JIM PRENTICE
1956–2016 Plane crash a tragic end to the career of former Alberta premier, a forward-thinking Conservative whose political luck often seemed to run short
This is not right. This is not fair. This is not what fate owed Jim Prentice.
The former Alberta premier was only 60 when he and three others died Thursday night outside Kelowna, B.C., in the crash of a Calgary-bound Cessna Citation jet. He had spent more than a year recovering from one of the most spectacular political defeats in memory, when he presided over the end of Alberta’s 44-year Progressive Conservative dynasty.
He was back in business. He had the love of a good family. He had a book coming out next year, on the challenge of reconciling energy and the environment. A low-key comeback, not to glory but to the gentle respect and affection he long enjoyed among peers and colleagues, lay ahead. No more. As the praise came in from colleagues of all political stripes — Justin Trudeau called him “a great Canadian,” Brian Mulroney “one of the true gentlemen I have known” — it was easy to remember how highly regarded Prentice was during an eventful career in federal politics, and how formidable his arrival in Alberta politics had seemed when he made the leap in 2014.
But even then, fate seemed to have it in for Prentice. He tasted disappointment often. He always seemed destined for more but unsure how to get there.
A lifelong Progressive Conservative, he lost in his first run for a provincial seat in 1986. He ran for weeks as Joe Clark’s federal PC candidate in the Calgary Southwest byelection in 2002, but withdrew from the race when the Canadian Alliance’s new leader, Stephen Harper, replaced lawyer and gadfly Ezra Levant as the party’s candidate.
A year later, Prentice was putting the heat on front-runner Peter MacKay at the convention to pick Clark’s successor as PC leader — until MacKay cooked a deal on the convention floor with the nationalist farmer David Orchard, ending Prentice’s national leadership hopes.
His career probably peaked in 2006, when he joined Harper’s first government as Indian affairs minister, a file that reflected his long experience working on indigenous issues as a lawyer.
OTTAWA— Family and friends of Jim Prentice reeled in shock Friday after police confirmed the former Alberta premier and a long-time federal cabinet minister died in a plane crash.
The small jet crash also killed three others, including the father-in-law to one of Prentice’s three daughters.
“Words cannot begin to express our profound shock and heartbreak at the news that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Jim, has died in this tragic event,” said a statement issued by the family. “In addition, another member of our family was also on the plane, Ken Gellatly, the father-in-law of one of our daughters, also a very special man.
“To lose two family members at once is unbelievably painful,” said the statement, which was issued on behalf of Prentice’s wife Karen, and his three daughters Christina, Cassia and Kate.
They appealed for privacy and said their husband and father was a friend to many. “Jim was a loving and compassionate man who dedicated his life to his family and public service. He will be so greatly missed.”
The Prentice family expressed condolences to the families of the two other victims, who have not yet been publicly identified.
Across the country, the Conservative political family and the broader Canadian political class, mourned Prentice, 60.
A lawyer, MP, federal cabinet minister, banker, Alberta premier and lately an investment advisor, Prentice was praised as an exemplary public servant, devoted family man and that rare breed of politician who formed deep friendships across party lines.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remembered Prentice as a “great Canadian” who worked “tirelessly” on behalf of Canadians and Albertans.
“Jim Prentice brought his deep convictions to everything he turned his hand to, whether it was law, business or politics,” Trudeau said in a statement.
“He was broadly respected in the House of Commons, across all party lines, for his intelligence, commitment and honest straightforward approach on tough issues. I greatly enjoyed the time I spent working closely beside Jim in the House and know that he will be missed by his colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” he said.
Trudeau singled out Prentice’s work, during his time as Indian Affairs minister in Stephen Harper’s government, in finalizing the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
Trudeau, who was in Alberta Friday, told reporters during a stop in Standoff, that he and Prentice didn’t always share the same views. But he said Prentice was always incredibly kind and respectful and that he will miss him.
“He was deeply loved in Alberta,” said Premier Rachel Notley, the NDP leader who beat Prentice in the last Alberta election. “I benefitted from his advice.”
“For Alberta, today is a day of sorrow in the face of terrible tragedy,’ she said, adding her family knows well the sadness, having lost her father in a 1984 plane crash.
The Star reported early Friday that Prentice was among four people on board the Cessna Citation jet that crashed shortly after take-off Thursday from Kelowna airport. The jet was bound for Calgary’s Springbank airport.
A preliminary incident report from Transport Canada says the jet, owned by Norjet Inc., was climbing through 8,600 feet when it disappeared off the radar.
“All attempts to establish communications were unsuccessful,” the report states.
RCMP say they were alerted after midnight Toronto time by air traffic controllers after they lost contact with the plane.
Rescuers found the crash site in a heavily wooded area north of Kelowna near the town of Winfield, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Dan Moskaluk told the Star.
“Certainly challenging terrain for those that went in to locate the crash,” he said in an interview.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada were making their way to the scene Friday.
Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose said that, for all of Prentice’s political accomplishments, he was most proud of his family.
“He was a political leader. He was a business leader. But I know, from knowing Jim for many years, that he was most proud of being a good husband, a good father and a very proud new grandfather,” Ambrose said on Parliament Hill, her voice breaking.
She said she hoped that his wife and daughters would take some solace from the outpouring of condolences and tributes from all quarters.
Prentice held several cabinet posts under Harper before leaving Ottawa.
After leaving federal politics, Prentice joined CIBC as vice-chairman, a position he held until he was elected leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives and became premier.
Yet Prentice’s political tenure in Alberta was short-lived.
His PC party suffered a humiliating defeat the following May when it lost to the NDP, ending 44 years of unbroken rule by the Tories.
Voters had soured on Prentice’s government after it introduced higher taxes and fees and cut services to deal with a mounting deficit. Prentice called an early election, saying his financial plan for the Alberta economy needed a mandate from the province’s residents — and voters passed judgment on Prentice’s leadership. Prentice resigned as both party leader and MLAon the night of the election.
In June, he took a position as an energy advisor to Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm. Prentice advised them on investments in Canadian energy companies. The firm called him an “outspoken supporter of the Canadian energy industry.”
At Queen’s Park, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, who had served as a Tory MP with Prentice, said he was “devastated” by the news.
It’s the second time this year that the death of a former cabinet minister in a plane crash has shaken political circles. Jean Lapierre, a former Liberal cabinet minister and prominent journalist, was killed when his plane crashed March 29 during its approach to Îles-de-la-Madeleine in bad weather.