Preceded by Doug Elniski Alma mater University of Alberta Education University of Alberta Spouse(s) Somboon Eggen Role Canadian Politician | Political party New Democrat Name David Eggen Preceded by Brent Rathgeber Occupation teacher Succeeded by Doug Elniski | |
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Party Alberta New Democratic Party | ||
Interview with david eggen ndp leadership candidate
David Manson Eggen (born 1962) is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the riding of Edmonton-Calder from 2004 to 2008, and was subsequently reelected to represent the same district in 2012. Eggen declared his intention to stand in the NDP leadership election being held to choose a successor to Brian Mason. He is currently Minister of Education and Minister of Culture.
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David eggen with friends of medicare petition
Educator
Born in 1962, Eggen was educated at the University of Alberta where he received a Bachelor of Education degree in 1984. Eggen then went to Zimbabwe, where he taught for three years. At this point, he returned to Edmonton, where he taught at local schools from 1990 to 2004. He also coached a wide variety of sports for high school and community teams. In 1996 and 1997, he also served as an education consultant to the Wat Dhammamongkol Temple in Bangkok, Thailand. He volunteered as an animator at Fort Edmonton Park. Finally, he is a provincial trustee with the Forum for Young Albertans. He is also a member of the Diversity, Equity and Human Rights committee for the Alberta Teachers’ Association and an amateur musician. He lives in Edmonton with his wife, their two daughters, plus the family cat and dog.
Political career
Eggen was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a New Democrat in the 2004 Alberta general election, narrowly defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative Brent Rathgeber. He was the first NDP representative elected in Edmonton-Calder since 1993, increasing his party's share of the vote from 18% to 36%. His victory was widely attributed to a two-year canvassing campaign in the run-up to the election. He served as the NDP's critic for Agriculture and Food, Environment, K-12 Education, Sustainable Resource Development, and Tourism and Culture.
He was defeated in the 2008 election by Progressive Conservative Doug Elniski. After this defeat Eggen assumed the Alberta executive director's position for Friends of Medicare, an advocacy group that supports public healthcare. Eggen regained his seat in the 2012 provincial election and retained it with a greatly increased margin in the 2015 election.
Cabinet
David Eggen was sworn into Cabinet on May 24, 2015 as part of the NDP government led by Rachel Notley. There had been speculation since the election that Eggen would receive a large portfolio in Cabinet. He was appointed as Minister of Education and Minister of Culture and Tourism.
In fall 2015, Eggen introduced Bill 8, a proposal to reform the collective bargaining structure for public school teachers in Alberta. Bill 8 proposes to introduce a two-table bargaining system, similar to the structure in Ontario, where the provincial government would handle big items like salary and local boards would negotiate local issues. The existing system sees all issues bargained locally.
There was initially criticism that school boards were not adequately consulted, but documents provided by Eggen's office to media outlets detailed consultations that had taken place in September and October, 2015.