EDMONTON - Larry Shaben, a former Alberta cabinet minister who was forced to huddle in the bush overnight after surviving a deadly 1984 plane crash, died of cancer Saturday at age 73.
Shaben was elected to the Alberta legislature in 1975 and served 14 years. He was appointed minister of housing and utilities when Peter Lougheed was premier and later moved to the economic development and trade portfolio when Don Getty became premier.
Shaben and his family lived for many years in High Prairie and his remote northern riding of Lesser Slave Lake required him to commute to the legislature in Edmonton on small commercial aircraft.
During one of these flights in 1984, Shaben and three others survived a crash that claimed six lives, including NDP leader Grant Notley. The four survivors were rescued after spending the night around a makeshift fire in the remote wilderness of northwestern Alberta.
Shaben's family emigrated to Canada from Lebanon and he became the first Muslim elected to the Alberta legislature. In 2005, he was appointed a citizenship judge.
Shaben is survived by his wife, Alma, and five adult children.
