He was elected as a
Reform Party Member of Parliament (MP) in 1993 and 1997, and as a
Canadian Alliance MP in 2000. In 2001, Solberg was one of 13 MPs who were suspended from the Canadian Alliance caucus for criticizing the leadership of
Stockwell Day. He sat as an Independent Alliance MP for the summer, joining the
Democratic Representative Caucus in September before returning to the Alliance in April 2002. He was also one of four Alliance MPs who agreed to sit with the
Progressive Conservative caucus (to preserve their
official party status) after the December 9, 2003, creation of the merged Conservative Party, as the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parliamentary caucuses were not officially merged until a few weeks later. He was re-elected as a Conservative MP in the
2004 election. Solberg kept a high-profile
blog, and in 2005, is thought to have made history when, using his
BlackBerry, he blogged from the floor of the House of Commons immediately upon the passage of
Bill C-38, which provided legal recognition of
same-sex marriage. Solberg was opposed to the bill. In 2006, Solberg again won his
Medicine Hat riding, with 79.7% of the vote, the second highest winning percentage in the country for the
2006 federal election. He suspended updating his blog after being appointed
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. In the January 4, 2007, cabinet shuffle, Solberg was appointed the new minister of Human Resources and Social Development, replacing
Diane Finley. ==Retirement and present status==