Jim Prentice

Hon. P. E. James "Jim" Prentice
Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre-North
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Preceded by	New district
Personal details
Born	(1956-07-20) July 20, 1956 South Porcupine, Ontario
Political party	CPC
Residence	Calgary
Profession	Lawyer
Cabinet	Minister of Industry

P. E. James Prentice, PC, MP (born July 20, 1956, in South Porcupine, Ontario near Timmins) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was re-elected in the 2006 federal election and appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. Prentice became Minister of Industry on August 14, 2007, succeeding Maxime Bernier.

Background

Prentice was born to a large, blue-collar family in northern Ontario. The family then eventually moved to Alberta. His father Eric Prentice was a professional hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1940s. Prentice was educated at the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University. He paid for his tuition by working as a coal miner in the summer months.

As a lawyer, he has specialized in property rights and has handled a number of relocations, environmental protection suits, and cases arising from restricted development areas. He also served as a Law Commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission of Canada for 10 years and is recognized as an expert in land claims negotiations.

Prentice served for seven years on the Board of Directors at the Calgary Winter Club, including stints as President and Chairman. He is an active member and volunteer leader in the Grace Presbyterian Church.

Political career

Prentice joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 1976, and has been active in Tory circles ever since. In the 1986 Alberta Provincial Election, Prentice ran for the Progressive Conservatives in Calgary Mountain View, being defeated by NDP candidate Bob Hawkesworth. He was the youngest Tory candidate in that election.

During the early 1990s, Prentice served as the governing federal PC Party's Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer (1990-93). Prentice first ran for Parliament as the nominated Progressive Conservative candidate in a spring 2002 by-election in the riding of Calgary Southwest that followed the retirement of Preston Manning as the riding's Member of Parliament (MP). When newly elected Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper replaced nominated CA candidate Ezra Levant in the by-election, Prentice withdrew from the race as a symbolic gesture of compromise.

He ran in the 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election to support the "United Alternative" proposal to merge the PC party with the Canadian Alliance. He was seen by many as an alternative to the "status quo" candidate and front runner Peter MacKay. A basic platform of Prentice's campaign was that "no one has ever defeated the Liberals with a divided conservative family." Prentice entered the 2003 convention day with some momentum after delivering a passionate speech to the assembled delegates that encouraged Tories to be proud of their accomplishments despite recent setbacks and that recalled the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers who fought bravely in the Battle of Passchendaele. He also unexpectedly received the support of fellow leadership challenger Craig Chandler, who withdrew early. Prentice ultimately emerged in second-place on the fourth ballot to the eventual winner MacKay. Many political pundits noted that while Prentice was ultimately defeated in the final ballot, he had the surprising ability to draw support from both the social conservative and Red Tory candidates who contested the race, after they were officially knocked off in the first and second ballots respectively. Consistent with his cooperative positions during the leadership race, Prentice was an ardent supporter of the merger endorsed by both the CA and PC parties in December 2003 that formed the new Conservative Party of Canada.

Prentice was the first declared candidate for the leadership of the new Conservative Party, announcing his run on December 7, 2003, the day after the new party was ratified by members of the PC Party. Prentice began his campaign in Calgary and toured parts of Ontario, specifically visiting Kingston, Ontario, the hometown of the first Canadian Conservative Leader Sir John A. Macdonald and also the city where one of his daughters attends Queen's University. However, he withdrew from the race on January 12, 2004, citing difficulty in raising new funds less than a year after his unsuccessful first leadership bid.

Member of Parliament

Prentice ran in the riding of Calgary Centre-North in the 2004 election for the new Conservative Party, and won the seat.

After being sworn in as the MP for Calgary Centre North on July 16, Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper named Prentice to the Shadow Cabinet as the Official Opposition Critic for Indian and Northern Affairs. In that role Prentice opposed the Tli Cho land claim agreement, which he says will make Canada ungovernable in 50 years. Prentice is also a strong supporter of the proposed and controversial Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline. He criticized the Liberal government for its treatment of aboriginal women, and its alleged costs of administering the Residential School Claims program for aboriginal victims of abuse.

Prentice is one of the higher-profile Red Tories in the Conservative Party, and is considerably more moderate than is the case for MPs from Alberta. For example, Prentice surprised many observers when he voted in favour of Bill C-38 supporting same-sex marriage. While the Conservative Party advocated a free vote, this put him at odds with many of his conservative constituents as well as conservative groups such as Concerned Christians Canada Inc. who have even advocated his removal as an MP. In February 2005, Craig Chandler, the CEO of Concerned Christians Canada Inc. suggested on CBC Newsworld that he would be campaigning for the Conservative Party nomination in the next 2006 federal election in Prentice's riding of Calgary North Centre, because of Prentice's pro-choice stance on abortion and his support of same-sex marriage. The March CPC Policy Convention in Montreal voted in favour of allowing sitting Tory MPs to gain their nominations uncontested in minority government scenarios where elections are less predictable. Like Prentice, Chandler was also a candidate in the 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership election where Chandler and his social conservative delegates endorsed Prentice's bid after Chandler withdrew prior to the first ballot.

Prentice had been assigned the Indian and Northern Affairs portfolio in the Conservative government, and was sworn in to this role on February 6, 2006. One of his main challenges as Minister was to implement the "The Nunavut Project," a 2006 report authored by Thomas Berger, to show tangible, measurable results to increase Inuit representation in the Nunavut public service.

Minister of Industry

In a cabinet shuffle on August 14, 2007, Prentice became Minister of Industry, succeeding Maxime Bernier.

Copyright legislation and controversy

Prentice has been headed with reforming Canadian Intellectual Property laws akin to the DMCA in the United States due to pressure from the United States government and multinational media advocacy groups. Bringing "Canada into (WIPO) treaty compliance," has been stated as one of Prentice's goals in future copyright legislation. Prentice has promised to "put consumers first." Michael Geist, Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, has suggested that the draft legislation seems to cater strictly to American Media groups. Various groups who are opposed to the proposed changes include the Canadian Software Innovation Alliance , Canadian Music Creators Coalition, and The Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright which includes

• Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Canadian Association of Internet Providers, a division of CATAlliance (CAIP)
• Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA)
• Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association (CWTA)
• Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA)
• Retail Council of Canada (RCC)
• Google
• Third Brigade
• Tucows
• Yahoo! Canada
• Cogeco Cable
• EastLink
• MTS Allstream
• Rogers Communications Inc.
• SaskTel
• TELUS

Much of the controversy has been covered by the Fair Copyright for Canada website and Facebook page, by Professor Michael Geist, and by Howard Knopf with his 'Excess Copyright' Blog. Minister Prentice has previously suggested that consumer interests may not be heard for years on the topic. Prentice refused to discuss the issue with CBC Radio Canada despite the hundreds of questions that flooded in from concerned Canadians. He also refused to talk to a group of protesters who went to his office to express their concern, stating "When Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner and I have reached a consensus and we're satisfied, we will introduce a bill." "Ottawa insiders" have indicated that the bill would be introduced in June while another source suggested the bill would not be introduced before Parliament's summer break.

Wikipedia controversy

During the period of May 27, 2008 to June 4, 2008, edits originating from an IP address belonging to Industry Canada were made to the Jim Prentice article on Wikipedia. The edits included the removal of references to new copyright legislation and the addition of two passages about Prentice's recent accomplishments as Minister of Industry.

Specifically, information about the copyright controversy was deleted from Prentice's biography by someone using an Industry Canada IP address. Someone at the same IP address then inserted a glowing review:

"Prentice has been praised for his strong management of the Industry portfolio. He has been dubbed the unofficial deputy prime minister, and is seen as the strongest Minister in the Harper government. He is widely praised in both political and private circles, as he personifies experience, confidence and competence, ability and capability."

Jay Walsh, spokesman for the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco, said in an interview there are tens of thousands of living people with biographies on Wikipedia, "so challenges about information are not uncommon." Walsh said neutrality of language and guarding against conflicts of interest are two of the central pillars of Wikipedia. He said "The edits which should be trusted would come from people who don't possess a conflict of interest, in this case, it would be worthwhile saying that if someone is making edits from a computer within the government of Canada … if it was someone within that ministry, that would theoretically constitute a conflict of interest."

Auto industry

In a February 29, 2008 speech to the Toronto Board of Trade Prentice rejected the concept of direct subsidies to the auto industry, insisting that setting up a strong economic foundation is a better route to strengthen the business. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says the Conservatives are refusing to recognize the economic challenges facing Canada despite the planned shutdown of the GM truck plant in Oshawa, Ont. NDP Leader Jack Layton says Canada has lost 180,000 manufacturing jobs under the minority Tory government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists the economy remains strong and says there has actually been a net increase in jobs since he took office.

Net neutrality

Prentice has sidestepped the issue of Canada's net neutrality, refusing to answer questions about the government's position on throttling practices by national ISPs. New Democratic Party MP Charlie Angus raised the issue to Prentice in the House of Commons and said the government's "hands off" approach was bad for Canadian innovation. Prentice claims the issue is being appropriately handled by the CRTC, which has invited the general public to an open debate on net neutrality.

External links

• Prentice's official website
• CBC News coverage of Prentice's PC Leadership Campaign and convention speech
• Photo Gallery
• The Nunavut Project
• Parliament Webpage
• Government buffing Prentice's Wikipedia entry: Entries originating from Industry Canada praise minister for 'confidence'
• Business coalition opposes harsh copyright reform: The Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright

References

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