Jim Dinning
Jim Dinning is a Canadian Progressive Conservative politician and businessman. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (1986 - 1997), and now serves on the board of directors of a variety of Canadian companies. Dinning has stated that he will run for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives when Ralph Klein resigns as Premier of Alberta. Jim Dinning has raised over 2 million dollars for his leadership bid, and Dinning loyalists, or 'Dinnites' as they are called, occupy most roles of importance in the Progressive Conservative Party structure.
After graduating at Western Canada High School in 1970[1], Dinning went on to obtain his Bachelor of Commerce honours degree from Queen's University in 1974. He also earned a Masters degree in Public Administration from Queen's in 1977.
Elected in the riding of Calgary Shaw in 1986, Dinning held the riding until 1993. During this time he served in a variety of positions within the provincial government. He was the Minister of Community and Occupational Health from 1986 to 1988, the Minister of Education from 1988 to 1992, and he served as the Provincial Treasurer from 1992 to 1997.
He was an executive vice-president of TransAlta Corporation from June of 1999 to December of 2004.
Dinning currently sits on the board of directors of several companies that are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They are: Finning International, Shaw Communications, Russel Metals, Parkland Income Fund, and the Liquor Stores Income Fund. Dinning also serves as chairman of the board of the Western Financial Group.
Dinning was the chair of the Calgary Health Region from 1999 to 2001. He is also a director of the Banff Centre, the Canada West Foundation, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, the Canadian Policy Research Networks, and the Alberta Energy Research Institute. Dinning has also served as chairman of the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, which is comprised of major power producers such as ATCO, Epcor, TransAlta, Luscar, SaskPower, and Nova Scotia Power.
The University of Calgary honoured Dinning in 2002 with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Electoral record
Calgary--Shaw
- Jim Dinning (PC) 6,694 61.5%
- Brendan Dunphy (Lib) 2,727 25.1%
- Len Curie (NDP) 1,166 10.7%
- Byron L. Chenger (Rep) 295 2.7%
Calgary--Shaw
- Jim Dinning (PC) 7,412 52.9% (-8.6%)
- Bob Crump (Lib) 4,865 34.7% (+9.7%)
- Gordon M. Christie (NDP) 1,728 12.3% (+1.6%)
Calgary--Lougheed (compared to Calgary--Shaw, which covered much of the same area in southwest Calgary)
- Jim Dinning (PC) 7,280 52.8% (-0.2%)
- Jack Driscoll (Lib) 5,803 42.1% (+7.3%)
- Catherine Rose (NDP) 502 3.6% (-8.7%)
- Peter Hope (CoR) 122 0.9% (-)
- Ida Bugmann (NLP) 88 0.6% (-)
Calgary--Lougheed
- Jim Dinning (PC) 7,761 66.0% (+13.2%)
- Darryl Hawkins (Lib) 2,906 24.7% (-17.4%)
- Hub Blanchet (SC) 560 4.8% (-)
- Mara Vogel (NDP) 533 4.5% (+0.9%)
External links
- Official web site of Jim Dinning
- Executive profile (2003) - Provided by Pacific Northwest Economic Region
- Jim Dinning to Receive 2005 CNIB Vision Award (April 21, 2005) - Announcement of award by Canadian National Institute for the Blind.