Alan Buchanan

Who is Alan Buchanan?

Alan Gilmore Buchanan BA, MA, is a Canadian university administrator and former politician from Prince Edward Island.

A native of the rural farming hamlet of Belfast in southeastern Queens County, Buchanan is a graduate of the University of Prince Edward Island and Queen's University. Buchanan served as a MLA in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island during the administrations of Joe Ghiz and Catherine Callbeck, holding several cabinet positions, including Minister of Provincial Affairs and Minister of Health. Buchanan has also held positions as a senior bureaucrat and policy advisor as well as a university lecturer. He was appointed to the Law Commission of Canada from 1999-2003.

Buchanan ran in the 2003 leadership race for the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party but narrowly lost to Robert Ghiz.

Buchanan subsequently worked as an Inter-Government Communication Officer with Island Telecom and later Aliant, as well as forming his own consulting and communication company.

In June 2005 he was appointed to the position as Registrar at his alma mater, the University of Prince Edward Island.

Buchanan has contributed articles to the journal Canadian Ethnic Studies. He also helped establish the advisory board of the Institute of Island Studies.