There are three passions in my life: The prairie landscape and its people, a commitment to public service, and the power of words and ideas. I grew up on the family ranch in the Cypress Hills country in southeastern Alberta, where I learned the ways of ranch, family and community life. The life lessons weren’t always easy -- the best ones never are -- and they molded and tested my character and inner strength.

Those years in the shadow of the Hills were formative in other ways. I learned to appreciate the wonderful qualities of rural people and developed my sense of stewardship to my environment and community.

That sense of stewardship to public service led to 15 years of service as a public school trustee on the Boards of Cypress and Prairie Rose School Divisions I was proud to be Board Chairman at the opening of Eagle Butte High School at Dunmore, Alberta, which is the only public school in Alberta ever built completely with local money. My peers in the Alberta School Boards Association honored me with an Honorary Life Membership. I learned a lot from trusteeship about how public organizations work and about the roles and responsibilities of elected representatives.

My interest in the agricultural industry led to six years of service on the Alberta Agriculture and Food Council. The Chairman of the Council and the Minister of Agriculture selected me to lead the Agrivantage Team, which charted a strategy for the future growth of the agriculture industry.

I am a past member of the Senate of the University of Lethbridge, and a current member of the University of Alberta Senate.

I’m currently dividing my work time between my writing, my professional consulting practice, and work on community development with Dr. Jerome Martin and James Van Leeuwen.

I have created the following future epitaph for myself that I hope captures the way I choose to live life: “Les Brost was not an innocent bystander.”