Kenney will be joining Bennett Jones’ Public Policy group
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, who resigned last year, has joined the Bennett Jones law firm as a senior adviser.
Since Kenney resigned his seat in November, as Danielle Smith assumed the helm of his United Conservative party — and the province — politics watchers have speculated on what he might do next.
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
Indeed, that question has now been answered: Kenney will be joining Bennett Jones’ Public Policy group.
In a statement, posted on the firm’s website, Kenney said he’s “thrilled to be joining this iconic firm, which has both deep Alberta roots and a major national presence.”
Kenney will join his former federal Conservative party luminary John Baird at Bennett Jones. Other former politicians involved with the firm include former British Columbia premier Christy Clark, John Manley, who served under the Liberals through the 1990s, and Anne McClellan, another former Liberal cabinet minister.
Kenney became leader of the United Conservatives in 2017, and Alberta premier in 2019. But his tenure was marred by major economic struggles, and then the COVID-19 pandemic.
His leadership attracted criticism from both the left and the right — although it was the party’s right flank that saw him ousted over perceived government excesses during the pandemic. Kenney underwent a leadership review in the spring of 2022; while he won, he had a negligible margin, and announced in May that he would resign as premier.
Smith, who formerly led the province’s Wildrose party, returned from a media career to win the summer leadership race, replacing Kenney; she faces a fight for re-election in May.
It’s a time-honoured tradition for former politicians to land at Canadian law firms.
In 2016, Stephen Harper, having lost an election to Justin Trudeau, took a job with the Dentons law firm, working out of its Calgary office. Jean Chrétien, who served as prime minister from 1993 to 2003, also works at Dentons.
The company has had a number of other post-politics names join its brand. Former Alberta premier Dave Hancock also served for a time with Dentons, though he’s now a judge. James Moore, who served as industry minister under Harper, is also a business adviser with Dentons.
Brian Mulroney is a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright.
Kenney lands at the firm following a career in elected politics that dates back to 1997. He served as an MP for 19 years, and held a number of cabinet posts during Harper’s prime ministership. Following the 2015 election loss, Kenney resigned his seat, and returned to Alberta, entering provincial politics at a time when the New Democrats were in government, having ended a 40-year run by conservative governments.
-
Alberta university cancels speech by fired anti-wokeism professor
-
Preston Manning wrote a fictional inquiry 'report' into COVID. Now he's doing it for real
• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter:
