Bert Brown - Early Life

Early Life

Bert Brown, land development consultant and retired farmer from Kathyrn, Alberta, is the second democratically-elected senator in Canada’s history. He was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on July 10, 2007, and sits in the Senate as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Famous for using his tractor to plough “Triple-E Senate or else” into his neighbour’s barley field, Bert Brown has been campaigning for an elected Senate for over 24 years. He is the only person to have run in all of the first three of Alberta’s senatorial elections, and was elected Senator-In-Waiting in 1998 and 2004. He has been the national chairman of the Canadian Committee for a Triple-E Senate since 1984, is the chairman of the Alberta Provincial Committee for an Elected Senate, and is past chairman of the Constitutional Conference Committee (1994–98). He was a member of the Alberta Senate Reform Task Force from 1986 to 1989 and again in 2005.

As chairman of the Canadian Committee for a Triple-E Senate, over the past 25 years since the committee was registered as a lobby group, he has carried the message of an elected, equal and effective future Senate to every political party and every provincial government in Canada. Senator Brown has undertaken this lobbying with the support of three government committee tours Canada-wide during 1989, 1994 and 2008 at the behest of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Triple-E Committee has achieved polling as high as 79% in 2008 averaged across Canada for an elected Senate. Polling was 75% to 90% support in the western provinces.

In 1992, Senator Brown acted as special advisor on the Constitution to the Premier of Alberta during the Charlottetown Accord negotiations. That year, he was also a delegate to the Renewal of Canada Conferences (Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver) and conducted a survey of past and present elected members in Canada, reporting the results in “The Effects of Party Discipline on Canadian Government” (Canadian Parliamentary Review ). He has made many presentations to government bodies, public service organizations and political groups on constitutional issues in Canada.

Outside his longstanding interest in political and constitutional reform, Senator Brown has had a long and varied career. He attended Mount Royal College and studied civil engineering at the University of Oklahoma. From 1968 to 1999, he owned and operated Brownhill Farms Ltd, a 1,120-acre grain farm 40 kilometres northeast of Calgary. From 2001 to 2006, he was a columnist with the Calgary Herald, and in 2000, with the Calgary Sun. He is a licensed Alberta realtor and has mediation experience for estates and sale of land in estate. Senator Brown currently maintains a private pilot’s license.

Senator Brown also has a long history of community and directorial involvement. He was director of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce from 1986 to 1989 and a member of the TransAlta Utilities Southern Alberta Advisory Board from 1980 to 1984. From 1980 to 1986, he was director and, for two terms, vice-chair, of the Western Irrigation District. From 1973 to 1978, he was member and, from 1978 to 1982, chairman, of the Municipal District of Rocky View Planning Commission. Senator Brown is also the founder of the Canadian Agriculture Lobby (1977). For over 30 years, he has served as director of provincial and federal constituency associations, as well as executive positions in provincial organizations. Since 2004, Senator Brown has co-chaired, with his wife Alice, the Olds College Capital Campaign. He is a member of the Canada West Foundation, the Fraser Institute and the Woodrow Wilson Centre.

In 2003, Senator Brown received the Alberta Centennial Medal, an award given to Albertans whose achievements have benefited their fellow citizens, their community and their province.

Senator Brown married his wife Alice (Lancaster) in 1965. They have one daughter, Angela Susan Brown.