Danyluk appointed college board chair
Ex-cabinet minister joins Portage
Former PC cabinet minister Ray Danyluk has been appointed board chairman of a rural college in his former riding, Portage College announced Tuesday.
Ray Danyluk lost his Lac La BicheSt. Paul-Two Hills seat in the 2012 provincial election.
Elected as an MLA in 2001, Danyluk served in cabinet under former premier Ed Stelmach, as well as Premier Alison Redford, in portfolios such as Municipal Affairs, Infrastructure and Transportation.
The school touts Danyluk’s connections with education, including a stint as chairman of the St. Paul Education Board, as well as his efforts to increase student housing for rural colleges. During Danyluk’s tenure, Portage College received more than $5.3 million for its Lac La Biche and St. Paul campus housing projects.
When the appointment was approved in December, Wildrose education critic Blake Pedersen panned it as evidence of “the ongoing culture of PC entitlement.” Pedersen pointed to reports that Portage College was one of an assortment of towns, counties, school boards and post-secondary institutions identified in 2011 as having made illegal campaign contributions through tickets to Progressive Conservative constituency fundraisers.
Portage College donated $7,600, the Wildrose news release notes.
In Feb. 2013, Elections Alberta released a report of 45 such cases of “prohibited corporations” making illegal campaign contributions.