Diane Colley-Urquhart

Diane Marie Colley-Urquhart
City of Calgary Alderman
Incumbent
Assumed office July 10, 2000
Preceded by	Patti Grier
Constituency	Ward 13
Personal details
Spouse	David Urquhart

Diane Marie Colley-Urquhart is municipal politician and Calgary Police Commissioner from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is currently a member of Calgary City Council and serves as the representative for Ward 13.

Registered Nurse

Diane Colley-Urquhart grew up on a farm in Oyen Alberta prior to moving to Calgary. After receiving her BSc in Health and Human Services, Diane has had nearly a 40 year registered nursing career. Colley-Urquhart has held senior management and teaching positions in Emergency, Intensive Trauma and Cardiac Care with Foothills Hospital, the U of A Hospital, Beverly Care Centre, Heart & Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, Kids Help Phone and Westhampton Management Ltd. She continues to work occasionally as a Nurse Specialist at the Calgary Chronic Pain Center and with Alberta Health Services.

Political career

Alderman

Colley-Urquhart was first elected as an Alderman on July 4, 2000. She won a contested by-election in Ward 13 over ten other candidates. She was sworn into her post on July 10, 2000.

During her time on City Council she has been a strong advocate for the Calgary Police, sitting on the Calgary Police Commission since 2002. Colley-Urquhart created the STOP Marijuana Grow-ops Coalition in 2005 in recognition of the growing number of MGOs within the City, and has actively pursued legislative and policy changes within City Administration and City Partners.

A fiscal conservative and promoter of a “common sense” style of leadership, Alderman Colley-Urquhart campaigned hard against tax increases in the 2008 budget debates and held a “Tax Payers Revolt” at City Hall with close to 1000 people signing her petition. Colley-Urquhart was also a vocal opponent of the Santiago Calatrava designed pedestrian bridges and now sits on the City Council Audit Committee, pushing for greater scrutiny of the tendering process.

Colley-Urquhart was instrumental in the “Smoke-Free Calgary” campaign. She has also pursued initiatives such as: the Telework & Carpooling Initiative, the Stop Marijuana Grow Ops Coalition, roundtables on racism & discrimination, the Deerfoot Trail Safety Audit, and the Calgary Transit Public Safety Audit.

In partnership with Mayor Bronconnier, Diane was instrumental in developing a Military Leave Policy for the City of Calgary which is leading best practice across the country in supporting Reservists in the Canadian Forces. In 2008, as the STOP MGO Coalition Chair, Diane received the Minister’s Municipal Honorable Mention Award of Excellence. In 2008, through Diane’s efforts, Calgary Economic Development was successful in obtaining nearly $1m for the Regional Telework Initiative from the Federal government ecoMOBILITY Program, which was the largest sum given to any of the 14 municipalities that received funding.

Colley-Urquhart has recently gain publicity for her motion to have Tow Trucks on stand-by on major commuting routes, which has since tremendous success in its first week of operation.

She was re-elected in the 2010 Municipal election as Alderman for Ward 13.

Calgary-Glenmore by-election

Colley-Urquhart was the candidate of the province of Alberta's ruling Progressive Conservative party in a by-election called in the riding of Calgary-Glenmore for September 14, 2009, to become that riding's Member of the provincial Legislative Assembly. Colley-Urquhart finished in third place, behind the victorious Wildrose Alliance candidate, Paul Hinman, and the runner-up, Liberal Party candidate Avalon Roberts. It was the first time since 1967 that the Progressive Conservative candidate failed to win the riding.

Volunteer Positions

She has canvassed and volunteered for numerous organizations such as the World Police Fire Games, Calgary Police Interpretive Center, Calgary Crime Stoppers, the Alzheimer’s Society & Calgary Handibus. She also volunteered on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Committee in Wichita, Kansas, served as President of the Alberta P.C. Women’s Association, Vice-President of the National P.C. Women’s Federation, Alberta Vice-President of the P.C. Party of Canada, Co- Chaired the Kim Campbell Leadership Committee for Southern Alberta, and served as President of the Calgary Glenmore P.C. Association. Diane is currently President of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s SW riding association.

Committees & Boards

Diane currently serves as:

• Chair, Standing Policy Committee (SPC) on Land Use, Planning and Transportation • Chair, Audit Sub-Committee on Snow and Ice Removal • Member, of the Calgary Police Commission • Member, Finance & Audit Committee • Member, Complaint Oversight Committee • Co-Chair, Calgary Police Interpretive Center Capital Campaign • Director, ALERT (Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams) Board of Directors • Member, Audit Committee • Member, Standing Policy Committee (SPC) on Community & Protective Services • Member, Intergovernmental Affairs Committee • Alberta Vice Chair, Canadian Forces Liaison Council • Honorary Chair, Safer Calgary Board • Honorary Spokesman, MADD • Director, Calgary Glenmore P.C. Association Board of Directors • President, Calgary South Federal Conservative Party Board of Directors • Member, Prime Minister’s Fundraising Committee

External links

• Diane Colley-Urquhart Ward 13 homepage