Hung Pham
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Hung Kim Pham (born: October 2, 1963) is a politician and computer programmer from Alberta, Canada. He currently serves as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from Calgary Montrose.
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[edit] Early life
Hung Pham moved to Calgary in 1980.
[edit] Education
Hung Pham graduated from high school in 1982. He enrolled in the computer science university transfer program at Mount Royal College where he was the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships for his outstanding academic performance. He transferred to the University of Calgary in 1984 and received his Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction in Computer Science and Mathematics in 1986. He went on to take the Masters Program in Computer Science at the University of Calgary, specializing in Artificial Intelligence.
[edit] Technology career
He was a prominent analyst with Canalta Data Services in 1988 and 1989. In September 1989 he began working at the City of Calgary as a Database Technical Analyst and was promoted to Senior Programmer Analyst in 1991.
[edit] Community involvement
Hung Pham has ties to many non-profit organizations in the Calgary Vietnamese's Community. He helped the Calgary Police Service with its multicultural and crime prevention programs, and in 1990 was elected President of the Calgary Vietnamese Canadian Association.
[edit] Political career
Hung Pham was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1993 Alberta general election. He has served as MLA for four terms.
Hung Pham has been frequently absent from the Legislature during his career prompting local Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell to nick name him the "MIA MLA". [1]
In June 2006, while running for the nomination in Calgary Montrose nomination candidate Gus Barron was disqualified from the race to ensure victory for Hung Pham. Gus sued and after a lengthy battle the court ordered the Constituency Association board of directors to pay his legal costs.
Hung Pham was elected to a controversial fourth term as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary Montrose in the 2004 Alberta general election.
During that election he was dogged with controversy over fall out from the Ward 10 voting scandal after it was revealed that advanced mail in ballots were order from a computer in his house for candidate Margot Aftergood to help defeat incumbent Diane Danielson. Hung Pham claimed the ballots were ordered by his brother while he was in Vietnam. [2]
Diane's husband Arthur Danielson ran against Pham for the Alberta Liberal Party. Despite the controversy Pham was easily re-elected.
In the 26th Alberta Legislative Assembly he was appointed as co-chair of the Climate Change Central board of directors. On December 15, 2006 he was appointed as a member of the Treasury Board. As well, he currently serves on the Cabinet Policy Committee on Government Services and the standing committees on Private Bills and on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. He has also served on numerous boards and standing committees during his time in office.
In August 2006 he came under investigation by the Alberta Ethics Commissioner for violations under Alberta's Conflict of Interest Act. It is alleged he illegally obtained $20,000.00 in grants that were funneled to the Applewood Community Association in his riding.
The complaint to the Ethics Commissioner was launched by Liberal MLA Bharat Agnihotri who researched money that came from the Wild Rose Foundation and was requested by a number of sources Pham was involved with. Pham claimed he was being used as a pawn in the leadership campaign and Jim Dinning supporters were conspiring against him.
In the 2006 Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership election he subsequently became the only Calgary MLA to back leadership candidate Ted Morton.[3] Despite backing Morton the Progressive Conservative members in Calgary Montrose voted for rival Jim Dinning.
[edit] References
- ^ Rick Bell (2006-09-03). Absent minded. Calgary Sun. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ Politician's home searched in Election Investigation. CBC News (2004-11-11). Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ Artists For Dinning Pham for Morton.. CBC News (2006-11-09). Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
[edit] External links
- Legislative Assembly of Alberta Biography
- Charity Law News Gus Barron vs. Calgary Montrose
- Embattled MLA lashes out at critics Calgary Herald August 19, 2006
| Preceded by New District |
MLA Calgary Montrose 1993–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
