A former Stettler MLA who gave up his seat so then-premier Don Getty could return to the Alberta legislature in 1989 has died.
Brian Clifford Downey, 61, died in Red Deer on Jan. 12.
Downey, who once farmed in the Castor area, was elected to the legislature in 1986 and served as a backbencher for one term. In April 1989, he was re-elected in an election that saw the Progressive Conservative party win handily. But in a shocking result, Don Getty lost his own Edmonton-Whitemud riding to Liberal Percy Wickman.
After Downey agreed to give up his seat, Getty won the Stettler riding in a byelection a month later. Downey went on to jobs with the Alberta Hail and Crop Insurance Corp. and Alberta Grain Commission.
Downey most recently lived in the Red Deer area. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Trudy, and a son, Dustin.