Toews voted MLA of the Year; Allard named Hardest Working

Dec 5, 2019 | 8:54 AM

Finance Minister Travis Toews’ peers have anointed him with the title of MLA of the year.

The Member of the Legislative Assembly for GP-Wapiti was the top choice among his political peers in an informal, anonymous vote conducted by Speaker Nathan Cooper.

In a press release, the Alberta government says Cooper decided to create the MLA awards to give MLAs a chance to vote for their colleagues in nine different categories, in the spirit of “collegial recognition.”

One of those nine categories was for Alberta’s Hardest Working MLA. Legislature members bestowed Grande Prairie’s Tracy Allard with that honour.

“I am honoured and humbled to be chosen by my peers as Alberta’s hardest working MLA, alongside my friend and counterpart from Grande Prairie-Wapiti, the Hon. Travis Toews, who was chosen as Alberta’s MLA of the Year!”

Both Toews and Allard are serving in their first terms in the legislature, after being elected in the spring provincial election.

Other winners included:

Martin Long (West Yellowhead): Most Collegial
Shane Getson (Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland): Best Debater
Janis Irwin (Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood): Best Community Outreach
Angela Pitt (Airdrie-East): Most Knowledgeable Parliamentarian
Nate Horner (Drumheller-Stettler): Best Representative of Constituents
Rajan Sawhney (Calgary-North East): Most Promising Newcomer
David Eggen (Edmonton-North West): Lifetime Achievement Award

by Shaun Penner