Brian Jean

This is Brian Jean. I wanted to take some time to tell you a bit more about my background and formal education to demonstrate how I have the knowledge, skills and experience to serve you and all Albertans as the leader of the United Conservative Party and your next premier. I am the only leadership candidate educated in Alberta. As a young man, I wasn't the keenest on formal education and after high school I worked in my family's printing business in Fort McMurray. I learned the printer's trade and did all sorts of manual and management work. The value of a formal education quickly became clear and I headed off to Portland Oregon for my first degree, a BSc from Warner Pacific College, a school not unlike Concordia University in Edmonton. I came back to Fort McMurray and plunged into the family businesses. I became involved in the local business community and served as a Director of the Chamber, the President of the Downtown Business Association and the founder of the Fort McMurray Business Revitalization Zone. Shortly afterwards, I decided to go back to school. I did an MBA in finance and a law degree at Bond University in Australia. It was an adventure and a challenge. At Bond, I had the honour of being the student body president and one of the editors of the school paper. In 1991, I came back to Canada and in less than a year got my Canadian law equivalency and was called to the bar shortly thereafter. I became a litigator at Fort McMurray's largest law firm and was for a decade one of, if not the busiest litigator in northern Alberta. I got married and had kids. While practicing law and raising my family I continued to own and manage a variety of businesses. Office products, home fittings, magazine publishing, a print shop, a fast food outlet, Xerox franchise, commercial real estate, and a car wash, to name a few. At different times I had as many as forty employees. Between business and the law, I was blessed with the opportunity to become financially comfortable. I also gave back to my community by teaching courses in business law and in quantitative methods at Keyano College for several years and by being the chair of the Children's Health Foundation of Northern Alberta which raised money for the Northern Alberta Children's Hospital. In 2003, the local Member of Parliament told me he was stepping down and encouraged me to think about running. In 2004 I became an MP and served 10 years, including eight in government where I served as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, one of the more complex ministries in Ottawa, responsible for more legislation and lines of authority than any other ministry. As Parliamentary Secretary, I steered 11 important bills and 5 significant studies through committee. In 2014 I stepped down from Parliament to spend more time with my family. Shortly after that my son got very sick and my mission in Alberta politics began. As you can see, I have the experiences to serve as your next premier. I have had success in business, law, politics and in life. But I have also known personal as well as family hardships and tragedy. I have learned more from the hard times than from the successes.

All of these things have prepared me for this challenge. I hope that I can earn your support and be the next leader of the party that we all founded together. Thank you, -Brian Jean, BSc, MBA, LLB, QC P.S. If you're with me, click here to show your support.