Jump to content

Jonathan Denis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Honourable
Jonathan Denis
ECA KC
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Acadia
Calgary-Egmont (2008-2012)
In office
March 3, 2008 – May 5, 2015
Preceded byDenis Herard
Succeeded byBrandy Payne
Personal details
Born (1975-09-22) September 22, 1975 (age 49)
Regina, Saskatchewan
Political partyProgressive Conservative
SpouseBreanna Palmer (m. 2014 – d. 2015)
Residence(s)Calgary, Alberta
Alma materUniversity of Regina, University of Saskatchewan, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona
OccupationLawyer, businessperson

Jonathan Brian Denis, ECA KC (born September 22, 1975) is a Canadian politician and lawyer. On May 9, 2012, he was named Solicitor General, Attorney General, and Minister of Justice for the province of Alberta. He represented the constituency of Calgary-Acadia (formerly Calgary-Egmont) as a Progressive Conservative in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2008 until 2015.

He was first elected in the 2008 provincial election and was appointed to cabinet in January 2010, making him the second youngest person to be named to cabinet in Alberta history.[1] Denis was re-elected to the newly named constituency of Calgary-Acadia on April 23, 2012.[2]

Early life and education

[edit]

Jonathan Denis is the son of a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. He graduated in 1993 from Luther College,[3] a private school in Regina, SK.[4] He received a commerce degree from the University of Regina in 1997 and a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in 2000. While in law school, Denis was invited as a speaker at an international law conference in Montreal, Quebec.[5] In 2018, Denis completed his ICD.D designation with the Institute of Corporate Directors, a program from Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.[6]

Completed Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from the University of Arizona

Career pre-politics (2000-2008)

[edit]

In 1996, staffer for Lynda Haverstock, Independent MLA in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly. Haverstock had previously been leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party.[7]

Prior to becoming an MLA, Denis was a senior associate, specializing in government relations, at Miller Thomson LLP,[8] a major Canadian law firm. He was also the co-founder and President of 3D Contact Inc.,[9] the other founder being Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre He was also the founder of a real estate investment firm, Liberty West Properties Inc.

Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta

[edit]

Backbench MLA (2008-2010)

[edit]

Denis sought public office for the Alberta Progressive Conservatives in the 2008 provincial election in the constituency of Calgary-Egmont and received 43.6% of the vote

Denis served as a member of the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, the Public Accounts Committee, the Standing Committee on Health, and the Cabinet Policy Committee on Health. In 2008, Deputy Premier Ron Stevens appointed Denis to the Alberta/Alaska Bilateral Council.[10]

In 2008, Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert appointed Denis to conduct a widely based consultation for the Alberta Pharmaceutical Strategy.[11]

In 2008, Sustainable Resources Minister Ted Morton appointed Denis to the Land Use Framework Committee[12]

Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (2010-2011)

[edit]

Denis was sworn in as Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs as well as Deputy Government House Leader on January 15, 2010.

On April 6, 2011, Denis’ department provided $638,000 in provincial housing money to support tenants of the YWCA's Ophelia House in Calgary.[13]

Solicitor General & Minister of Public Security (2011-2012), 2012 Election

[edit]

On October 12, 2011, Denis was sworn in as Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security.[14]

On April 23, 2012, Denis was re-elected in renamed riding of Calgary-Acadia.

Minister of Justice, Attorney General, & Solicitor General (2012-2015), 2015 Election

[edit]

On May 9, 2012, Denis was appointed Minister of Justice, Solicitor General, Attorney General, and Provincial Secretary Alberta.

Denis pursued a "law and order" policy.[15] and a provincial grant for 300 new police officers in the cities.[16]

On September 1, 2012, Denis enacted stricter drunk driving penalties.[17] Following this drunk driving law, drunk driving charges went down two years in a row, including 17% in 2015.[18]

On April 17, 2014, Denis supported removing the preamble to the Marriage Act which made the Act gender-neutral.[19]

On June 13, 2014, Denis’ department provided a grant from the Civil Forfeiture Fund to the Edmonton Pride Centre, to support programs for LGBTQ youth.[20]

On July 21, 2014, Denis doubled the limit in Alberta small claims court to $50,000.[21] This move was lauded by many Alberta lawyers as a positive step for access to justice.[22]

On September 15, 2014, Denis was re-appointed to his previous positions by Premier Jim Prentice.[23] Prentice subsequently appointed Denis Government House Leader.[24]

April 25, 2015, Denis resigned during the 2015 election campaign, due to "legal proceedings" involving estranged wife, Breanna Palmer.[25]

On May 4, 2015, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Craig Jones cleared Denis's name and "revoked" the order that his wife had obtained against him, stating that Palmer's "recollection of the events was inaccurate".[26]

Denis continued as a candidate but was defeated in the May 5, 2015 general election, finishing third.

Accolades

[edit]

In 2009, Denis was appointed Queen's Counsel of Alberta.[27]

Im 2010, Denis was named named to Avenue Magazine's "Top 40 under Under 40” list.[28]

In 2011, the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation lauded Denis for expense reduction department by 39%.[29] They also gave Denis "nice” recommendations for prudent expense management on two occasions.[30]

Post-politics

[edit]

Founded Guardian Law Group

In June 2021, Denis represented Edmonton city councillor and mayoral candidate Mike Nickel.[31]

In April 2022, Denis was found in contempt of court by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Doreen Sulyma for sending a letter to Dr. Anny Sauvageau while she was testifying in her lawsuit against the Alberta government in an attempt to intimidate her.[32] Justice Sulyma, who presided over the trial, noted that this letter was "unprecedented" in her experience [33] and the timing of the letter as "disastrous".[34] Sulyma found Denis in contempt of court, finding he did intend to intimidate Sauvageau and to "obstruct her testimony and the trial process itself".[35] On October 31, 2022, the Alberta Court of Appeal unanimously overturned the contempt citation on procedural grounds.[36]

In April 2022, Denis allegedly hired a political fixer to obtain a reporter's phone logs. The fixer claimed he was hired by Jonathan Denis to get the phone records of the former Calgary Herald reporter now of The Canadian Press. The fixer claimed Denis told him he wanted to trace sources the reporter had drawn on for a story about whether the size of Denis's wedding to his second wife, broke COVID-19 protocols. [37]

In April 2022, Denis was accused of conflict of interest with ex-law partner, allegedly making one client “the scapegoat” for another.[38]

In June 2024, Denis won what may be the biggest case of libel in Canadian history, $6.6M in damages.[39]

Disputed videos

[edit]

In September 2022, videos were anonymously released on social media that purported to show Denis, on the phone, doing a caricature of an Indigenous person. There was dispute about whether the videos were authentic or deepfakes. Denis said that he had no recollection of any such call. He added that he had "overused alcohol in the past". Addressing the possibility that he had made such a call "years ago while under the influence of alcohol", he said that, if he had, he apologized.[40]

Denis hired a firm called Reality Defender, which analyzed the video and concluded that it was likely manipulated.[41] The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) hired the Media Verification (MeVer) team, and stated: "Their analysis suggested that the possibility of the videos being deepfakes was very low." The CBC also reported that professor Hany Farid opined that it was "extremely unlikely that these are deepfakes".[41] In June 2024, CBC updated its earlier stories, stating a court determined that "the videos in this story were not authentic" but reiterated its own expert findings.[41][40]

Professional misconduct

[edit]

In September 2024, the Law Society of Alberta found Denis guilty of two counts of professional misconduct. In one case, he represented a passenger involved in an automobile accident after having first been asked to represent the driver. In the second case, he threatened a woman who had an affair with his client; specifically, he said that he would report the matter to her employer.[42][43]

Other work

[edit]

Denis is a member of the Board of Directors of Horizon West Infrastructure Fund [44] and the Board of Advisors of the Global Chamber.[45]

Election results

[edit]
2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-Acadia
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Brandy Payne 5,506 34.72% 30.20%
Wildrose Linda Carlson 4,985 31.44% -10.65%
Progressive Conservative Jonathan Denis 4,602 29.02% -16.76%
Liberal Nicholas Borovsky 765 4.82% -1.45%
Total 15,858 – –
Rejected, spoiled and declined 113 – –
Eligible electors / turnout 29,264 54.58% -2.06%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -0.21%
Source(s)
Source: "03 - Calgary-Acadia, 2015 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
2012 Alberta general election: Calgary-Acadia
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Jonathan Denis 6,863 45.78% –
Wildrose Richard Jones 6,308 42.08% –
Liberal Nicole Hankel 940 6.27% –
New Democratic Nick Lepora 677 4.52% –
Evergreen Antoni (Tony) Grochowski 202 1.35% –
Total 14,990 – –
Rejected, spoiled and declined 117 – –
Eligible electors / turnout 26,675 56.63% –
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "03 - Calgary-Acadia, 2012 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
2008 Alberta general election: Calgary-Egmont
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Jonathan Denis 5,415 43.61% -7.21%
Liberal Cathie Williams 3,289 26.49% 5.30%
Independent Craig Chandler 2,008 16.17% –
Wildrose Barry Chase 676 5.44% -9.38%
Green Mark MacGillivray 582 4.69% -3.13%
New Democratic Jason Nishiyama 447 3.60% -1.75%
Total 12,417 – –
Rejected, spoiled and declined 69 – –
Eligible electors / turnout 30,070 41.52% 0.30%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -6.25%
Source(s)
Source: The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly (PDF). Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 198–201. Retrieved 15 June 2020.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bottom of Top 40 under 40 article, Avenue Magazine
  2. ^ [1] Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Calgary Sun
  3. ^ "Luther College University of Regina and Luther College High School Regina, SK". luthercollege.edu.
  4. ^ "Luther Story spring = summer 2010". Issuu. April 2009.
  5. ^ Referenced in 1999 University of Saskatchewan press release Archived 2009-05-11 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2018-08-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ "Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan Hansard from May 6, 1998" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Miller Thomson LLP".
  9. ^ "3D Contact Inc".
  10. ^ "MLA Appointments to Committees". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  11. ^ "Alberta Pharmaceutical Strategy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2009-05-15., see p. 5
  12. ^ "MLA committee to support work on key land-use priorities". July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  13. ^ "YWCA of Calgary Announces New Housing First Program in Partnership With the Calgary Homeless Foundation and First Calgary Financial". Marketwire. 6 April 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Editorial: Redford's cabinet of change". Edmonton Journal. 2010-01-18.
  15. ^ Roth, Pamela (10 April 2014). "Province earmarks $227M for RCMP". St. Albert Leader. RJ Lolly Media, Ltd. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  16. ^ Moharib, Nadia (7 March 2013). "Justice Minister Jonathon Denis says small decrease in crime spending means safety still top concern". Calgary Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  17. ^ Glen, Barb (27 August 2012). "New impaired driving laws in Alta. effective Sept. 1". The Western Producer. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  18. ^ Kaufmann, Bill (December 29, 2015). "Calgary police pleased to see drunk driving charges plunge in 2015". Calgary Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  19. ^ "Definition of Marriage could Change".
  20. ^ "Support for Pride Centre". Alberta Justice and Solicitor General Blog. June 13, 2014. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  21. ^ Martin, Kevin (21 July 2014). "Alberta doubles small claims court limit amount". Calgary Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  22. ^ Casten, Darlene (July 30, 2014). "Small claims court limit raised to $50,000". Okotoks Western Wheel. Great West Newspapers LP. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  23. ^ Alberta, Government of. "New leadership, new voices, and a new way of doing things". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  24. ^ Alberta, Government of. "Minister Denis statement on spring session 2015". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  25. ^ "Tory Justice Minister Jonathan Denis resigns". Calgary Herald. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  26. ^ Modjeski, Morgan (May 4, 2015). "Emergency protection order against former Justice Minister Jonathan Denis tossed out". metronews.ca. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  27. ^ "QC Appointments Announced". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  28. ^ Semko, Jesse (2010-10-18). "Jonathan Denis". Avenue Calgary. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  29. ^ "In the spotlight" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  30. ^ "Editorial: Denis on the "nice" list". Calgary Sun. 2013-12-23.
  31. ^ "Mike Nickel escapes reprimand for violating council's code of conduct". CBC News. June 24, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  32. ^ Johnston, Janice (April 13, 2022). ""Former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis found in contempt of court"".
  33. ^ "Former chief medical examiner's wrongful dismissal trial halted amid defamation threat". CBC News. 2022-04-08. Archived from the original on 2023-04-22.
  34. ^ "Judge to decide if former Alberta justice minister is in contempt of court". CBC News. 2022-04-12. Archived from the original on 2023-04-21.
  35. ^ "Former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis found in contempt of court". CBC News. 2022-04-13. Archived from the original on 2023-04-18.
  36. ^ "Former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis cleared on contempt of court conviction". CBC News. 2022-10-31. Archived from the original on 2023-04-01.
  37. ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/denis-alberta-justice-minister-former-fixer-phone-logs-reporter-1.6415532
  38. ^ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/conflict-of-interest-election-probe-1.6410848
  39. ^ Blackwell, Tom (20 June 2024). "Alberta oil heiresses ordered to pay $6.6 million in damages for libelling Calgary lawyer". National Post. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  40. ^ a b Dryden, Joel (September 28, 2022). "Former Alberta justice minister apologizes for racist videos — if they depict 'real events'". cbc.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  41. ^ a b c https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/jonathan-denis-craig-chandler-alberta-hany-farid-deepfakes-1.6660700
  42. ^ Grant, Meghan (September 13, 2024). "Former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis guilty of professional misconduct: law society". CBC.ca.
  43. ^ Martin, Kevin (September 13, 2024). "Former justice minister Jonathan Denis to be sanctioned for code of conduct breach". Calgary Herald.
  44. ^ "Board Members".
  45. ^ "About".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jonathan_Denis&oldid=1256016532"