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The Honourable Jason Kenney
Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism
Jason Kenney was born in Ontario and raised in Saskatchewan, where he graduated from Notre Dame College. He did undergraduate studies in philosophy at the University of San Francisco.
Mr. Kenney served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, prior to his election to the House of Commons in 1997 as Member of Parliament for Calgary Southeast.
He has been re-elected five times, most recently with 76% of the vote.
He is a former Chairman of the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and served in several positions in Opposition, including as Finance Critic and Deputy House Leader.
Mr. Kenney became Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Harper in 2006, and Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity in 2007.
As Canada's longest-serving Minister of Citizenship and Immigration from 2008 to 2013, Mr. Kenney implemented comprehensive reforms to Canada's immigration, refugee and citizenship programs, leading the National Post to call him "perhaps Canada's best immigration minister ever." In 2013 he was appointed Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism, with a mandate to ensure that Canadians are well-prepared to participate fully in the labour market of the future. He chairs the Cabinet Committee on Operations, is the Regional Minister for Southern Alberta, and sits on the Cabinet Committees for Social Affairs and Planning and Priorities.
Mr. Kenney has been voted the "best overall" and "hardest working" MP by his colleagues in Maclean's Magazine's annual survey of parliamentarians.
