Brian Jean

Brian Michael Jean (born February 3, 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the Leader of the Opposition in the province of Alberta, in his position as leader of the Wildrose Party.

Jean was a federal Member of Parliament who represented the riding of Fort McMurray—Athabasca in the House of Commons from 2006 to 2014 and Athabasca from 2004 to 2006. On February 25, 2015, he returned to political life to enter provincial politics by declaring his candidacy for the leadership of the Wildrose Party. He was elected party leader on March 28, 2015. On May 5, 2015, in result of the 29th Alberta provincial general election, Jean was elected to his seat in Fort McMurray-Conklin to become Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Wildrose Party the Official Opposition in the 29th Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Jean was born in Kelowna, British Columbia, and moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta when he was five years old in 1968.

Jean has a Bachelor of Science degree from Warner Pacific in Portland, Oregon, a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Bond University in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. He also attended the law school at the University of Calgary, where he received Alberta qualification to be admitted to the Law Society of Alberta and practiced law for 11 years in Fort McMurray.

Jean has worked as a farm hand, logger, publisher, businessperson, lawyer, and inspirational speaker. He was the chairman of the Children's Health Foundation in Northern Alberta, chair of the Alberta Summer Games, president of the Downtown Business Association, and director of the Chamber of Commerce.

Jean was elected as a Conservative to the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of Athabasca in 2004. He was re-elected in the renamed riding of Fort McMurray—Athabasca in 2006 when the Harper Conservatives formed a minority government. In February 2006 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. He was re-elected again in 2008 and again in 2011 and then declined reappointment as parliamentary secretary in order to focus more attention on his increasing constituency needs. He then served on the Finance, Justice, and Industry Committees.

On January 10, 2014, Jean announced that he would be resigning his seat on January 17, 2014 after a decade in parliament in order to return to private life in Fort McMurray.

The Wildrose Party was in disarray in late 2014 after leader Danielle Smith and eight other MLAs defected to the ruling Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. A leadership election was organized to choose a new leader and Jean was encouraged to run. He was elected party leader on March 28, 2015 with 55 percent of the vote defeating Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes and former Strathcona County Mayor Linda Osinchuk.

On April 15, 2015, Jean disallowed a candidate in Calgary-Varsity for a 2007 blog post critical of organizers for holding a brunch to raise funds for a LGBT youth camp in a hall owned by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Edmonton, Alberta.

On August 30, 2016 Jean, responding to questions about the need for more seniors housing in the city he represents, told an audience he has been "beating this drum" for more than a decade. "I will continue to beat it, I promise," Jean said. "But it's against the law to beat Rachel Notley." He quickly apologized for what he later characterized as an "inappropriate attempt" at humour.

On March 20 2017, Jean met with Jason Kenney to discuss uniting the Alberta Wildrose and Alberta Conservatives.

Provincial

Federal