
| Turnout | 58,552 | 61.7 | +6.0 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 94,970 | – | – | |||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +3.7 | ||||||
| 2008 Canadian federal election: Wild Rose | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Blake Richards | 36,869 | 72.9 | +0.4 | $50,972 | |||
| Green | Lisa Fox | 6,390 | 12.6 | +1.8 | $14,559 | |||
| New Democratic | Jeff Horvath | 4,169 | 8.2 | +0.9 | $5,001 | |||
| Liberal | Jenn Turcott | 2,890 | 5.7 | -4.0 | $6,555 | |||
| Libertarian | Krista Zoobkoff | 246 | 0.5 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 50,564 | 100.0 | $101,401 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 107 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |||||
| Turnout | 50,671 | 56 | -9.0 | |||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +2.2 | ||||||
References
- ^ "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Banff—Airdrie (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine