MLA Biography - Heather Forsyth
- Heather is currently serving her fifth term as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Fish Creek.
- Currently serves as the Chair of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, as well as a member of the Private Bills Committee and the Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.
- In 2007, Heather led the Crime Reduction and Safe Communities Task Force. What she heard— crime touches too many lives, drugs and alcohol are the heart of many crimes, the current criminal justice system is not working.
- Heather has served as both Solicitor General and as Minister of Children’s Services where she has always devoted her considerable energies to promoting children’s interests and focusing on building strong families and communities.
- Launched the high-risk offender website;
- Establishing the country’s first Amber Alert program;
- Brought forward the Integrated Response to Organized Crime (IROC) initiative, among others.
- Introduced groundbreaking legislation to protect drug-endangered children (DECA), the first law of its kind to be passed in Canada.
- Partnered with Microsoft to create the Bad Guy Patrol, a website dedicated to teaching children Internet safety and also worked on many initiatives concerning bullying and family violence.
- She is best known for championing the issue of child prostitution, which resulted in the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act (PCHIP), the first of its kind in Canada to recognize that children engaged in prostitution are victims of sexual abuse and require protection.
- She brought forward, and had passed, a private member’s bill to provide the right of court-ordered access of grandparents to their grandchildren.
- Reader’s Digest named Heather a Canadian Hero in 2002.
- One of her most treasured honours was being bestowed the Blackfoot name Aahsoikinnah-kaiki, which means healing woman.
- Heather is an avid reader, likes to golf and garden in her spare time. She also enjoys spending time with her husband Gordon and family.