Early Parliamentary Career
Prentice ran in the riding of Calgary Centre-North in the 2004 election for the new Conservative Party, and won the seat.
After being sworn in as the MP for Calgary Centre North on July 16, Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper named Prentice to the Shadow Cabinet as the Official Opposition Critic for Indian and Northern Affairs. In that role Prentice opposed the Tli Cho land claim agreement, which he says will make Canadian law secondary to Tlicho local law. Prentice is also a strong supporter of the proposed and controversial Mackenzie Valley pipeline. He criticized the Liberal government for its treatment of aboriginal women, and its alleged costs of administering the Residential School Claims program for aboriginal victims of abuse.
Prentice is one of the higher-profile Red Tories in the Conservative Party, by his own admission. For example, Prentice surprised many observers when he voted in favour of Bill C-38 supporting same-sex marriage. While the Conservative Party advocated a free vote, this put him at odds with many of his conservative constituents as well as conservative groups. In February 2005, Craig Chandler, the CEO of Concerned Christians Canada Inc. suggested on CBC Newsworld that he would be campaigning for the Conservative Party nomination in the next 2006 federal election in Prentice's riding of Calgary North Centre, because of Prentice's pro-choice stance on abortion and his support of same-sex marriage. The March CPC Policy Convention in Montreal voted in favour of allowing sitting Tory MPs to gain their nominations uncontested in minority government scenarios where elections are less predictable.
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