Larry Shaben

Lawrence (Larry) Shaben (March 20 1935 – September 7 2008) was a Canadian politician of Lebanese descent.

He was the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Lesser Slave Lake from 1975-1989 representing the Alberta Progressive Conservatives.

Shaben was the first Arab and the first Muslim MLA elected in Alberta and the first Muslim Cabinet Minister in Canada. He served Minister of Housing and Minister of Utilities and Telephones under Premier Peter Lougheed and as as Minister of Economic Development and Trade under Don Getty. [cite web | author = M.Partington-Richer | title = Former MLA Shaben named as citizenship judge | publisher = The Lakeside Leader | url = http://www.lakesideleader.com/newsroom/volume34/050713/story1.html] [cite web | author = Stephen Heckbert | title = Citizenship judge appointments | publisher = Citizenship and Immigration Canada | url = http://www.ci.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2005/0518-e.asp] In 1984, Shaben survived the plan crash that killed fellow MLA and Alberta NDP leader Grant Notley. [cite web | author = The Associated Press | title = AROUND THE WORLD; Party Leader Is Killed In Alberta Plane Crash | publisher = The New York Times | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E1D91439F932A15753C1A962948260]

In 2005 he was appointed a citizenship judge. Though no longer living in High Prairie, the Shaben family name is still very well-respected and fondly remembered. who

His grandfather, Saleem Sha'aban (Sam Shaben), arrived in Alberta before World War I [cite web | author = Andrea W. Lorenz | title = Canada's Pioneer Mosque | publisher = Saudi Aramco World | url = http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199804/canada.s.pioneer.mosque.htm] and in 1925 opened a general store in Endiang, Alberta subsequently sending for his wife and son to join him from Lebanon. [cite web | author = Jim MacQuarrie | title = Generations: 100 Years in Alberta | publisher = CBC Newsworld | url = http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/generations/alberta.html]

Shaben's father, Albert, was 13 when he left Lebanon to join his father and became his business partner. The family moved to Edmonton in the mid 1940s after Alberta's first mosque was opened there. In 1949, Albert co-founded Shaben & Hamdon with his brother-in-law Mo Hamdon. In 1980 their Edmonton-based wholesale company was purchased by his older brother Edward Shaben and became Canada's largest toy distributor and is now known as Shaben International.

In 1989 he sold his three story house to the Mouallem family, and is currently owned by the Town Manager Larry (and Janet) Baran.

On September 7, 2008, Shaben died following a long bout with cancer. [cite web | author = The Associated Press | title = Former Alta. cabinet minister Larry Shaben dies | publisher = CTV News | url = http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080907/shaben_obitt_080907/20080907?hub=Canada] [cite web | author = Keith Gerein | title = Cancer claims Larry Shaben | publisher = Edmonton Journal | url = http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=ff1e0abf-b346-4d3b-93c0-b8ed4f8a892e] [cite web | author = Florence Loyie | title = Larry Shaben remembered as a friend, role model | publisher = Edmonton Journal | url = http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=98b50ec3-6643-44b6-ac1a-11737a6e7510&k=15946] [cite web | author = CBC News | title = Shaben remembered as family man and 'exceptional person' | publisher = CBC News | url = http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/09/09/shaben-funeral.html] A public memorial service is slated to occur on Monday, September 15, 2008 with a private gathering the previous Friday. [cite web | author = CBC News | title = Former cabinet minister Larry Shaben remembered | publisher = CBC News | url = http://www.cbc.ca//canada/edmonton/story/2008/09/08/shaben.html]

References