Former Premier Jim Prentice, 60, was killed Oct. 13 along with three other people when the small plane he was in crashed near Lake Country in British Columbia. B.C. RCMP has confirmed the crash occurred at approximately 10 p.m.
Former Premier Jim Prentice, 60, was killed Oct. 13 along with three other people when the small plane he was in crashed near Lake Country in British Columbia.
B.C. RCMP has confirmed the crash occurred at approximately 10 p.m. Kelowna RCMP and Lake Country RCMP detachments were notified of the crash at 10:07 p.m. after Surrey Air Traffic Control Centre reported they had lost contact with the plane shortly after it had taken off from Kelowna International Airport.
RCMP has not released the names of the other people on board or the name of the company to which the plane belonged.
According to RCMP, the Cessna Citation twin-engine jet was destined for Springbank Airport.
“Several resources were immediately dispatched to the jet's last known location,” Corporal Dan Moskaluk, spokesperson for the RCMP in Southeast District said in a release issued Oct. 14. “RCMP investigators located the crash site approximately 4 km into a heavily wooded area north of Beaver Lake Road east of Lake Country.”
Former Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson said Prentice will be missed.
“He was a wonderful guy and he worked really hard to try to bring people together, especially people who hadn't gotten along in a while in order to try to build a better Alberta,” Anderson said. “It didn't work out, obviously, but his heart was entirely in the right place. He tried to get people to see past partisan politics and he was a real statesman.
“It's obviously tragic for his family and tragic for his friends and the people that knew him because he was a great Canadian and a great Albertan.”
Premier Rachel Notley announced she would not be attending a planned announcement regarding the completion of the expansion to Red Deer Airport but as of press time had yet to issue a statement regarding Prentice's death.
Prentice served as Alberta premier from September 2014 until his Progressive Conservative party was defeated in a landslide by the Alberta NDP in the May 2015 provincial election. He immediately stepped down as premier and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Calgary-Foothills.
Prentice previously served in federal politics as MP for Calgary Centre-North from 2004 to 2010, and also as industry minister, environment minister and minister of Indian affairs and northern development in former Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet.
As a lawyer, Prentice began working as an energy adviser with private equity firm Warburg Pincus in June.
He leaves behind his wife Karen, three children and two grandchildren.
The Transportation Safety Board responded to the scene and was investigating following the crash. The outcome of that investigation was not known as of press time.
UPDATE 10/20/2016: The three other individuals involved in the crash have been identified as Jim Kruk, 62, a former RCMP member and resident of Airdrie, Calgary businessman Sheldon Reid and Calgary optometrist Dr. Ken Gellatly.
