Surely it was mere coincidence that two of the principal actors in Alberta’s COVID-19 drama had soft post-pandemic landings announced Wednesday.
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, pushed out of office by the schemes of the current premier, former talk-radio host and conspiracy theorist Danielle Smith, has found a presumably plush sinecure at Bennett Jones LLP, the law firm so big it has two head offices, one in Calgary and the other in Toronto.
“We are delighted that Jason has joined Bennett Jones,” said Hugh MacKinnon, the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer. “He brings an extraordinary combination of leadership and public policy experience to the firm and our clients.”
Kenney will be a member of Bennett Jones’ public policy group, the firm noted in its press release, so no client need fear the former premier will have any influence over legal advice.
It may seem odd to some readers for a politician who is not a lawyer to land a position at a well-known law firm, but in reality it’s not all that uncommon. Indeed, a prominent Toronto law firm that shall remain unnamed once found a Conservative prime minister’s former college dorm mate close enough to power to hire for such a position!
Obviously, Bennett Jones is hiring the former premier and federal cabinet minister for his connections and influence, not for his political advice.
Meanwhile, the better deal went to Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health (CMOH), who has been hired as a deputy provincial health officer by the Government of British Columbia.
It was never completely clear whether Hinshaw jumped or was pushed when she left the office in mid-November 2022, but her days were obviously numbered after Smith was sworn in as premier just over a month earlier.
The previous summer, Smith had demanded an investigation into the $277,911 bonus Hinshaw had received from the Kenney Government for her work during the pandemic, in addition to her $363,364 per annum salary.
According to B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, Hinshaw has signed on for six months in the position, but you’ve got to know that the chances are pretty good she’ll stick around in the land of plum blossoms and sea breezes.
“Dr. Hinshaw will support the work of the office of the PHO,” Henry said in a B.C. Government news release yesterday. “I feel very fortunate to work alongside such talented and dedicated public health experts and I know their expertise will be a great assistance as we emerge from the pandemic and continue to address the many public health challenges facing the province.”
Trish Tacoma, the dress designer who owns the Smoking Lily boutique in Victoria that created Hinshaw’s famed periodic table of elements dress that sold out soon after the former CMOH showed up wearing it at a weekly COVID update in 2020, will doubtless be delighted by this development.
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