Former Alberta premier Jim Prentice remembered as 'a good man, a good friend'
Jim Prentice had a reputation for respect during a time when politicians were known for anything but. He aimed to bring people together when bitter partisanship seemed to rule the day.
Damn. You know, just damn. Just the magnitude of losing a good guy. He's a good man, a good friend.- James Moore, former federal cabinet minister
The former Alberta premier and federal cabinet minister died Thursday night, after the small plane he was in crashed just outside Kelowna.
In former Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet, Prentice, 60, was trusted both for business-like approach to governing and for his willingness to take on some of the toughest issues of the day.
James Moore was a friend and fellow minister. He describes to As It Happens host Carol Off his reaction when he heard the news of Prentice's death.
"Damn. You know, just damn," Moore says. "Just the magnitude of losing a good guy. He's a good man, a good friend."
Moore points to the 2005 vote in Parliament on same-sex marriage as an example of Prentice's willingness to stand up for his beliefs. Moore and Prentice were two of only three members of the Conservative caucus who voted in favour.
"We knew we were very alone in this view, but Jim was a principled person," Moore says. "He knew in his heart what he thought was right."
After leaving the House of Commons in 2010, Prentice returned to the political arena in 2014, taking over the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives and becoming premier. He lost the job the next year to NDP leader Rachel Notley, ending his party's 44-year hold on government.
"I think maybe today, sadly, is that day where people will actually take a step back and not be so harsh . . . and say, 'Look, we all make mistakes. None of us are perfect, but at core he was a good man,'" Moore says.
Prentice took over as premier of Alberta after the resignation of his former articling student Alison Redford.
"To not have him anymore is a very sad thing," Redford tells As It Happens.
Redford says she admired the fact that Prentice was willing to say things that were not popular, if he thought they were right. He was pilloried during the 2015 election campaign for saying Albertans needed to take a hard look in the mirror to understand the province's financial troubles.
"It's that's the mark of somebody that conducts themselves with dignity and with honour is to be prepared to have conversations that are sometimes difficult," says Redford. "And that doesn't necessarily mean someone who is popular for every single day of their term."
