CAMPAIGN ‘DRIVEN’ BY TRAGEDY
Son’s illness, death fuelling Brian Jean’s bid to lead party
As the father of a seriously ill child, Brian Jean entered the race to lead the Wildrose partly because of his first-hand frustrations with Alberta’s health system.
But in a cruel blow, after months in an Edmonton hospital with a mystery illness, Jean’s 24-yearold son Michael died last week, just days after being diagnosed with lymphoma.
On Friday, a day after Michael’s funeral, an emotional Jean said his son was his “best friend,” but he’s determined to carry on the political fight for the Wildrose leadership and better health care.
“It’s very difficult for me ... but the best thing to do is move forward,” he said in an interview. “I will be clear to you. I think the health-care system is completely broken. I’m determined to fix that.
“One of the things that drove me into this was my son — I’m still driven.”
After taking a break from the campaign trail in the aftermath of Michael’s death, Jean’s return to the Wildrose race comes just ahead of Saturday’s announcement of a winner.
It has been a winding political path that has brought Jean, 52, to this point.
Born in Kelowna, the youngest of 11 children, he came to the then-tiny community of Fort McMurray as a four-year-old in 1967.
His family started a small gift and stationery store that ultimately grew into the City Centre Group, a company with interests both in Fort McMurray and beyond Canada’s borders.
The Jeans rose to prominence as the city grew, with former Reform MP Dave Chatters describing the family “as one of the pioneers of Fort McMurray.”
Jean recalled a bucolic childhood in the 1970s of hard work at the family business and fun times spent on the city’s rivers and in the bush.
It was through his family that Jean became politically active with the PC party when he was 16.
After high school, Jean attended the Christian university Warner Pacific College in Portland and Australia’s Bond University, where he received an MBA and a law degree.
As a young lawyer in Fort McMurray, Jean said he specialized in “being busy,” while also serving in numerous community volunteer roles and remaining involved in the family business.
He married and had three sons before the marriage ended.
While he continued to be a Alberta PC supporter, Jean said he began to be disillusioned with the provincial Tories as the rapid expansion of the oilsands spurred a new boom in Fort McMurray.
“It became very evident in the ’90s with Ralph Klein. Our infrastructure was terrible. It was absolutely disgusting compared to the rest of the province ... they were treating us like a work camp, which nobody appreciates,” he said.
In 2004, with new federal boundaries and a newly-united Conservative party, Jean ran and won to become the MP for Athabasca. Chatters, who had formerly represented the area, was elected in the neighbouring riding of Westlock-St. Paul.
“He was a little frustrated at being a backbench MP because he had greater aspirations and wanted to be where he could make more important decisions, but of course, you have to pay your dues,” said Chatters, a Wildrose member who supports Jean’s leadership bid.
“He didn’t really go there to be a voting machine, he went there to make some changes.”
Jean rose to become the parliamentary secretary to the Transportation minister in the Harper government. During his time as an MP, Jean sparred behind the scenes with the provincial government over the location of a seniors facility in Fort McMurray.
In 2014, when he unexpectedly resigned his seat, Jean also raised concerns about how the growth of the oilsands had been managed by the province.
Guy Boutilier, the former MLA for the area who served in both the PC and Wildrose caucuses, said Jean was always keenly interested in local issues.
“I always found him close to his constituents,” Boutilier said. “It’s an important principle to have for any politician, not to forget who brought you to the dance.”
Jean said he bought a Wildrose membership in 2011. After stepping down as an MP, he considered running as a Wildrose candidate, but said concerns over leader Danielle Smith changed his mind.
That led him to make a $10,000 donation last year to the PC leadership campaign of Jim Prentice, a former federal caucus colleague. Jean has said he felt Prentice was the best alternative at the moment, but has since become a dis- appointment as premier.
When Smith led a mass defection of Wildrose MLAs to the PC benches last December, Jean said he began receiving calls almost immediately to run.
His son’s illness made him hesitate, but ultimately pushed him into the race.
“We don’t expect to form government anytime soon, but the truth is we do expect to be a strong opposition,” Jean said.
“We need to have someone with a professional background in politics and law and business to set up the proper team to be effective in opposition — and I think that person is me.”