Raymond Frank "Ray" Prins (born April 15, 1951) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Lacombe-Ponoka as a Progressive Conservative.

Ray Prins
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
In office
November 22, 2004 – April 23, 2012
Preceded bynew district
Succeeded byRod Fox
ConstituencyLacombe-Ponoka
Personal details
Born (1951-04-15) April 15, 1951 (age 73)
Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative

Early life

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Prins was born April 15, 1951, in Lacombe, Alberta. After high school, he worked a variety of agriculture and construction jobs, including two years in oilfield construction northeast of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, and a year in refinery maintenance in Edmonton. In 1974, Prins bought a farm near Gull Lake, Alberta where he grew grain and hay, and raised cattle, hogs, elk and bison.

Political career

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Prins was elected to a second term representing the constituency of Lacombe-Ponoka in the 2008 provincial election, where he received 58 per cent of the vote. The constituency race garnered national media attention with Alberta Greens candidate Joe Anglin thought by many to be the Alberta Green's best chance at earning its first seat in a provincial legislature. Anglin took 23 per cent of the March 2008 vote.[1][2]

Prins was, up to March 2012, the chair of the Policy Field Committee on Resources and Environment, and the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing. He resigned from this position, soon after it was revealed that the committee had never met, yet the committee members were receiving pay for being on the committee. On March 20, 2012, Prins also announced he would not seek re-election.[3] He was also a member of the Treasury Board and the Cabinet Policy Committee on Resources and the Environment.

Prins was first elected in 2004, when he received 53 per cent of the vote in his constituency. Since being elected, Prins has sat on numerous committees. He has chaired the Seniors Advisory Council, MLA Task Force for Seniors, the Review of Local Authorities Election Act and Rural Development Strategy. He has also served as deputy chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

Prior to entering provincial politics, Prins was reeve of Lacombe County from 2001 to 2004. He was a founding member of the North Red Deer River Regional Water Services Commission (2004), a process he saw to completion as an MLA. He has also served as chair of the Lacombe County Agricultural Service Board.

Personal life

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He is a member of Woodynook Christian Reformed Church in Blackfalds, Alberta, past chair of the Lacombe Christian School Board and former vice-chair of King’s University College Board of Governors.

Prins has volunteered on community developing trips to Mali, Kenya, Russia and Armenia. He also participated in a project building water systems throughout rural Sierra Leone, where he was named an honorary Kuranko tribesman.[4]

Election results

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2004 Alberta general election: Lacombe-Ponoka
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Ray Prins 6,923 52.93%
Alberta Alliance Ed Klop 2,349 17.96%
Liberal Glen T. Simmonds 2,214 16.93%
New Democratic Jim Graves 1,133 8.66%
Social Credit Teena Cormack 461 3.52%
Total 13,080
Rejected, spoiled and declined 77
Eligible electors / turnout 26,373 49.89%
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Lacombe-Ponoka Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
2008 Alberta general election: Lacombe-Ponoka
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Ray Prins 8,202 58.17% 5.25%
Green Joe Anglin 3,226 22.88%
Liberal Edith McPhedran 1,200 8.51% -8.42%
Wildrose Daniel Friesen 911 6.46% -11.50%
New Democratic Steven P. Bradshaw 560 3.97% -4.69%
Total 14,099
Rejected, spoiled and declined 68
Eligible electors / turnout 32,200 44.00% -5.89%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 0.16%
Source(s)
Source: "61 - Lacombe-Ponoka, 2008 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. pp. 450–455.

References

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  1. ^ Whyte, Murray (2 March 2008). "Albertans looking a little Green". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  2. ^ "Green candidate tries to make inroads". Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Alberta Tories do something about 'do-nothing committee'". Globe and Mail. 20 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Prin's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography".