Honourable Dr. Lyle Oberg

Honourable Dr. Lyle Obergy

As Minister of the Department of Learning in Alberta, Canada, Dr. Lyle Oberg led the evolution towards a more integrated education system with stronger links between the grade-school and post-secondary sectors.

Now Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation, a portfolio that includes responsibility for school and post-secondary infrastructure, Dr. Oberg continues to a strong advocate of the importance of lifelong learning and of innovation as the key to ensuring Alberta's learning system continues to be one of the best in the world.

Alberta is already a leader in online learning, and soon every learner across the province will have access to the latest in learning technology through SuperNet, a high-speed broadband service that will connect every hospital, learning institution, library and provincial government facility in the province. In a keynote address at the Sun Microsystems 2005 Worldwide Education and Research Conference, Dr. Oberg shared what Alberta is doing to bring technology right into the classroom, starting with the building and modernizing of schools.

Dr. Oberg was first elected to Alberta's Legislative Assembly in 1993 and was re-elected in 1997 and 2001. Prior to his appointment as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation in November 2004, he served five years as the Minister of Learning, where his reforms led to a more flexible, responsive and accountable education system. He also served two years as the province's Minister of Family and Social Services bwteen 1997 and 1999. During that time, he launched a Western Canadian initiative to address Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and played a key role in introducing the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act.

Dr. Lyle Oberg graduated as a Medical Doctor from the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine in 1983, and prior to entering provincial politics, served as a School Board Trustee.