Kent Hehr

Personal life

As a teenager, Hehr was active in sports including both baseball and hockey. These are interests which Hehr is still passionate about to this day. He played for the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion Calgary Canucks in 1989-90 and for the Mount Royal College Cougars the following year.

He had a goal of becoming a physical education teacher. However, on October 3, 1991, Hehr was shot as a bystander in a drive-by shooting and became quadraplegic. His injuries ended his plans, and instead Hehr pursued post-secondary studies at Mount Royal College and then at the University of Calgary, from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies and a Bachelor of Laws. Upon graduation he was named graduate of the decade and ranked among the top 40 graduates in 40 years. Prior to being elected Member of the Legislative Assembly, Hehr practised law at Fraser Milner Casgrain.

Hehr also became active in the community, leading various groups, such as the Alberta branch of the Canadian Paraplegic Association. In 2008, he was listed as one of "20 Compelling Calgarians" by the Calgary Herald.

Hehr has also been active in numerous community groups within Calgary. He has served on the following boards in the past few years:

Provincial politics

In June 2006, Hehr won the Calgary-Buffalo Liberal nomination in a contest with Keith Purdy, a gay rights activist. It was the first time the Alberta Liberals had had a contested nomination in Calgary since 1998. He was subsequently elected to the legislature in the March 3, 2008 general election.

After the election, Hehr was chosen to be the Shadow Minister for Justice and Solicitor General for the Alberta Liberal Caucus. As the Shadow Minister, Hehr has been working to tackle crime in the province while focusing on other justice issues.

In the legislature, Hehr serves on the following committees:

Hehr campaigned for mayor in the 2010 Calgary municipal election but withdrew a month before the vote to endorse Naheed Nenshi.

LGBT rights

In 2014 Hehr proposed a private member's bill into the Alberta Legislature that would urge public schools to support students who wished to create gay-straight alliances. The bill, while supported by the Liberals, Alberta NDP and some Progressive Conservatives, was voted down by a majority of PC and Wildrose MLAs in April.

Six months later Laurie Blakeman brought a private members bill forward which essentially adopted Hehr's motion. Instead of allowing a vote to proceed on this motion, the PC government brought in their own bill, the essence of which allowed public, Catholic, and private school entities to decide whether or not they would allow a Gay-Straight Alliance in their district. The PCs were met with an outraged public who could not understand why Gay-Straight Alliances should not be made available in all schools where students wanted them. Ultimately the PCs brought in a reformed bill that effectively allowed Gay-Straight Alliances in all schools throughout the province.

Further, because of Hehr and Blakeman's work, the PCs in their bill also reversed Section 11.1 of the Human Rights Act which was brought in 2008 by then Premier Ed Stelmach. Sec.11.1 was seen by the LGBTQ community as an affront to their personal dignity. In the interim, sensing public opinion has changed on sexual minority rights in the province the PCs also removed their opposition to same sex marriage in Alberta's marriage legislation. Ultimately Hehr's motion 503 created an environment where Alberta became more open and accepting of LGBTQ rights.

Gun violence

For Hehr, himself a shooting victim, a major focus has been on gun violence in the province. Soon after he was elected, the City of Calgary became trapped in a gang war, which has claimed the lives of many young individuals.

Hehr has been putting pressure on the government to help reduce these numbers. He started by calling on the province to increase the number of police officers on the beat in downtown Calgary. The Mayor and the Police Chief have also joined in his call to increase the number of police officers.

Hehr’s most recent call has been to give police the power to seize vehicles that contain unregistered firearms, along with the gun. Bill 201 was defeated in second reading March 9, 2009 with no Conservative MLA support.

Candidacy

On July 17, 2014, following some speculation, Hehr announced he would seek the federal Liberal nomination in Calgary Centre. On November 28, he was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate. Hehr won the Calgary Centre riding from Conservative Joan Crockatt in the 2015 federal election on October 19, 2015. He and colleague Darshan Kang of the newly created Calgary Skyview riding became the first Liberals elected in Calgary since Pat Mahoney in 1968.

Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

Hehr was appointed Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence in Justin Trudeau's first cabinet on November 4, 2015.

Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities

In a cabinet shuffle triggered by the resignation of Judy Foote, Hehr became Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, succeeding Carla Qualtrough on August 28, 2017.