Lance Day White (born August 31, 1946) is a former Canadian municipal and provincial level politician. He served on the Edmonton city council from 1983 until 1992. He then moved on to provincial politics and served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 until 2001. He was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1]

Lance White
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
In office
1993–2001
ConstituencyEdmonton Mayfield (1993–1997)
Edmonton-Calder (1997–2001)
Edmonton City Councillor
In office
1983–1992
Personal details
Born (1946-08-31) August 31, 1946 (age 78)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Political partyAlberta Liberal Party
Alma materUniversity of Alberta
Occupationengineer

Municipal politics

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White began his political career as a municipal councillor for the city of Edmonton, Alberta. He won his first term on city council as a candidate running in Ward 4 of the 1983 Edmonton municipal election. The race for Ward 4 was hotly contested by a field of fifteen candidates. On election day White won the second place seat, finishing well behind incumbent Ed Leger.[2] White rode a white horse down Jasper Avenue a few days prior to election day, which was said to be one of the reasons for his winning the seat over very stiff competition from, among others, Brian Mason.

He ran for his second term in office in the 1986 Edmonton municipal election, where he had an easy first place victory with incumbent Ed Leger going down to defeat, and Mel Binder won the second place seat.[3] During his second term on city council, White ran for election to the Alberta Legislature in March 1989. He was defeated but continued as a city councillor.[4]

In the 1989 Edmonton municipal election, White won his third term finishing ahead of Binder in a hotly contested race. Both incumbents finished well ahead of the other two challengers to each retain their seats.[5] White vacated his city council seat in the fall of 1992, after which he and his family spent four months on a backpacking tour around the world. Upon his return, he successfully ran with the Laurence Decore Liberals in the 1993 Alberta general election.[6] In the fall of 1995, while still a Member of the Alberta Legislature, White ran for the office of Mayor of Edmonton. He finished fifth in a field of seven candidates with three percent of the popular vote.[7]

Provincial politics

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White had ambitions of running for a seat in the Alberta Legislature. While still a municipal councilor he ran as the Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Calder for the 1989 Alberta general election. He was defeated by incumbent Christie Mjolsness of the New Democrats.[4] White easily won the electoral district of Edmonton-Mayfield in his second attempt to gain a seat in the 1993 Alberta general election defeating two term incumbent New Democrat MLA Alex McEachern.[6] He was re-elected in the 1997 Alberta general election. The race was hotly contested, with all three candidates taking a third of the popular vote.[8] White would be narrowly (400+ votes) defeated by Progressive Conservative Brent Rathgeber in the 2001 Alberta general election.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Biographies of Mayors and Councillors | Edmonton Public Library". Archived from the original on 2011-07-05. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  2. ^ "1983 election results". City of Edmonton. Retrieved 2008-03-30. [dead link]
  3. ^ "1986 election results". City of Edmonton. Retrieved 2008-03-30. [dead link]
  4. ^ a b "Edmonton-Calder official election results 1989". Alberta Heritage. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  5. ^ "1989 election results". City of Edmonton. Retrieved 2008-03-30. [dead link]
  6. ^ a b "Edmonton Mayfield official election results 1993". Alberta Heritage. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  7. ^ "1995 election results". City of Edmonton. Retrieved 2008-03-30. [dead link]
  8. ^ "Edmonton-Calder official election results 1997". Alberta Heritage. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  9. ^ "Edmonton-Calder official election results 2001". Alberta Heritage. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Gerry Wright
Paul Norris
Edmonton city councillor Ward 4
1983 – 1992
Succeeded by
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
New district Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton Mayfield
1993 – 1997
District abolished
Preceded by Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Edmonton-Calder
1997 – 2001
Succeeded by