Brian Jean has suspended his Wildrose Leadership campaign due to the death of his son, 24 year old Michael Jean. The campaign suspension was announced on Facebook and through a press release, with the note that Jean would not be campaigning until further notice because of the loss of his son. Michael Jean was hospitalized for the last 8 months, as a patient at the University of Alberta Hospital, with an undiagnosed illness. Brian Jean was notified Friday morning that his son had passed away, and the campaign was suspended almost immediately afterwards. Brian did not drop out of the race, he has just suspended his campaigning activities while he takes care of things and grieves his son. Events scheduled for the campaign continued, with the exception that Derek Fildebrandt stood in for Jean.

When Brian Jean announced his bid for Wildrose Leadership a little over a month ago he gave a speech that said he was influenced to run due to the current state of taxation, healthcare management, and infrastructure. The hospitalization of his son played a part in the decision as well, because as Brian Jean stated “Doctors and nurses are working “in a horrible, broken and bureaucratic, inefficient system — it is the most frustrating and inefficient system I’ve ever seen. These worries pushed me to seek the Wildrose leadership.” Fildebrandt expressed his sympathy and condolences for the Jean family loss, saying “We all have a lot of faith in him. He is the best one to lead the Wildrose Party and supported by the vast majority of candidates. Our campaign is still full-steam ahead.”