As part of our coverage of the federal election, Investment Executive is profiling candidates who are working or who have worked in the financial services industry.

Here we look at Conservative candidate Brian Pallister

Brian Pallister, Conservative Party hopeful for the riding of Portage-Lisgar in Manitoba, has been in the industry for almost 25 years.

After working as a high school teacher, Pallister started out in the insurance industry as an agent for Sun Life Financial, in 1980. “I worked out of my car,” he jokes. “Low overhead. Just a briefcase, a pen and my car. It was wonderful.”

Eventually his business niche became farm and estate planning, and he founded Pallister Insurance and Financial Services, based in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The firm now has six full time and two part time employees.

Pallister first ran for office in 1992. “I was losing my town,” he says. At the time two major employers, both the Air Force base and then the Campbell Soup Co. plant were closing and leaving people out of work.

“People who claimed to be friends of mine encouraged me to get into politics,” he laughs. He served as a provincial cabinet minister until 1997 when he lost his seat and came back to the industry.

According to party literature, during his time in office Pallister was an advocate for MLA pension reform. Turning down the government pension himself, he worked to replace the existing plan with an RRSP option comparable to plans offered in the private sector.

He says his experience in the financial services industry is “tremendously relavent” to the work he does, both in campaigning, and in office. “I’m able to apply a lot of the lessons, not just the people skills, but the fundamentals of money management that are not often applied on the governement side.” Value for money, “these are things a financial manager understands. It’s a fundamental way of thinking not often present in government.”

In addition to his professional and political activities, Pallister is also active in several areas of community and charitable activities.

In the riding of Portage-Lisgar, Pallister is running against Liberal candidate, farmer and businessman Don Kuhl, and NDP candidate Daren Van Den Bussche, a firefighter, certified medical technician and fire inspector in the city of Portage la Prarie.