Al Adair

James Allen "Al" "Boomer" Adair (May 13, 1929 – December 24, 1996) was a minor league baseball player, radio broadcaster, published author and provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1993.

Early life

Adair played minor league Baseball for the Peace River Stampeders in the North Peace Baseball League. He stayed with the team through a number of years in the 1960s.^[1] After baseball he became a well known radio broadcaster in Peace River until he ran for political office in 1971.^[2]

Political career

Adair ran as a candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1971 Alberta general election. He defeated incumbent Social Credit MLA Robert Wiebe to win his first term in office and pickup the Peace River electoral district for his party.^[3] He was appointed to the cabinet by Premier Peter Lougheed and served as the Minister without portfolio responsible for native affairs. Adair was re-elected in the 1975 Alberta general election winning a larger vote share and defeating three other candidates.^[4] After the election, he was reassigned by Lougheed to be the new Minister of Recreation, Parks and Wildlife.

Adair stood for a third term in office in the 1979 Alberta general election. He easily defeated three other candidates to win the second highest popular vote of his political career.^[5] Adair would reach the height of his popularity with a landslide win in the 1982 Alberta general election.^[6] After Don Getty became Premier in 1985, Adair became the new Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. The appointment was short lived because he became the Minister of Transportation and Utilities after winning his fifth consecutive term in office in the 1986 Alberta general election.^[7] He would run for his sixth and final term in the 1989 Alberta general election. His final election would see him net the highest vote percentage of his career as he took 66% of the popular vote.^[8] Adair lost his cabinet portfolio after Ralph Klein became Premier in 1992. He retired from provincial politics with the dissolution of the Assembly in 1993.

Late life

After retiring from his political career, Adair co-authored a book with Frank J. Dolphin titled Boomer: My Life with Peter, Don and Ralph. The book was published in 1994 by Polar Bear Publishing.^[9] He died of a heart attack on December 24, 1996 at the age of 67.^[10][11] The Al 'Boomer' Adair Rec Centre in Peace River, Alberta is named in his honor.^[12]

References

External links

• Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing