Kent Hehr

Kent Hehr (born December 16, 1969) is a Canadian politician from Alberta.

He played for the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion Calgary Canucks in 1989–90 and for the Mount Royal College Cougars the following year.

He had a goal of becoming a physical education teacher.

However, on October 3, 1991, Hehr was shot as a bystander in a drive-by shooting.

He was rendered a C5 quadriplegic; he is paralyzed from the chest down.

His injuries ended his plans, and instead Hehr pursued post-secondary studies at Mount Royal College and then at the University of Calgary, from which he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies and a Bachelor of Laws.

Upon graduation he was named graduate of the decade and ranked among the top 40 graduates in 40 years.

Prior to being elected Member of the Legislative Assembly, Hehr practised law at Fraser Milner Casgrain.

Hehr also became active in the community, leading various groups, such as the Alberta branch of the Canadian Paraplegic Association.

In June 2006, Hehr won the Liberal nomination for Calgary-Buffalo, in the heart of downtown Calgary.

In 2008, he was listed as one of "20 Compelling Calgarians" by the Calgary Herald.

Hehr has also been active in numerous community groups within Calgary.

He has served on the following boards in the past few years:

He was subsequently elected to the legislature in the March 3, 2008 general election.

After the election, Hehr was chosen to be the Shadow Minister for Justice and Solicitor General for the Alberta Liberal Caucus.

As the Shadow Minister, Hehr worked to tackle crime in the province while focusing on other justice issues.

In the legislature, Hehr served on the following committees:

Bill 201 was defeated in second reading on March 9, 2009, with no Conservative MLA support.

Hehr campaigned for mayor in the 2010 Calgary municipal election but withdrew a month before the vote to endorse Naheed Nenshi.

In 2014, Hehr proposed a private member's bill into the Alberta Legislature that would urge public schools to support students who wished to create gay-straight alliances.

The bill, while supported by the Liberals, Alberta NDP and some Progressive Conservatives, was voted down by a majority of PC and Wildrose MLAs in April.

Six months later Laurie Blakeman brought a private members bill forward which essentially adopted Hehr's motion.

Instead of allowing a vote to proceed on this motion, the PC government brought in their own bill, the essence of which allowed public, Catholic, and private school entities to decide whether or not they would allow a Gay-Straight Alliance in their district.

Ultimately the PCs brought in a reformed bill that effectively allowed Gay-Straight Alliances in all schools throughout the province.

For Hehr, himself a shooting victim, a major focus has been on gun violence in the province.

Soon after he was elected, the City of Calgary became trapped in a gang war which has claimed the lives of many young individuals.

Hehr put pressure on the government to help reduce these numbers.

He started by calling on the province to increase the number of police officers on the beat in downtown Calgary.

The Mayor and the Police Chief have also joined in his call to increase the number of police officers.

Hehr's most recent call was to give police the power to seize vehicles that contain unregistered firearms, along with the gun.

On July 17, 2014, following some speculation, Hehr announced he would seek the Liberal nomination in Calgary Centre for the 2015 federal election.

On November 28, he was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate.

He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Calgary Centre from 2015 to 2019.

Hehr was named Minister of Veterans Affairs in the federal Cabinet, headed by Justin Trudeau, on November 4, 2015, and was shuffled to be Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities in August 2017.

Hehr resigned from cabinet on January 25, 2018, after allegations of workplace misconduct surfaced from when he was the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Buffalo.

On September 6, 2021, it was reported that Hehr would soon file nomination papers to run for mayor in the 2021 Calgary municipal election.

He filed for that office but withdrew his candidacy later in September, citing the heightened risks from COVID-19 infection for people with spinal cord injuries.

Before entering politics, Hehr worked as a disability activist and a lawyer.

As a teenager, Hehr was active in sports including both baseball and hockey.

These are interests which Hehr is still passionate about to this day.