Vote Brian Jean :-) 是时候选择改变了~

[Michelle Libra]

Fuelled by frustration over health care, Brian Jean seeks Wildrose leadership

http://calgaryherald.com/news/polit...lth-care-brian-jean-seeks-wildrose-leadership

As the father of a seriously ill child, Brian Jean entered the race to lead the Wildrose Party because, in part, of his first-hand frustrations with Alberta’s health system.

But in a cruel blow, after months spent in an Edmonton hospital with a mystery illness, Jean’s 24-year-old son Michael died last week, just days after being diagnosed with lymphoma.

On Friday, a day after Michael’s funeral, an emotional Jean said his son was his “best friend,” but he’s determined to carry on the political fight for the Wildrose leadership and better health care.

“It’s very difficult for me … but the best thing to do is move forward,” he said in an interview. “I will be clear to you. I think the health-care system is completely broken. I’m determined to fix that.

“One of the things that drove me into this was my son — I’m still driven.”

After taking a break from the campaign trail in the aftermath of Michael’s death, Jean’s return to the Wildrose race comes just ahead of Saturday’s announcement of a winner.

 

[Michelle Libra]

It has been a winding political path that has brought the 52-year-old Jean to this point.

Born in Kelowna, the youngest of 11 children, he came to then-tiny community of Fort McMurray as a four-year-old in 1967.

His family started a small gift and stationary store that ultimately grew into the City Centre Group, a company with interests both in Fort McMurray and beyond Canada’s borders.

The Jeans rose to prominence as the city grew, with former Reform MP Dave Chatters describing the family “as one of the pioneers of Fort McMurray.”

Jean recalled a bucolic childhood in the 1970s of hard work at the family business and fun times spent on the city’s rivers and in the bush.

It was through his family that Jean became politically active with the PC party when he was 16.

After high school, Jean attended the Christian university Warner Pacific College in Portland and Australia’s Bond University, where he received an MBA and law degree.

As a young lawyer in Fort McMurray, Jean said he specialized in “being busy,” while also serving in numerous community volunteer roles and remaining involved in the family business.

He married and had three sons before the marriage ended.

While he continued to be a Alberta PC supporter, Jean said he began to be disillusioned with the provincial Tories as the rapid expansion of the oilsands spurred a new boom in Fort McMurray.

“It became very evident in the ’90s with Ralph Klein. Our infrastructure was terrible. It was absolutely disgusting compared to the rest of the province … they were treating us like a work camp, which nobody appreciates,” he said.

In 2004, with new federal boundaries and a newly-united Conservative Party, Jean ran and won to become the MP for Athabasca. Chatters, who had formerly represented the area, was elected in the neighbouring riding of Westlock-St. Paul.

“He was a little frustrated at being a backbench MP because he had greater aspirations and wanted to be where he could make more important decisions, but of course, you have to pay your dues,” said Chatters, a Wildrose member who supports Jean’s leadership bid.

“He didn’t really go there to be a voting machine, he went there to make some changes.”

Jean rose to become the parliamentary secretary to the Transportation Minister in the Harper government. During his time as an MP, Jean sparred behind the scenes with the provincial government over the location of a seniors facility in Fort McMurray.

In 2014, when he unexpectedly resigned his seat, Jean also raised concerns about how the growth of the oilsands had been managed by the province.

Guy Boutilier, the former MLA for the area who served in both the PC and Wildrose caucuses, said Jean was always keenly interested in local issues.

“I always found him close to his constituents,” said Boutilier. “It’s an important principle to have for any politician, not to forget who brought you to the dance.”

Jean said he bought a Wildrose membership in 2011. After stepping down as an MP, he considered running as a Wildrose candidate, but said concerns over leader Danielle Smith changed his mind.

That led him to make a $10,000 donation last year to the PC leadership campaign of Jim Prentice, a former federal caucus colleague. Jean has said he felt Prentice was the best alternative at the moment, but has since become a disappointment as premier.

When Smith led a mass defection of Wildrose MLAs to the PC benches last December, Jean said he began receiving calls almost immediately to run.

His son’s illness made his hesitate, but ultimately pushed him into the race.

“We don’t expect to form government anytime soon, but the truth is we do expect to be a strong opposition,” Jean said.

“We need to have someone with a professional background in politics and law and business to set up the proper team to be effective in opposition — and I think that person is me.”

 

[Michelle Libra]

Brians interview with CHADKE TV filmed two weeks ago, and out of respect they did not post until after Brian resumed campaigning,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=64&v=CAD8DAczzZI

 

[Michelle Libra]

Brian Jean campaigns, Jim Prentice sells and Danielle Smith fights for her political skin

BY RICK BELL, QMI AGENCY
FIRST POSTED: FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 08:49 PM MDT | UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 09:02 PM MDT

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/03/2...-danielle-smith-fights-for-her-political-skin

Brian Jean buried his 24-year-old son Michael on Thursday in Fort McMurray in a church Jean’s dad designed back in 1970.

Like many others, he does not have any kind words for those running Alberta Health Services.

And, by supper time Saturday, the man who represented Fort McMurray in Ottawa for a decade and who served in the Harper government along with Jim Prentice could well be the new Wildrose leader.

Jean has a passion for trying to fix health care.

For him, it really is about more than jousting over policy.

It is about life and death.

Jean says Michael was “misdiagnosed about seven times.”

“I have never seen a more inept lack of a good management system in my life. I’ve never seen a mess like that,” says the Wildrose leadership hopeful.

“A person managing a McDonald’s could do a better job.”

He calls his son “his best friend.”

Jean says Michael was diagnosed with lymphoma just a week before his death. Jean says it went undiagnosed for nine months. Again, AHS comes up.

“It was a terrible thing. He trusted them in November. He didn’t trust them by January but by then he was too sick to be moved.”

Jean got the news at two in the morning while in Lethbridge. Michael suffered a brain hemorrhage in an Edmonton hospital and died.

“He dies a week after they said everything was going to be fine and the prognosis looked good,” says Jean.

“When I went on the campaign trail he was getting better and we were told his prognosis was great.”

“Then we met with them that morning and it was: Oh, I’m sorry. Looks like he had a brain hemorrhage.”

Jean says the tone of the news was delivered like someone “goes grocery shopping and picked up five pounds of hamburger and there’s a hair in it.”’

Jean is now back in the political fray.

The conversation turns to the Prentice Progressive Conservative budget.

More taxes, higher fees, not the cuts we were led to believe were happening and lots and lots of borrowing.

Jean says “there’s no fiscal responsibility. There’s absolutely no focus at all on the needed cuts.”

“I don’t think any Albertan walking into any government service facility would suggest there doesn’t need to be cuts somewhere.”

“This can’t be a real budget. It’s a phony budget.”

“If Jim Prentice was serious about this budget and the PCs were serious about this budget they would debate it and pass it before they call the election.”

Jean says under the current plan he doesn’t expect Prentice to get to a balanced budget by 2017.

Then the Wildrose leadership hopeful says Prentice will have to act and we’ll be in for three words.

“Provincial sales tax. He’ll have no choice except to say they have to bring in a PST.”

“My question to every Albertan: Can you trust Jim Prentice and the PCs? They change their mind every time the wind blows.”

“There is only one conservative party in Alberta, the Wildrose.”

What of the PCs?

“They wear the conservative clothing and they govern in Liberal skin.”

Then there’s the premier selling his plan in Red Deer, telling the assembled very few who lived in the Ralph Klein era have the appetite for “the cuts and the slashes.”

He doesn’t mention Ralph by name but we all know the score.

Just so you know, Ralph pushed 20% cuts. Prentice and his budget sidekick Robin Campbell talked about a 5% cut but the Prentice PCs couldn’t even manage that.

And Ralph did not hike taxes he lowered them.

In a press conference, where the premier took fewer questions than usual, Prentice once again defended not touching corporations in his share-the-burden scheme.

He says raising the corporate tax a percentage point would be really bad while levelling a health care tax on the middle class to capture about the same amount of cash is just swell.

It matters not. Prentice is not shaken.

Why would he be?

The Tory tea leaves still say life is good.

Albertans in large numbers will swallow whatever the PCs serve up.

Hell, the PC party backroom boys may even get defector Danielle Smith nominated as the Prentice PC candidate down High River way on Saturday.

There appears to be no limit to how low the bar can go. That’s just how Alberta rolls.

 

[changtong]

该换了，老当政，政客把自己当上帝了

 

[Michelle Libra]

Brian Jean won the leadership... Now time for the campaign of spring election