This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage .(July 2021) |
Scott Tannas | |
---|---|
Leader of the Canadian Senators Group | |
Assumed office November 4, 2019 | |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Senator from Alberta | |
Assumed office March 25,2013 | |
Nominated by | Stephen Harper |
Appointed by | David Johnston |
Personal details | |
Born | High River,Alberta,Canada | February 25,1962
Political party | Canadian Senators Group (since 2019) |
Other political affiliations | Conservative Party of Canada (2013–2019) |
Spouse | Taryn McCormick |
Children | 4 |
Profession | Finance executive |
Scott Alfred Tannas (born February 25,1962) is a Canadian senator and,since November 5,2019,leader of the Canadian Senators Group,a parliamentary caucus.
Tannas is the former President/CEO [1] [2] and founder of Western Financial Group [3] (formerly Hi-Alta Capital Inc.),an insurance brokerage,life insurance and banking company headquartered in High River,Alberta,Canada. [4] Tannas was elected as a senator-in-waiting in the 2012 Alberta Senate nominee election,and appointed to the Senate following the retirement of Senator Bert Brown on March 22,2013.
Outside of politics,Tannas runs the Alberta-based Western Investment Company of Canada,a private equity firm.
Tannas was born in High River,Alberta,Canada on February 25,1962. He is the son of Donald Tannas,a school teacher/principal and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,serving as Deputy Speaker [5] and Christine Tannas,a nurse.
Tannas has spent the majority of his life in High River,except for a 2-year period,where his parents served with the Canadian International Development Agency in Uganda.
Tannas attended and graduated from École Senator Riley School in 1979. Tannas also worked the local dance club scene as a DJ and was known for his sound system and light show. At the age of 26,Tannas got a job in the tourism industry working at the Banff Springs Hotel. [6]
Tannas attended both Mount Royal College (now called Mount Royal University),and the University of Calgary. While attending university,Tannas met Taryn McCormick,the daughter of Michael James Sr and Gweneth Helen McCormick,whose family started the Riley &McCormick Western Wear family in 1901. [7]
After leaving college,Tannas stayed in the Calgary and Banff area working in the tourism industry and taking side jobs to build up capital. Tannas had accumulated enough capital to move back to his hometown of High River and purchased Hi-Alta Agencies,an established insurance firm in town,which had been operating since 1905.
In May 1996,Hi-Alta changed its name to Western Financial Group to allow for expansion outside of Alberta. [8] [9] In 2001,Western Financial Group's insurance division,WFG Agency Network Inc.,became the largest insurance broker network in western Canada. That same year,Tannas started The Western Communities Foundation, [3] a non-profit organization created to support the communities in which Western Financial Group operates. In January 2003,Tannas,along with the board of directors at Western Financial Group,created their own bank:Bank West,which took in over $1 million in deposits in its first day of business. [10] [11] In 2003,Tannas was awarded Ernst and Young's Prairies Entrepreneur of the Year for Professional/Financial Services. [12]
As of 2021,Tannas runs the Western Investment Company of Canada while serving as a senator. [13] He is also an honorary board member of SOS Children's Villages - Canada. [14]
Tannas' first venture into politics was when he served as campaign manager for Ken Hughes,the Progressive Conservative MP for Macleod,in the 1993 federal election. [15]
In 2012,Tannas stood as a candidate in Alberta's Senate nominee election,as a Progressive Conservative. [16] He placed second out of three available positions,and was named a "senator-in-waiting". Following the retirement of Senator Bert Brown,Tannas was appointed to the Senate of Canada on March 22,2013. On his appointment,Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that Tannas was supportive of the government's efforts at Senate reform,including imposing term limits on senators. [17] In 2017,Tannas said he intended to serve no more than ten years in the Senate:"For me and only me…I think hanging around longer than 10 years,I’m not going to add any more value." [18]
On November 4,2019,Tannas became one of eleven senators who founded the Canadian Senators Group,a non-partisan parliamentary group in the Senate. At the same time,the CSG selected Senator Tannas as its interim leader. [19] By late 2020,Tannas became the CSG's full-time leader.
Over the 2020–2021 winter holidays,Tannas travelled to Hawaii despite public health advice discouraging non-essential international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Tannas said that he had followed all the rules and health protocols required to undertake international travel and that he would shortly be returning to Alberta. [13]
Tannas lives in High River,Alberta.
The University of Calgary 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 instituted into a separate,autonomous university in 1966. It is composed of 14 faculties and over 85 research institutes and centres. The main campus is located in the northwest quadrant of the city near the Bow River and a smaller south campus is located in the city centre. The main campus houses most of the research facilities and works with provincial and federal research and regulatory agencies,several of which are housed next to the campus such as the Geological Survey of Canada. The main campus covers approximately 200 hectares.
Banff is a resort town in Banff National Park,Alberta,Canada,in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway,126 km (78 mi) west of Calgary,58 km (36 mi) east of Lake Louise,and 1,400 to 1,630 m above sea level.
Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49% owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media.
The Bow River is a river in Alberta,Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies,where it meets the Oldman River,the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These waters ultimately flow through the Nelson River into Hudson Bay. The Bow River runs through the city of Calgary,taking in the Elbow River at the historic site of Fort Calgary near downtown. The Bow River pathway,developed along the river's banks,is considered a part of Calgary's self-image.
The Desjardins Group is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis,Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins. While its legal headquarters remains in Lévis,most of the executive management,including the CEO,is based in Montreal.
David Thomas Bronconnier is a Canadian politician who served as the 35th Mayor of Calgary,Alberta.
The 2004 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 3rd Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on November 22,2004,to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with the 2004 Alberta general election.
The 1989 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 1st Alberta Senate nominee election of Alberta was held on October 16,1989,to nominate appointments to the Senate of Canada. The Senate nominee election was held in conjunction with Alberta municipal elections under the Local Authorities Election Act,and resulted in the first Canadian Senator appointed following a popular election.
Josée Verner,is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Louis-Saint-Laurent in the House of Commons of Canada from 2006 to 2011 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. She also served as a minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper serving as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs,President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister for La Francophonie. On May 18,2011,it was announced that she would be appointed to the Senate of Canada following the loss of her Commons seat in the 2011 federal election. She was formally appointed on June 13,2011.
Elaine Jean McCoy was a Canadian politician from Alberta. She was a member of the Senate of Canada.
James Francis Dinning is a Canadian Progressive Conservative politician and businessman. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta (1986–1997),and now is on the board of directors of several Canadian companies. Dinning ran for the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives to replace Ralph Klein as Premier of Alberta. Dinning raised over $2 million for his leadership bid but was ultimately defeated by Ed Stelmach 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. Dinning is an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission.
Balzac is a hamlet in Rocky View County,which is in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of the Canadian province of Alberta. It is located immediately west of Queen Elizabeth II Highway,at the intersection with Highway 566,24 km (15 mi) north of Calgary city centre and 12 km (7.5 mi) south of Airdrie.
Donald Alfred Tannas was a Canadian provincial politician from Alberta. He served as a Member of the Alberta Legislature from 1989 until 2004. He was born in Marwayne,Alberta.
Ralph D. Scurfield is the CEO,President,and majority shareholder of Sunshine Village Corporation.
The 2012 Alberta Senate nominee election,formally the 4th Senate nominee election of Alberta,was held to elect three nominees for appointment to the Senate of Canada to represent the province of Alberta. It was to be held in the fall of 2010 but was delayed by then-Premier Ed Stelmach. His successor,Alison Redford,announced that it would,be held in conjunction with the 2012 provincial election before June 1 2012. On March 26 it was announced that it would be held on April 23 2012. The results followed the provincial election closely,with the Progressive Conservatives winning all three positions and the Wildrose Party a close second.
Douglas John Black is a lawyer and former Canadian senator and from Alberta,Canada. He was appointed to the Senate on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's advice on January 25,2013,having won a Senate nominee election in 2012. He resigned from the Senate on October 31,2021,in order to return to private life.
The Independent Senators Group is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10,2016,the Independent Senators Group is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the modernization of the Upper House of Canada's Parliament. The Independent Senators Group is the largest parliamentary group in the Senate. Composed of independents not affiliated with any political caucus,members of the group work cooperatively but act independently.
Banff-Kananaskis is a provincial electoral district in Alberta,Canada. The district is one of 87 districts mandated to return a single member (MLA) to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. It was contested for the first time in the 2019 Alberta election.
Miranda Rosin is a Canadian politician who represented the electoral district of Banff-Kananaskis in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the United Conservative Party from 2019 to 2023.
The Canadian Senators Group is a parliamentary group of senators in the Senate of Canada founded on November 4,2019,by eight senators from the Independent Senators Group,two from the Conservative Party of Canada's Senate caucus,and one non-affiliated senator. Its inaugural and current leader is Scott Tannas.