Douglas Alan Horner (born January 17, 1961) is a former Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Spruce Grove-St. Albert in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2001 until January 31, 2015. He was the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Finance until Jim Prentice's cabinet was sworn in on September 15, 2014. He was a candidate for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party in its 2011 leadership election, placing third. In 2006, when Ed Stelmach became premier, Horner was appointed Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. He retained the position in cabinet shuffle on January 13, 2010, and was also appointed to the position of Deputy Premier. He was first elected in the 2001 provincial election. He became the province's Minister of Agriculture in 2004 under Premier Ralph Klein. On January 22, 2015, he announced that he would be retiring as an MLA effective January 31, 2015. Early life Born in Barrhead, Alberta, to Jean and Dr. Hugh Horner, Doug Horner has lived in Calgary, Consort, Slave Lake, Morinville and Spruce Grove. Horner comes from a politically active family; his grandfather, Ralph Horner, was a Senator for Saskatchewan, his father, Dr. Hugh Horner was a federal Member of Parliament under John Diefenbaker and then Alberta's agriculture minister and deputy premier in the 1970s while his uncles Jack Horner, Albert Horner and Norval Horner were also federal MPs. Education Horner received his post-secondary education in Alberta. He graduated from SAIT Polytechnic (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) with a diploma in business. After completing further studies, he was accredited by the Institute of Canadian Bankers. Political career Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (2004-2006) Established Rural Alberta Development Fund. Established Biofuels Initiative. Vice-chair of the Alberta Grain Commission. Minister of Advanced Education and Technology (2006-2011) Created Alberta Innovates, which focuses on five areas of investment; digital health, clean resource technologies, smart agriculture, entrepreneurial ecosystem and artificial intelligence. Instrumental in creating two new universities: Grant MacEwan University and Mount Royal University. Led the creation of Campus Alberta and the establishment of Apply Alberta in an effort to streamline the application process. Chair of the Alberta government´s Information and Communications Technology Implementation Committee Deputy Premier of Alberta (2010 - 2011) Horner became Deputy Premier of Alberta in January 2010. He resigned in February 2011 to become a candidate for PC leadership. He was reappointed to this post again