{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Gary Bikman.jpg | image_size = | name = Gary Bikman | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|11|13}} | authorlink = | birth_place = Lethbridge, Alberta | office = MLA for Cardston-Taber-Warner | term_start1 = April 23, 2012 | term_end1 = May 5, 2015 | predecessor1 = Broyce Jacobs | successor1 = Grant Hunter | party = Wildrose Party (2012-2014)<br />Alberta Progressive Conservative Party (2014-present) | alma_mater = Brigham Young University | spouse = <!-- digging back into archives to find his published wedding notice is not how you source the inclusion of a wife's name on Wikipedia; must be noted in reliable source coverage of his career itself. --> | children = | occupation = | website = [http://www.whygary.ca/ bikman.ca] }} '''Gary W. Bikman''' (born November 13, 1943) is a Canadian politician who represented the electoral district of Cardston-Taber-Warner in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2012 to 2015.<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/live-results-alberta-election-2012/article2405211/ Alberta Election 2012: Riding-by-riding results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530093732/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/live-results-alberta-election-2012/article2405211/ |date=2012-05-30 }}. ''The Globe and Mail'', April 23, 2012.</ref>
Prior to his election to the legislature, Bikman served on the town council of Stirling, including stints as mayor, deputy mayor and councillor since 1980.
Bikman was born and raised in southern Alberta. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Bikman has extensive business experience, having owned and managed an oilfield service company for 25 years. He co-founded and led ChopStix Restaurants from 2006 to 2010 and ChopStix International Franchising from 2010 to 2012. Bikman has been a sessional instructor at the University of Lethbridge's faculty of management and at Lethbridge College. He has also served intermittently as a member of the Chinook Arch Regional Library Board and as a scout leader in the village of Stirling.<ref name="assembly1">{{cite web|url=https://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_bio&rnumber=53&leg=28|title=Legislative Assembly of Alberta Gary Bikman biography|accessdate=2013-06-11}}</ref>
Bikman was a critic of the Alberta government's decision to cut funding supports for persons with developmental disabilities in the 2013-2014 budget.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westwindweekly.com/news/local-news/1299-more-budget-cuts-make-sash-future-uncertain.html|title=More budget cuts make SASH future uncertain|publisher=Westwind Weekly|date=May 13, 2013|accessdate=2013-06-11|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218044654/http://www.westwindweekly.com/news/local-news/1299-more-budget-cuts-make-sash-future-uncertain.html|archivedate=December 18, 2014}}</ref>
After the 2012 election, he faced some controversy when, in an interview with CTV News shortly after the election, he attributed his party's defeat to urban voters, who largely remained loyal to the governing Progressive Conservatives (PCs), possessing less "common sense" than the rural voters who turned to the Wildrose Party.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wood |first=James |date=April 27, 2012 |title=Wildrose MLA Gary Bikman says rural voters have more common sense |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/Wildrose%20MLA%20Gary%20Bikman%20says%20rural%20voters%20have%20more%20common%20sense/6529514/story.html |url-status=dead |work=Edmonton Journal |agency=Calgary Herald |location=Calgary, Alberta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214221924/https://edmontonjournal.com/news/Wildrose%20MLA%20Gary%20Bikman%20says%20rural%20voters%20have%20more%20common%20sense/6529514/story.html |archive-date=February 14, 2017 |access-date=}}</ref>
Bikman was first elected in the 2012 provincial election, as part of the Wildrose Party caucus. On December 17, 2014, he was one of nine Wildrose MLAs who crossed the floor to join the PC caucus.<ref>{{cite news |title=9 Wildrose MLAs, including Danielle Smith, cross to Alberta Tories |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/9-wildrose-mlas-including-danielle-smith-cross-to-alberta-tories-1.2876412 |accessdate=17 June 2020 |work=CBC News |publisher=CBC News |date=December 17, 2014 |location=Edmonton, AB}}</ref> Bikman failed to earn the PC nomination as a candidate of his riding for the 2015 provincial election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://globalnews.ca/news/1983339/ndp-topple-tories-in-both-lethbridge-ridings-while-much-of-southern-alberta-glows-green/|title = NDP topple Tories in both Lethbridge ridings, while much of southern Alberta glows green - Lethbridge | Globalnews.ca}}</ref>
==Electoral history== {{2012 Alberta general election/Cardston-Taber-Warner}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150612055040/http://www.bikman.ca/ Gary Bikman]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bikman, Gary}} Category:Wildrose Party MLAs Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Lethbridge Category:People from Stirling, Alberta Category:20th-century mayors of places in Alberta Category:Canadian Latter Day Saints Category:1943 births Category:Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Category:Brigham Young University alumni Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States Category:21st-century mayors of places in Alberta