The Right Honourable Don Mazankowski, an Officer of the Order of Canada, was first elected to the House of Commons in June 1968, where he was Member of Parliament for Vegreville, Alberta until October 1993.

In 1979, he was appointed Minister of Transport and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board. In 1986, he became Deputy Prime Minister, and continued in that position while holding various portfolios, including President of the Privy Council and Government House Leader, President of the Treasury Board, Privatization and Regulatory Affairs, Agriculture and Finance. Mr. Mazankowski served as chair of the Institute of Health Economics, an Edmonton-based health research centre from 1996 to 2004, and the Canadian Genetics Network, a national body focusing on genetic research, from 1999 to 2004.

He was named chairman of the Premier’s Advisory Council on Health in Alberta in 2002. In 2002, he was named one of Alberta’s 50 most influential people in recognition of his leadership in health care reform.

In 2003, Mr. Mazankowski received Alberta’s highest honour, the Alberta Order of Excellence, which acknowledges individuals who have made a singular and lasting contribution to the province of Alberta.

In September 2004 Mr. Mazankowski joined the law firm of Gowlings, Lafleur, Henderson LLP, as a senior policy advisor. In this role he provides Gowlings clients with strategic business and policy advice built upon his years of experience in government and business.