Jim Prentice's top 5 career highlights
CBC News | Posted: October 14, 2016 7:18 PM | Last Updated: October 16, 2016
Former Alberta premier and federal cabinet minister died in plane crash in B.C.
Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice, who died in a plane crash at age 60, had a storied life outside politics.
He was the son of a gold miner who also played pro hockey, earned a law degree while working summers in a coal mine, and was an entrepreneur and energy analyst.
Prentice was one of four people aboard a twin-engine Cessna Citation that crashed shortly after takeoff from Kelowna, B.C., en route to Springbank Airport, just outside Calgary late Thursday.
Here are some highlights of his life and career:
Early life and politics
Prentice was born on July 20, 1956, near Timmins, Ont. His father was the youngest player ever to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs at age 17, and later moved the family to Grand Cache, Alta., when Jim was 13.
After an injury sidelined any chance of his own hockey career, Prentice graduated with a law degree while working summers in a coal mine. He went on to work as an entrepreneur and a lawyer dealing mainly with land and property rights.
Prentice joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada when he was just 20. In 1986, he lost his bid to be elected member of the legislature for Calgary Mountain View, but remained active in Conservative circles. He called for the unification of the fractured PCs and the Canadian Alliance, and in 2002, he stepped aside as the PC candidate in Calgary Southwest so that Alliance leader Stephen Harper could run unopposed to represent the centre-right.
2004 to 2010: Federal politics
In 2004, at age 47, Prentice won the Calgary Centre-North riding for the newly merged Conservative Party.
He was named to Harper's cabinet in 2006 as minister of Indian affairs and northern development, and moved to the environment portfolio in 2008 after a year as industry minister.
2010 to 2014: Banking career
In a surprise move in 2010, Prentice announced he was leaving politics to serve as vice-chair and senior executive vice-president with CIBC.
2014 to 2015: Provincial politics
In September 2014, he re-entered politics, setting his sights on the provincial scene. After winning the PC leadership, Prentice replaced Alison Redford as Alberta premier.
But victory was short-lived, and he stepped down in May 2015, when the PCs were handed a humiliating defeat by the NDP, after nearly half a century in power.
2016: Energy analyst
In February 2016, Prentice began a four-month fellowship at the Wilson Center, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. He worked on a book on energy and environmental issues that was due to be published later this year. In June, Prentice landed a job as an energy adviser with New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus.
- Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice lands job at Washington think-tank
- Jim Prentice lands new job as energy analyst with Warburg Pincus
On Thursday night Prentice was killed in a plane crash while flying back to Calgary from a golfing trip in Kelowna, B.C.
He is survived by his wife, Karen, a lawyer and former executive vice-president of Enmax, who has served on several high-profile boards, including the National Arts Centre, the Walrus and Canada's National History Society.
He also leaves three daughters and two grandchildren.