Jason Thomas Kenney PC ECA MLA (born May 30, 1968) is a Canadian politician serving as the 18th premier of Alberta since 2019 and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since 2017. He was the last leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) before the party merged with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP. Prior to entering Alberta provincial politics, Kenney served in various cabinet posts under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015.
Kenney studied philosophy at the University of San Francisco, but returned to Canada without completing his degree. In 1989, he was hired as the first executive director of the Alberta Taxpayers Association before becoming the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Kenney was elected to the House of Commons in the 1997 federal election for the Reform Party. In 2000, he was re-elected as a Canadian Alliance candidate and then was re-elected five times as a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada.
Following the Conservative victory in the 2006 federal election, Kenney was appointed parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Harper. In January 2007, he was sworn into the Privy Council as the secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. Kenney held the post of minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism from October 2008 to July 2013, when he became minister of employment and social development and minister for multiculturalism. In February 2015, he was named minister of national defence. Kenney was considered a potential party leader following the defeat of the Conservative government in October 2015 and resignation of Harper as leader.[1]
In July 2016, Kenney announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Alberta PCs in that party's 2017 leadership election. Kenney resigned his seat in Parliament on September 23, 2016, after sitting in the House of Commons for over 19 years. He was elected party leader on March 18, 2017, on a platform of merging with the Wildrose Party. He served as leader until the merger was effected on July 24, 2017. Kenney was then elected United Conservative Party leader on October 28, 2017.
On April 16, 2019, Kenney led the United Conservative Party to a majority government in the 2019 Alberta general election, defeating incumbent Premier Rachel Notley of the New Democratic Party. Kenney has come under criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic from members within the UCP and the general public, triggering a leadership review in May 2022. On May 18, 2022, Kenney narrowly won the leadership review 51.4% to 48.6%, but announced that this support was insufficient and that he would step down as UCP leader. Kenney will stay on as premier and party leader until his successor is chosen.[2]
