James Francis Dinning (born December 4, 1952) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Progressive Conservative politician and businessman. He was a Member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from si ...

(1986–1997), and now serves on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

of a variety of Canadian companies. Dinning ran for the leadership of the

Alberta Progressive Conservatives The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (often referred to colloquially as Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta) was a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta that existed from 1905 to 2020. The party ...

to replace

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

Premier of Alberta The premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta, and the province's head of government. The current premier is Danielle Smith, leader of the United Conservative Party, who was sworn in on October 11, 2022. The ...

. Dinning raised over 2 million dollars for his leadership bid but was ultimately defeated by leadership candidate

Ed Stelmach Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speak ...

when party members voted for Klein's replacement on December 2, 2006. In June 2010, he was selected as the 12th Chancellor of the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. Dinning sits as an advisor to

Canada's Ecofiscal Commission Canada's Ecofiscal Commission is an independent economics project formed in 2014 by a group of Canadian economists from across the country. Chaired by McGill University economist Christopher Ragan, the group seeks to broaden the discussion of envi ...

Political history

After graduating at

Western Canada High School Western Canada High School (WCHS) is a public senior high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has classes for grades 10 through 12. Western is located in the 17th Avenue business district of the Lower Mount Royal community, and is the most cen ...

in 1970, Dinning went on to obtain his

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

honours degree from Queen's University in 1974. He also earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Public Administration from Queen's in 1977. Elected in the riding of

Calgary-Shaw Calgary-Shaw is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 current districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. This urb ...

in 1986, Dinning held the riding until 1993. During this time he served in a variety of positions within the provincial government. He was the Minister of Community and Occupational Health from 1986 to 1988, the Minister of Education from 1988 to 1992, and he served as the Provincial Treasurer from 1992 to 1997. In 2006, Dinning ran for leadership of the

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (often referred to colloquially as Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta) was a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta that existed from 1905 to 2020. The party f ...

party. Dinning ultimately lost the party election to Ed Stelmach as a result of a second ballot vote on December 2, 2006. During much of the campaign, he held at least a 20-point lead over his closest competitor and over a 40-point lead on Stelmach. Today he serves as a corporate director, advisor and consultant to various companies, not-for-profits and governments.

Electoral record

1986

Calgary-Shaw *Jim Dinning ( PC) 6,694 61.5% *Brendan Dunphy (

Lib lib or Lib may refer to: Computing * Library (computing) ** .lib, a static library on Microsoft platforms ** , a directory on Unix-like systems * Lib-80, a Microsoft Library Manager tool; see Microsoft MACRO-80 People * Lib, one of two Jaredite ...

) 2,727 25.1% *Len Curie (

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

) 1,166 10.7% *Byron L. Chenger ( Rep) 295 2.7%

1989

Calgary-Shaw *Jim Dinning ( PC) 7,412 52.9% (-8.6%) *Bob Crump (

) 4,865 34.7% (+9.7%) *Gordon M. Christie (

) 1,728 12.3% (+1.6%)

1993

Calgary-Lougheed (''compared to Calgary-Shaw, which covered much of the same area in southwest Calgary'') *Jim Dinning ( PC) 7,280 52.8% (-0.2%) *Jack Driscoll (

) 5,803 42.1% (+7.3%) *Catherine Rose (

) 502 3.6% (-8.7%) *Peter Hope ( CoR) 122 0.9% (-) *Ida Bugmann ( NLP) 88 0.6% (-)

Career history

After retiring from active politics in 1997, he was a senior vice-president and then executive vice-president of

TransAlta Corporation TransAlta Corporation (formerly Calgary Power Company, Ltd.) is an electricity power generator and wholesale marketing company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is a privately owned corporation and its shares are traded publicly. It ...

from August 1997 to December 2004. Dinning currently serves on the board of directors of four companies that are listed on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in the ...

. They are:

Liquor Stores NA Ltd Liquor (or a spirit) is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar, that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit drink, distilled beverage or ha ...

where he serves as Chair of the Board, Parkland Fuel Corp., Russel Metals Inc., and Oncolytics Biotech Inc. Dinning also serves as chairman of the board of the Western Financial Group,

Export Development Canada Export Development Canada (EDC; french: Exportation et développement Canada) is Canada's export credit agency and a state-owned enterprise wholly owned by the Government of Canada. Its mandate is to support and develop trade between Canada and ot ...

and the

Canada West Foundation The Canada West Foundation is a non-partisan think tank based in Calgary, Alberta. It primarily conducts research on issues of concern in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but also on issues of national significance. The found ...

, and as chancellor of the

. Dinning was the chair of the

Calgary Health Region Calgary Health Region was formerly the governing body for healthcare regulation in an area of the Canadian province of Alberta. It was amalgamated with other regional health authorities in 2008 to become part of Alberta Health Services. The region a ...

from 1999 to 2001. He was a governor of the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, and served as a director of

Finning International Finning is a Canadian industrial equipment dealer specializing in Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the ...

Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

, the

Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) was a non-profit, non-partisan socio-economic think tank based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with a focus on citizen engagement and policy research and analysis. History Founded in 1994, CPRN produced severa ...

, and the

Alberta Energy Research Institute Alberta Innovates (AI) is an Alberta government provincial corporation whose appointed Board of Directors is accountable to the Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation and is responsible for promoting innovation in the province. AI was created ...

. Dinning has also served as chairman of the Canadian Clean Power Coalition, which comprised major power producers such as

ATCO Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

Epcor EPCOR Utilities Inc., formerly known as Edmonton Power Corporation, is a utility company based in Edmonton, Alberta. EPCOR manages water, wastewater, natural gas, and electricity distribution systems in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British ...

, TransAlta, Luscar,

SaskPower Saskatchewan Power Corporation, operating as SaskPower, is the principal electric utility in Saskatchewan, Canada. Established in 1929 by the provincial government, it serves more than 538,000 customers and manages over $11.8 billion in assets. S ...

, and

Nova Scotia Power Nova Scotia Power Inc. is a vertical integration, vertically integrated electric utility in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is privately owned by Emera and regulated by the provincial government via the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB). Nov ...

. The

honoured Dinning in 2002 with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. In 2011, he joined former Alberta Premier

when together they were honoured by the

Canadian Taxpayers Federation The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF; french: Fédération canadienne des contribuables, link=no) is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization in Canada. It claimed 30,517 donors and 215,009 supporters in 2018–19. Voting membership, ...

with their Tax Fighter Award. He was named a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 2015."Four Nova Scotians among Order of Canada honourees"
'' The Chronicle-Herald'', July 1, 2015.

References

External links

*University of Calgary Senate websit
Executive profile
(2003) - by Pacific Northwest Economic Region

(April 21, 2005) - by

Canadian National Institute for the Blind The CNIB Foundation (french: Fondation INCA) is a volunteer agency and charitable organization dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians. Founded ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinning, Jim 1952 births Living people Businesspeople from Calgary Businesspeople from Edmonton Canadian Anglicans Finance ministers of Alberta Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Members of the Order of Canada Politicians from Calgary Politicians from Edmonton Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Queen's University at Kingston alumni People educated at Western Canada High School 20th-century Canadian politicians