Jim Prentice

Hon. P. E. James "Jim" Prentice
Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre-North
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Preceded by	New district
Personal details
Born	(1956-07-20) July 20, 1956 South Porcupine, Ontario
Political party	CPC
Residence	Calgary
Profession	Lawyer
Cabinet	Minister of Industry

P. E. James Prentice, PC, MP (born July 20, 1956, in South Porcupine, Ontario near Timmins) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was re-elected in the 2006 federal election and appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. Prentice became Minister of Industry on August 14, 2007, succeeding Maxime Bernier.

Background

Prentice was born to a large, blue-collar family in northern Ontario. The family then eventually moved to Alberta. His father Eric Prentice was a professional hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1940s. Prentice was educated at the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University. He paid for his tuition by working as a coal miner in the summer months.

As a lawyer, he has specialized in property rights and has handled a number of relocations, environmental protection suits, and cases arising from restricted development areas. He also served as a Law Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission of Canada for 10 years and is recognized as an expert in land claims negotiations.

Prentice served for seven years on the Board of Directors at the Calgary Winter Club, including stints as President and Chairman. He is an active member and volunteer leader in the Grace Presbyterian Church.

Political career

Prentice joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1976, and has been active in Tory circles ever since. In the 1986 Alberta Provincial Election, Prentice ran for the Progressive Conservatives in Calgary Mountain View, being defeated by NDP candidate Bob Hawkesworth. He was the youngest Tory candidate in that election.

During the early 1990s, Prentice served as the governing federal PC Party's Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (1990-93). Prentice first ran for Parliament as the nominated Progressive Conservative candidate in a spring 2002 by-election in the riding of Calgary Southwest that followed the retirement of Preston Manning as the riding's Member of Parliament (MP). When newly elected Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper replaced nominated CA candidate Ezra Levant in the by-election, Prentice withdrew from the race as a symbolic gesture of compromise.

He ran in the 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election to support the "United Alternative" proposal to merge the PC party with the Canadian Alliance. He was seen by many as an alternative to the "status quo" candidate and front runner Peter MacKay. A basic platform of Prentice's campaign was that "no one has ever defeated the Liberals with a divided conservative family." Prentice entered the 2003 convention day with some momentum after delivering a passionate speech to the assembled delegates that encouraged Tories to be proud of their accomplishments despite recent setbacks and that recalled the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers who fought bravely in the Battle of Passchendaele. He also unexpectedly received the support of fellow leadership challenger Craig Chandler, who withdrew early. Prentice ultimately emerged in second-place on the fourth ballot to the eventual winner MacKay. Many political pundits noted that while Prentice was ultimately defeated in the final ballot, he had the surprising ability to draw support from both the social conservative and Red Tory candidates who contested the race, after they were officially knocked off in the first and second ballots respectively. Consistent with his cooperative positions during the leadership race, Prentice was an ardent supporter of the merger endorsed by both the CA and PC parties in December 2003 that formed the new Conservative Party of Canada.

Prentice was the first declared candidate for the leadership of the new Conservative Party, announcing his run on December 7, 2003, the day after the new party was ratified by members of the PC Party. Prentice began his campaign in Calgary and toured parts of Ontario, specifically visiting Kingston, Ontario, the hometown of the first Canadian Conservative Leader Sir John A. Macdonald and also the city where one of his daughters attends Queen's University. However, he withdrew from the race on January 12, 2004, citing difficulty in raising new funds less than a year after his unsuccessful first leadership bid.

Member of Parliament

Prentice ran in the riding of Calgary Centre-North in the 2004 election for the new Conservative Party, and won the seat.

After being sworn in as the MP for Calgary Centre North on July 16, Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper named Prentice to the Shadow Cabinet as the Official Opposition Critic for Indian and Northern Affairs. In that role Prentice opposed the Tli Cho land claim agreement, which he says will make Canada ungovernable in 50 years. Prentice is also a strong supporter of the proposed and controversial Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline. He criticized the Liberal government for its treatment of aboriginal women, and its alleged costs of administering the Residential School Claims program for aboriginal victims of abuse.

Prentice is one of the higher-profile Red Tories in the Conservative Party, and is considerably more moderate than is the case for MPs from Alberta. For example, Prentice surprised many observers when he voted in favour of Bill C-38 supporting same-sex marriage. While the Conservative Party advocated a free vote, this put him at odds with many of his conservative constituents as well as conservative groups such as Concerned Christians Canada Inc. who have even advocated his removal as an MP. In February 2005, Craig Chandler, the CEO of Concerned Christians Canada Inc. suggested on CBC Newsworld that he would be campaigning for the Conservative Party nomination in the next 2006 federal election in Prentice's riding of Calgary North Centre, because of Prentice's pro-choice stance on abortion and his support of same-sex marriage. However, Chandler's intentions were prematurely thwarted when the March CPC Policy Convention in Montreal voted in favour of allowing sitting Tory MPs to gain their nominations uncontested in minority government scenarios where elections are less predictable. Like Prentice, Chandler was also a candidate in the 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election where ironically, Chandler and his social conservative delegates endorsed Prentice's bid after Chandler withdrew prior to the first ballot.

Prentice had been assigned the Indian and Northern Affairs portfolio in the Conservative government, and was sworn in to this role on February 6, 2006. One of his main challenges as Minister was to implement the "The Nunavut Project," a 2006 report authored by Thomas Berger, to show tangible, measurable results to increase Inuit representation in the Nunavut public service. It is difficult to say to what extent this was accomplished while Prentice was Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Minister of Industry

In a cabinet shuffle on August 14, 2007, Prentice became Minister of Industry, succeeding Maxime Bernier.

Copyright legislation and controversy

Prentice has been responsible for developing new Canadian Intellectual Property laws akin to the DMCA in the United States, partly due to pressure and with input from US-based advocacy groups. He has promised to "put consumers first", but commentators have suggested that the draft legislation seems to cater strictly to industrial groups and Prentice has now suggested consumer interests may not be heard for years. Prentice refused to talk to a group of protesters who went to his office to express their concern, stating "When Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner and I have reached a consensus and we're satisfied, we will introduce a bill." The minister is planning on introducing a bill sometime in June 2008 and is not communicating with the public or the press on the bill. The minister is being heavily influenced by the American ambassador to Canada and by foreign publishers and distributors.

Wikipedia controversy

During the period of May 27, 2008 to June 4, 2008, edits originating from an IP address belonging to Industry Canada were made to the Jim Prentice article on Wikipedia. The edits included the removal of references to new copyright legislation and the addition of two passages about Prentice's recent accomplishments as Minister of Industry.

Auto Industry

In a February 29, 2008 speech to the Toronto Board of Trade Prentice rejected the concept of direct subsidies to the auto industry, insisting that setting up a strong economic foundation is a better route to strengthen the business. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says the Conservatives are refusing to recognize the economic challenges facing Canada despite the planned shutdown of the GM truck plant in Oshawa, Ont. NDP Leader Jack Layton says Canada has lost 180,000 manufacturing jobs under the minority Tory government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists the economy remains strong and says there has actually been a net increase in jobs since he took office.

External links

• Prentice's official website
• CBC News coverage of Prentice's PC Leadership Campaign and convention speech
• Photo Gallery
• The Nunavut Project
• Parliament Webpage
• Government buffing Prentice's Wikipedia entry: Entries originating from Industry Canada praise minister for 'confidence'

References

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