Bob Turner (Canadian politician)

Andrew Robert "Bob" Turner (born June 23, 1948) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Edmonton-Whitemud as a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party.[1] He won his seat with 12,803 votes, defeating incumbent health minister and former mayor of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel by 5,622 votes, or around 57% of the vote to Mandel's 32%. Mandel had previously beaten Turner in an October, 2014 by-election after Mandel was appointed as an unelected minister by then-Premier Jim Prentice.[2][3]

Doctor Bob Turner
Turner in May 2015
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Whitemud
In office May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019
Preceded by	Stephen Mandel
Succeeded by	Rakhi Pancholi
Personal details
Born	Andrew Robert Turner June 23, 1948 Brandon, Manitoba
Political party	Alberta New Democratic Party
Residence	Edmonton, Alberta
Occupation	Medical doctor, professor

Turner chose not to run for re-election in the 2019 election, stating "From the beginning, I spoke about the need to move forward in building Nellie Carlson School, with upgrading the Misericordia Hospital and eliminating flavoured tobacco...I've been proud to see all of these goals accomplished".[4]

In his place, the NDP ran Rakhi Pancholi as its candidate. She won the seat, defeating Elisabeth Hughes of the United Conservative Party.[5]

Political career

Turner served as a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and as a member on the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. Previously he served as chair of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.[6]

Turner has been a supporter of issues such as LGBTQ2S+ rights, he replaced a rainbow flag that was cut down from Lillian Osborne High School in June 2017.[7]

Medical career

Turner is a hematologist/oncologist at the University of Alberta Hospital and Cross Cancer Institute and is Professor of Medicine and Oncology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He also serves Stanton Medical Clinic in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He is a graduate of McGill University medical school and has training in Internal Medicine from Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Quebec and Hematology and Medical Oncology from the University of Pittsburgh.[8] He continues to practice medicine, with a special interest in blood disorders such as acute and chronic leukemias, lymphomas, myelodysplastic syndromes, myeloproliferative neoplasms, mast cell diseases and stem cell transplantation.[9] In the past, Turner was the medical director of the Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service Center in Edmonton and director of the Division of Clinical Hematology of the University of Alberta. In 2007 he was selected as the Physician of the Year by the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association.

Electoral history

2014 by-election

Alberta provincial by-election, October 27, 2014: Edmonton-Whitemud
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Stephen Mandel	6,003	42.39	-17.85
	New Democratic	Bob Turner	3,150	22.24	13.24
	Wildrose	Tim Grover	2,680	18.92	2.72
	Liberal	Donna Wilson	2,033	14.35	2.39
	Alberta Party	Will Munsey	202	1.43	-0.92
	Green	René Malenfant	95	0.67
Total valid votes			14,163
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-15.54
Elections Alberta.[10]

2015 general election

2015 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Whitemud
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Bob Turner	12,805	57.45%	+35.21%
	Progressive Conservative	Stephen Mandel	7,177	32.20%	-10.19%
	Wildrose	Chad Peters	1,423	6.38%	-12.94
	Liberal	Steven Townsend	629	2.82%	-11.53
	Green	Kathryn Jackson	182	0.82%	+0.15%
	Independent	John Baloun	73	0.33%
Total			22,289
Rejected, spoiled and declined			113
Eligible electors / Turnout			37,018	60.4%
	New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+22.70%

References

1. "Riding results: Edmonton-Whitemud". www.edmontonjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
2. "Riding results: Edmonton-Whitemud". www.edmontonjournal.com.
3. "Health Minister Stephen Mandel dethroned in Edmonton Whitemud". Metro. Archived from the original on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
4. "Dr. Bob Turner Announces Retirement". www.daveberta.ca.
5. "Results: Rakhi Pancholi holds Edmonton-Whitemud for NDP". www.edmontonjournal.com.
6. "Legislative Assembly of Alberta". www.assembly.ab.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
7. "Rainbow flag cut down on Pride day at Edmonton high school | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
8. "Robert Turner - Department of Medicine - University of Alberta". ualberta.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
9. "Medical Oncology". ualberta.ca.
10. "Report on the October 27, 2014 By-elections" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 19 May 2016.