Brian Jean
| Brian Jean MLA |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader of the Official Opposition | |
| Assumed office June 1, 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | Heather Forsyth |
| Leader of the Wildrose Party | |
| Assumed office March 28, 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | Heather Forsyth (interim) |
| Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly for Fort McMurray-Conklin |
|
| Assumed office May 5, 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | Don Scott |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Fort McMurray—Athabasca Athabasca (2004-2006) |
|
| In office June 28, 2004 – January 17, 2014 |
|
| Preceded by | David Chatters |
| Succeeded by | David Yurdiga |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Brian Michael Jean February 3, 1963 Kelowna, British Columbia |
| Political party | Conservative (federal) Wildrose (provincial) |
| Residence | Fort McMurray |
| Alma mater | Bond University |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Profession | attorney, businessman, farm worker, logger, publisher |
| Website | brianjean.ca |
Brian Michael Jean[1] (born February 3, 1963) is a Canadian politician and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Wildrose Party. Jean was a federal Member of Parliament who represented the riding of Fort McMurray—Athabasca in the House of Commons from 2006 to 2014 and Athabasca from 2004 to 2006.
On February 25, 2015 he returned to political life to enter provincial politics by declaring his candidacy for the leadership of the Wildrose Party.[2] He was elected party leader on March 28, 2015.[3] On May 5, 2015, in result of the 29th Alberta provincial general election, Jean was elected to his seat in Fort McMurray-Conklin to become Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Wildrose Party the Official Opposition in the 29th Legislative Assembly of Alberta.[4]
Contents
Background
Jean was born in Kelowna, British Columbia, and moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta when he was five years old in 1968.
Jean has a Bachelor of Science degree from Warner Pacific in Portland, Oregon, a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Bond University in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. He also attended the law school at the University of Calgary, where he received Alberta qualification to be admitted to the Law Society of Alberta and practiced law for 11 years in Fort McMurray.
Jean has worked as a farm hand, logger, publisher, businessperson, lawyer, and inspirational speaker. He was the chairman of the Children's Health Foundation in Northern Alberta, chair of the Alberta Summer Games, president of the Downtown Business Association, and director of the Chamber of Commerce.
Federal political career
Jean was elected as a Conservative to the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Athabasca in 2004. He was re-elected in the renamed riding of Fort McMurray—Athabasca in 2006 when the Harper Conservatives formed a minority government. In February 2006 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. He was re-elected again in 2008 and again in 2011 and then declined reappointment as parliamentary secretary in order to focus more attention on his increasing constituency needs. He then served on the Finance, Justice, and Industry Committees.
On January 10, 2014, Jean announced that he would be resigning his seat on January 17, 2014 after a decade in parliament in order to return to private life in Fort McMurray.[5][6]
Provincial politics
The Wildrose Party was in disarray in late 2014 after leader Danielle Smith and eight other MLAs defected to the ruling Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. A leadership election was organized to choose a new leader and Jean was encouraged to run. He was elected party leader on March 28, 2015 with 55 percent of the vote defeating Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes and former Strathcona County Mayor Linda Osinchuk.[3]
On April 15, 2015, Jean disallowed a candidate in Calgary-Varsity for a 2007 blog post critical of organizers for holding a brunch to raise funds for a GLBTQ youth camp in a hall owned by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Edmonton, Alberta.[7]
Electoral record
| Canadian federal election, 2004 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Brian Jean | 17,942 | 60.3 | -6.40 | $84,096 | |||
| Liberal | Doug Faulkner | 7,158 | 24.05 | -4.35 | $52,713 | |||
| New Democratic | Robert Cree | 3,115 | 10.46 | +7.94 | $4,942 | |||
| Green | Ian Hopfe | 1,542 | 5.18 | +4.18 | $112 | |||
| Total valid votes | 29,757 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 112 | 0.37 | +0.07 | |||||
| Turnout | 29,869 | 47.85 | -8.43 | |||||
| Canadian federal election, 2006 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Brian Jean | 20,342 | 64.45 | +4.16 | $59,027 | |||
| Liberal | Mel H. Buffalo | 4,663 | 14.77 | -9.28 | $3,333 | |||
| New Democratic | Roland Lefort | 4,573 | 14.49 | +4.03 | $19,091 | |||
| Green | Ian Hopfe | 1,547 | 4.90 | -0.28 | $8 | |||
| First Peoples National | John Malcolm | 437 | 1.38 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 31,549 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 97 | 0.31 | -0.06 | |||||
| Turnout | 31,646 | 48.32 | +0.47 | |||||
| Canadian federal election, 2008 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Brian Jean | 17,160 | 67.12 | +2.67 | $48,046 | |||
| New Democratic | Mark Voyageur | 3,300 | 12.91 | -1.58 | $1,853 | |||
| Liberal | John Webb | 2,710 | 10.60 | -4.17 | $5,459 | |||
| Green | Dylan Richards | 1,628 | 6.37 | +1.47 | ||||
| Independent | Shawn Reimer | 350 | 1.37 | – | $666 | |||
| First Peoples National | John Malcolm | 233 | 0.91 | -0.47 | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Jacob Strydhorst | 186 | 0.73 | – | $733 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 25,567 | 100.00 | $101,823 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 86 | 0.34 | +0.03 | |||||
| Turnout | 25,653 | 36 | -12 | |||||
| Canadian federal election, 2011 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Brian Jean | 21,988 | 71.84 | +4.72 | $68,113 | |||
| New Democratic | Berend Wilting | 4,053 | 13.24 | +0.33 | $24 | |||
| Liberal | Karen Young | 3,230 | 10.55 | -0.05 | $20,825 | |||
| Green | Jule Asterisk | 1,374 | 4.49 | -1.88 | $2,734 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 30,605 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 144 | 0.47 | +0.13 | |||||
| Turnout | 30,749 | 40.75 | +5 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 75,456 | – | – | |||||
| Alberta general election, 2015: Fort McMurray-Conklin | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Wildrose | Brian Jean | 2,950 | 43.87 | +3.71 | ||||
| New Democratic | Ariana Mancini | 2,071 | 30.80 | 23.05 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Don Scott | 1,497 | 22.26 | −26.69 | ||||
| Liberal | Melinda Hollis | 207 | 3.08 | 0.11 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 6,725 | – | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Eligible voters | – | – | ||||||
References
- ↑ http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Riding+profile+Fort+McMurray+Conklin/10999673/story.html
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- ↑ "Wildrose leader punts Calgary candidate Russ Kuykendall over remarks about ‘gay activists’"/ Metro, April 15, 2015.
