Ken Hughes

Kenneth Gardner Hughes (born 11 February 1954) is a Canadian politician. He served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. Later he was chair of Alberta Health Services from 2008 to 2011, before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 2012. He served in the provincial cabinet first as Energy minister, then as Municipal Affairs minister until resigning on 7 April 2014 to enter the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election. Hughes withdrew his candidacy on 12 May 2014 in order to endorse the eventual winner, Jim Prentice and resigned from the legislature on 29 September 2014. Early life Hughes holds an undergraduate degree in agriculture from the University of Alberta. He also has a master's in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (1981-1983) with a focus on public and corporate finance. Federal career Hughes represented the Alberta riding of Macleod which he won in the 1988 federal election. Hughes served one term in the 34th Canadian Parliament after which he was defeated by Grant Hill of the Reform party in the 1993 election. Health care career Following his departure from federal politics, Hughes was appointed as board chairman for the Headwaters Health Authority, a role he filled from 1994 to 1995. He was appointed as the founding chairman of Alberta Health Services on 15 May 2008 and served in this role until 2011.