Walter van de Walle

Walter van de Walle (born 1922) is a retired politician from Alberta and former member of the Canadian House of Commons.

Van de Walle was born to Belgian immigrants on the shores of Big Lake, Alberta. He has lived his whole life in the area, and married Fernande Prefontaine in 1950.http://www.stalbertgazette.com/ourstory/page/47.pdf] Van de Walle moved to Legal, Alberta in 1945 to farm. His political career started in 1958 when he was elected to the Sturgeon school division board of trustees, on which he served until 1965. [ [http://www.sturgeon.ab.ca/policy/A_01.pdf The Province of Alberta was founded within the Dominion of Canada in 1905 ] ] In 1959, he was elected to the Sturgeon County council. He was re-elected in 1962, 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1974, leaving municipal politics in 1977. [http://www.stalbertgazette.com/ourstory/page/90.pdf]

In 1985, van de Walle was inducted into the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame. [ [http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/info2092?opendocument Van De Walle, Walter - 1985 Hall of Fame Inductee ] ]

In 1986, Peter Elzinga resigned his position as Member of Parliament for Pembina to run for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Van de Walle was nominated to be his replacement by the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and won a narrow upset victory over New Democrat Ivor Dent, a former Mayor of Edmonton.

Van de Walle was easily re-elected in the 1988 election in the newly-formed riding of St. Albert, receiving more than twice the votes of his closest rival. He did not seek re-election in the 1993 election. He continues to live near Legal, and is a current trustee of the Sturgeon Hospital Foundation. [ [http://www.sturgeonhospitalfoundation.org/tyou_board.htm Sturgeon Hospital Foundation Homepage ] ]

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