Born: Regina, Saskatchewan
Highest level of education: B.Com. from University of Regina (1997); law degree from University of Saskatchewan (2000)
Prior to politics: Lawyer with Miller Thomson LLP; president of a communications firm; director of the Institute for Public Sector Accountability
First elected: 2008
Constituency: Calgary-Egmont
Sworn in as Minister: Mar 13, 2008

MINISTRY VISION AND MISSION
Vision: Housing solutions and supports for safe, healthy and vibrant communities. Mission: Contribute to the inclusion, well-being and independence of lower-income Albertans through safe, sustainable and affordable housing, and assist urban communities with addressing their unique needs.

MINISTRY RESPONSIBILITIES
Shelters, Secretariat for Action on Homelessness, Gunn Centre, housing market monthly bulletin, apartment vacancy and rental cost survey, direct-to-tenant rent supplement, community housing, seniors self-contained and special-needs housing

MANDATE LETTER
Provide supports that maintain housing stability and employ a housing first philosophy. Implement plans to address homelessness and affordable housing.

LOBBYISTS
For the names of this ministry’s 15 registered lobbyists, see: www.lobbyistsact.ab.ca

CONTACT
Ministry Office
3rd Floor, 44 Capital Blvd 10044 108 St, Edm., T5J 5E6
Phone: 780 422 0122 Fax: 780 422 8462
housingandurbanaffairs.minister@gov.ab.ca
Constituency Office
#10, 8318 Fairmount Dr SE,
Calgary, T2H 0Y8
Phone: 403 640 1363 Fax: 403 640 2970 calgary.egmont@assembly.ab.ca

DID YOU KNOW?
Denis is one of the most active Twitterers among MLAs. His Apr 16, 2010, tweet “JonoMLA is perplexed that a retired bus driver lectures others on how they don’t understand economics… oh for good intentions” created a small firestorm in the Twittersphere. Some said the comment was elitist, aimed at NDP leader Brian Mason. Denis said it was an “inside joke.”

MINISTRY REPORT CARD
“We cannot really expect there will come a day when homelessness [is] eliminated… But we can expect there to be a system in place to help homeless people find their feet again. That may be about to happen.” (Mary-Ann Barr, Red Deer Advocate, Jan 28, 2008)

“The goal [of the 10-year plan] is laudable. But the execution has created new problems… Supersaturating overburdened core areas with social housing is a terrible long-term strategy… for our entire community.” (Paula Simons, Edm. Journal, Oct 12, 2010)

“[Denis] introduced voluntary ID cards… ‘It’s a no-brainer,’ says Steve Griffin, director of programs for the Mustard Seed. ‘Being able to show a card attesting to your identity is the difference between access [to] all kinds of services, or access [to] nothing.’” (Valerie Fortney, Cgy. Herald, Oct 2, 2010)

The Köppen climate index classifies the Brooks area as “semi- arid, short-grass prairie.” Locals refer to it simply and cheerfully as “bald- ass desert.”

Remarkable irrigation efforts enabled the creation of nearby farms and ranches, including an historic (now defunct) 20-metre-high cement aqueduct, which looks from afar like Confederation Bridge dropped at the outskirts of town. The Eastern Irrigation District is to thank for virtually every slough, canal, trench and spot of water in and around Brooks. The county boasts Lake Newell, Alberta’s largest man-made lake, and consequently is home to the most certifiably anomalous sailing culture on the prairie.

Ranching, farming and oilfield services are long-time industries in Brooks, but the nearby slaughterhouse—XL Lakeside Packers, the largest local employer—has more recently piped deep into the global labour market, streaming thousands of immigrants, refugees and temporary workers from around the planet to Brooks.

Seventy-six different languages are now spoken in an area of less than 18 square kilometres. Playgrounds in The City of 100 Hellos are a cacophony of Arabic, filipino, Somali, Spanish and English. Today, T1R is one of the most ethnically diverse postal codes, not just in Alberta, but Canada.

Brooks makes an appropriate place to start our slate of 2011 Postal Codes, since the focus for Alberta Views this year is on the ways Alberta is changing. In answer to the three questions we always ask—What do you love about your community? What most concerns you? What would you change?—the owner of a Chinese restaurant answers, “Easy: people, people and people.”

Another store owner describes waves of immigrants, referring to life in Brooks before and after it was “Africanized.” She recalls, “There was a time when you could say offensive things—there was no-one to offend.”

Almost all of the trees in Brooks were planted. There are so few naturally occurring trees here that the sight of one used to be noteworthy; a street sign near the edge of town reads “One Tree Road,” a testament to the time when there were very few trees. It’s astounding to consider not just the massive waterways around town but the canopy of cottonwoods and poplars within.

Outside Tim Horton’s, three Sudanese men—who, at 6-foot-something, stand arborescent themselves—have the most positive things to say about Brooks. for all its transience and newcomers, they say, Brooks is a good, safe place to live. Others should move here. Meanwhile, not far away, kids shout, playing a game of pickup soccer, using equidistant tree trunks as goalposts.