Gerard Amerongen

Who was Gerard Amerongen?

Gerard "Gerry" Joseph Taets von Amerongen was a politician and lawyer from Alberta, Canada.

He was born in 1914 in Winnipeg, but grew up in Edmonton and graduated from law from the University of Alberta. Amerongen first ran for Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 1955 Alberta provincial election for the Conservative Party in the Edmonton district. He ended up finishing 18th on the first ballot and was eliminated in transfers.

He ran in the next three provincial general elections in various districts getting defeated each time. He was first elected in the 1971 Alberta provincial election for Edmonton Meadowlark. He became the first speaker for the Progressive Conservatives and held that role and Edmonton Meadowlark until 1986 when he was defeated by future Canadian Senator Grant Mitchell.

Amerongen was the second sitting speaker to be defeated in Alberta but the first sitting speaker to be defeated while his party retained a majority government.

He operated his own law firm in Edmonton until 2007. He died surrounded by his family in Edmonton in 2013, aged 98.