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PROFILE:
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Marilyn Burns is a politician and Injury Lawyer from
Edmonton. Marilyn has been extensively involved with the Alberta Wildrose Alliance, holding a number of positions in the party's executive
council, since its creation in 2002. Marilyn ran for the party in
the 2004 Alberta provincial election, in the riding of Stony Plain
she had one of the stronger Alberta Alliance showings in the capital
region finishing a strong third.
Marilyn has been
the official justice critic and Vice President of
Communications for the Alberta Alliance since December 2004,
she has been a very vocal critic in the media, of the
governments handling on everything from Auto Insurance to
same sex marriage, her work has been valuable to help Paul
Hinman. The Alliance's first elected, and second member of
the legislative assembly. |
She
announced her intentions to run for leadership of the party, at the
May 28th convention in Calgary, so far Marilyn is the only woman
nominated, and one of three other candidates. The other three being
David Crutcher, Ed Klop, and Paul Hinman.
Her son,
Jeremy Burns, a student at the University of Alberta, also ran for
the Wildrose Alliance against Raj Pannu in Edmonton Strathcona. Marilyn
Burns is a politician and Injury Lawyer from Edmonton Alberta
Canada.
The Alberta
Wildrose Alliance is Pleased to Announce its Third Official Candidate
for the Leadership of the Party.
"A Brighter Future - A Better Way" is how Marilyn Burns describes
her vision for Alberta, if she is elected as leader of the Alberta
Wildrose Alliance. She believes that Alberta could do so much better
with a government that cares about the best interests of Albertans.
Marilyn, 49, is a woman with a pioneering spirit, for which, tongue
in cheek, she holds her ancestry responsible. Her Slovakian paternal
grandparents and German-Russian maternal grandparents immigrated to
the Stony Plain area west of Edmonton to escape communist regimes in
Eastern Europe. Her father worked for the Canadian National Railway
west of Edmonton, and then settled on one of the last homestead
lands offered in Alberta, carving out a small farm in the wilderness
near Wildwood, Alberta, where her sister and brother-in-law now own
a busy family sawmill. Marilyn recalls driving the tractor
through swamp to get to the school bus until a road was built, and
when it became too wet to drive the tractor, walking through ponds
and watching tadpoles grow into frogs. She views this as a rich
experience, and she grew to love the wilderness and farm life.
Throughout High School Marilyn was actively involved in sports and
student leadership, and for three years was a member of the local
4-H Beef Club. She graduated from Grand Trunk High School in
Evansburg, Alberta with the highest grade in English 30. She
attended a Christian College in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and
obtained a Bachelor's degree in Christian Education, graduating as
Valedictorian. By student vote, she received awards for being the
undergraduate who contributed the most to the College, and for being
the female athlete who demonstrated the most sportsmanlike conduct.
Since then, she has lived in Estevan, Saskatchewan; Spiritwood,
Saskatchewan; Golden, British Columbia; Calgary, Alberta, where she
received her law degree; and Edmonton, Alberta, where she articled
in 1995, and has since practiced law.
Before becoming a lawyer, Marilyn worked on farms, waitressed,
taught piano lessons, was employed as a deli-clerk, a High School
secretary, a Nurses' Aide in both a nursing home and a training
school for severely mentally and physically handicapped children,
and has been a summer camp instructor for children and youth. She
has volunteered and taken leadership in many educational, church and
community organizations.
Marilyn has four children, Jeremy, 24, Laura, 22, Daniel, 20, and
Luke, 16.
When she determined to become a lawyer after Luke was born, she had
not yet completed a single University course. She began
Undergraduate studies by correspondence with Athabasca University
and delivered the Edmonton Journal in the early morning hours so she
could stay home with her children as long as possible. After
completing two years of undergraduate study, she was accepted into
four law schools, and chose to attend the University of Calgary.
Marilyn went searching for a Provincial opposition party in 2003,
and became impressed with Randy Thorsteinson and the Alberta
Alliance policies. She committed to doing as much as she could to
move the Party forward, and has been the President - Northwest
Region, Vice-President - Communications, and Justice Critic for the
Party. She ran in the mixed rural/urban Constituency of Stony Plain
in the November 2004 election, garnering 1,904 votes, in the
traditional PC stronghold of former Cabinet Minister Stan Woloshyn.
Eleanor Maroes, Interim Leader, says that "Interest in this
leadership contest has been high. Memberships and donations are
coming in daily. Albertans are realizing the importance of the
Alberta Wildrose Alliance and want to play a part in choosing the new
leader."
The Leadership Convention will be held at the Red Deer Lodge on
November 19, 2005. Please visit the Alberta Alliance website for further details -
www.albertaalliance.com
*LLB = official law designation
Latin. Legum Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Laws)
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