Ricardo Miranda ECA (born August 22, 1976) is a Canadian politician and trade unionist who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 2015 Alberta general election representing the electoral district of Calgary-Cross.[1]

The Honourable
Ricardo Miranda
Miranda in May 2015
Alberta Minister of Culture and Tourism
In office
February 2, 2016 – April 30, 2019
Preceded byDavid Eggen
Succeeded byLeela Aheer
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Cross
In office
May 5, 2015 – April 16, 2019
Preceded byYvonne Fritz
Succeeded byMickey Amery
Personal details
Born (1976-08-22) August 22, 1976 (age 48)
Managua, Nicaragua
Political partyAlberta New Democratic Party
Residence(s)Calgary, Alberta
Alma materUniversity of Calgary
OccupationResearcher

On February 2, 2016, Miranda was appointed Alberta's Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Before politics

edit

Miranda was born in Managua, Nicaragua, and is Jewish.[2] In 1988, Miranda left war-torn Nicaragua immigrating to Canada as a refugee when he was just 10-years-old.[3] He graduated from Father Lacombe High School in Calgary, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary.

Miranda engaged for several years in activism for various workers' rights organizations. While employed as a flight attendant for Air Canada, he was elected president of his local union, one of the largest within the Canadian Union of Public Employees. He went on to work for CUPE as a researcher in the Alberta office of CUPE National, where he met and worked with Louis Arab, husband of the incumbent premier and Alberta NDP leader the Hon. Rachel Notley. As a CUPE researcher, Miranda also contributed to public policy as a board member of the Parkland Institute, an Edmonton-based public policy think tank based in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta.[4]

Political career

edit

Miranda's entry into politics came after encouragement by Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley, who suggested he may run for the Alberta NDP party.[5] Previously, Miranda had served as a member of various committees, including the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and the Select Special Ethics and Accountability Committee. He also served as chair of the Standing Committee on Alberta's Economic Future.

He was elected as an MLA in the 2015 Alberta general election, becoming one of the first three openly LGBT politicians elected to the provincial legislature, alongside caucus colleagues Michael Connolly and Estefania Cortes-Vargas.[6] In February 2016, Miranda was appointed as Alberta's Minister of Culture and Tourism in a provincial government headed by Notley.

He was defeated in the 2019 provincial election.[7]

Personal life

edit

Miranda is openly gay. In addition to belonging to a sexual minority group, Miranda has variously spoken publicly about the difficulties of his early life fleeing war and persecution, and has been the voice of Judaism in the legislature, rising to inform on the occasion of various Jewish holidays.

Miranda became Alberta's first cabinet minister to be married in a same-sex wedding. In a marriage ceremony held on December 28, 2018 in Calgary's Glenbow Museum, Miranda married boyfriend and partner Christopher Brown. He had met Brown early in 2018. The marriage ceremony of Miranda and Brown was officiated by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.[8]

Electoral history

edit
2019 Alberta general election: Calgary-Cross
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
United Conservative Mickey Amery 8,907 54.26 +2.75† $39,209
New Democratic Ricardo Miranda 6,135 37.38 +1.25 $54,925
Alberta Party Braham Luddu 962 5.86 $6,936
Liberal Naser Kukhun 410 2.50 -6.88 $4,299
Total 16,414 99.27
Rejected, spoiled and declined 121 0.73
Turnout 16,535 53.61
Eligible voters 30,844
United Conservative notional hold Swing -2.25
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta[9][10][11]
Note: Expenses is the sum of "Election Expenses", "Other Expenses" and "Transfers Issued". The Elections Act limits "Election Expenses" to $50,000.
†Comparison for UCP is to the combined Wildrose & PC redistributed vote in 2015


2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-Cross
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Ricardo Miranda 4,602 36.13% 31.10%
Progressive Conservative Rick Hanson 4,501 35.34% -9.31%
Wildrose Moiz Mahmood 2,060 16.17% -21.81%
Liberal Manjot Singh Gill 1,194 9.38% -0.79%
Green Peter Meic 236 1.85% 0.32%
Independent Katherine Le Rougetel † 143 1.12%
Total 12,736
Rejected, spoiled and declined 98
Eligible electors / turnout 31,535 40.70% -3.07%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -2.94%
Source(s)
Source: "06 - Calgary-Cross, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
†Le Rougetel was a candidate of the unregistered Communist League. See Ryan Rumbolt, "Communist League candidate Katherine LeRougetel enters mayoral race", Calgary Herald, 5 March 2017, accessed 8 March 2017.

References

edit
  1. ^ "NDP's Miranda wins by 100 votes over former police chief". Calgary Herald, May 6, 2015.
  2. ^ "Ricardo Miranda: From refugee to cabinet minister," Canadian Jewish News.
  3. ^ "Save the date: Ricardo Miranda, Alberta’s first openly gay cabinet minister, is getting married". Toronto Star, December 5, 2018.
  4. ^ "Board Members".
  5. ^ "CUPE Researcher elected in Alberta". Canadian Union of Public Employees. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  6. ^ "Alberta's NDP Government A Diverse Bunch". Canadian Press via Huffington Post, May 6, 2015.
  7. ^ "Son of longtime MLA Moe Amery ready to take over Calgary-Cross". Calgary Herald, April 18, 2019.
  8. ^ "Alberta premier officiates cabinet minister's historic same-sex wedding". CBC News, December 30, 2018.
  9. ^ "05 - Calgary-Cross, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  10. ^ Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 19–22. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  11. ^ Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume III Election Finances (PDF) (Report). Vol. 3. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 68–82. ISBN 978-1-988620-13-8. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.