Meet Ben
A career spent in Alberta’s courtrooms.
Ben Lotery has spent his career in Alberta’s courtrooms. He knows exactly where our justice system works, and exactly where it fails the people it’s supposed to protect.
Ben was born and raised in Alberta by a single mother who immigrated from England. She worked hard, and Ben grew up understanding what it costs a family when the paycheque doesn’t stretch far enough. Much of his childhood was spent out at Alberta Beach, and the rural Alberta he knows isn’t a talking point. It’s where he spent his summers, and where his family still gathers.
He earned a double major in Business Economics and Business Law at the University of Alberta, finishing with First Class Standing — a distinction reserved for the top two per cent of students across the entire university. He stayed on for his law degree at the U of A Faculty of Law. In 2011 he served as Executive Coordinator of Student Legal Services, which provides free legal help to Albertans who can’t afford a lawyer. He stayed on the SLS board for 9 years after graduating because he believed in the work.
Ben was called to the Alberta Bar in 2013, the same year he married his wife. They’ve been married 13 years.
Since then, Ben has argued matters in the Alberta Court of Justice, the Court of King’s Bench, and the Alberta Court of Appeal. He’s appeared before the Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territories, and handled criminal files in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Practising in more than one province has been useful. Ben has seen what works well in other jurisdictions and what doesn’t, and he wants to bring the best of it home to Alberta.
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Ben at a community event
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Ben has watched the same offender cycle through the same courtroom a dozen times. He’s seen bail decisions handed down that left rural families to fend for themselves. He’s also seen the parts of the system that do work, and he knows the difference between a policy that sounds tough and one that actually keeps a community safe.
Ottawa’s approach to crime has made Albertans less safe, and the people paying for it are the ones living furthest from the nearest detachment. Ben is running to change that.
Away from the office, Ben is usually playing sports. He and his family keep a tight circle of friends they’ve had for years.
Ben’s pitch is simple
Alberta needs someone in the legislature who’s read the case law, stood in the courtroom, and knows how to build a province where families can afford their lives and feel safe in their own homes.