Minister of Sustainable Resource Development

Mel Knight was elected to his third term as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Grande Prairie-Smoky on March 3, 2008. Mr. Knight currently serves as Minister of Sustainable Resource Development. Previously, he served as Minister of Energy.

In addition to his role as MLA he has served as a member of the standing committees on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing as well as the Standing Policy Committee on Energy and Sustainable Development.

Mr. Knight is also an active participant in the Energy Council and co-chairs the Energy Task Force with the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER).

Mr. Knight has represented Alberta on the Council of State Governments - West (CSG-West), Alaska-Alberta Bilateral Task Force, co-chair of the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) and Board of Directors for the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI).

Prior to being elected provincially, Mr. Knight served as councillor for ward 2 in the municipal district of Greenview.

Mr. Knight was born in 1944 in Beaverlodge and raised in the Peace Country. He graduated from Hillside high school in Valleyview and is a certified journeyman instrument mechanic.

Mr. Knight worked for drilling and exploration service companies until 1965, when he joined PanAm Petroleum. In 1970 he started Knight Measurement and Control, an energy sector service company that employed up to 55 people in northwestern Alberta.

In 1972 Mr. Knight and his family moved to a half-section farm south of Valleyview, where he expanded to 1,500 acres to support a 125-head registered polled Hereford herd and produce forage for contract sales.

An active member of his community, Mr. Knight was a member of a local recreation board, the past president of a senior hockey team a hockey coach for over 10 years, and a member of the local gun club and petroleum association.

Mr. Knight continues to live on the farmstead south of Valleyview with his wife, Diana. They have three childrenDarren, Shawna and Gregoryand 10 grandchildren.

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January 15, 2010