Bernard Valcourt, (born February 18, 1952) is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Madawaska—Restigouche Madawaska—Restigouche is a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Its population in 2001 was 65,877. Political geography The district includes all of the ...

, New Brunswick until he was defeated in the 2015 federal election.

Early federal political career and Mulroney cabinet

Valcourt was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1984 election that brought

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

to power. He was appointed to the

Cabinet of Canada The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of Minister of the Crown, ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the ...

in 1986 as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

. In January 1989, he was promoted to

Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs The Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs was a Government of Canada cabinet position held between 1967 and 1995. The minister was responsible for consumer and corporate issues relating to legislation at the federal level. The minister was al ...

, but was forced to resign from Cabinet in August when he was involved in a drunk driving motorcycle accident that cost him an eye. He returned to Cabinet seven months later as

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans The minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the o ...

. In 1991, he was promoted to Minister of Employment and Immigration, and held the position until the government of Mulroney's successor as Progressive Conservative Party leader and prime minister,

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female p ...

, was defeated in the 1993 election. Valcourt was defeated in that election, along with every Tory MP in Atlantic Canada except

Elsie Wayne Elsie Eleanore Wayne (née Fairweather; April 20, 1932 – August 23, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Saint John from 1993 to 2004. She was born in Shediac, New Brunswick. Politi ...

Provincial leader

In May 1995, Valcourt was elected leader of the

Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right, conservative political party in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The party has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granti ...

. While he won a seat in the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

in the 1995 provincial election, his party only won six seats against 48 for

Frank McKenna Francis Joseph McKenna (born January 19, 1948) is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006 ...

's Liberals. Valcourt resigned as leader in 1997 following a lukewarm endorsement of his leadership at a party convention, and was succeeded by Bernard Lord.

Return to federal politics

On March 28, 2011, Valcourt declared his candidacy in the 2011 federal election, running in the riding of

, which covers the bulk of the territory he'd represented two decades earlier. He was elected on May 2, 2011, defeating

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

incumbent

Jean-Claude D'Amours Jean-Claude "J.C." D'Amours (born December 19, 1972) is a Canadian politician and who represents Edmundston-Madawaska Centre in the New Brunswick legislature. He is a former Member of Parliament for Madawaska—Restigouche. Born in Edmundston, ...

. He was subsequently appointed to cabinet as

for both the

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency In Canada, the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) are the seven federal government agencies responsible for addressing key economic challenges and furthering economic development, diversification, and job creation specific to their respective regi ...

and

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

. His sister

Martine Coulombe Martine Coulombe is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in the 2010 provincial election. She represented the electoral district of Restigouche-La-Vallée as a member of the Progressive Conservati ...

was elected to the

in the 2010 provincial election. On July 4, 2012, he was given the additional portfolio of Associate Minister of Defence. Valcourt was part of the AEG initiative, saying co-operation between both the federal and provincial governments, as well as utilities, is key. "The Atlantic Energy Gateway initiative has brought the critical players in the region's energy sector together to not only work toward an affordable, secure, clean energy future, but to also maximize the business and job growth potential of further developing our region's clean and renewable energy industries," said Valcourt in a release. On February 22, 2013, Valcourt became

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

in a

cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

. Valcourt stirred controversy when he claimed that the high rates of suicide among aboriginal youths were "the responsibility of their parents". In the 2015 federal election, Valcourt was defeated by Liberal

René Arseneault René Arseneault (born July 1, 1966) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Madawaska—Restigouche in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election, and was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. ...

, finishing third with just over 16% of the vote.

Electoral record

, - ,

Pierrette Ringuette Pierrette Ringuette (born December 31, 1955), also formerly known as Pierrette Ringuette-Maltais, is a Canadian Senator. Ringuette, a businesswoman and professor, was the first francophone woman to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of New B ...

, align="right", 16,058 , align="right", 48.8 , align="right", +5.0 , - , Bernard Valcourt , align="right", 15,045 , align="right", 45.7 , align="right", −2.5 , - , - , Parise Martin , align="right", 844 , align="right", 2.6 , align="right", −5.4 , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 32,902 !align="right", !align="right", , - , Bernard Valcourt , align="right", 14,747 , align="right", 48.2 , align="right", −3.7 , - , Romeo Rossignol , align="right", 13,385 , align="right", 43.8 , align="right", +1.9 , - , Réal Couturier , align="right", 2,441 , align="right", 8.0 , align="right", +1.8 , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 30,573 !align="right", !align="right", , - , Bernard Valcourt , align="right", 16,411 , align="right", 51.9 , align="right", +29.0 , - , Gerald Clavette , align="right", 13,245 , align="right", 41.9 , align="right", −23.9 , - , Floranne McLaughlin-St-Amand , align="right", 1,968 , align="right", 6.2 , align="right", −5.1 , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 31,624 !align="right", !align="right",

References

External links

Bernard Valcourt
official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valcourt, Bernard 1952 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs Lawyers in New Brunswick Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick People from Edmundston People from Restigouche County, New Brunswick Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry Members of the 25th Canadian Ministry Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry Ministers of Labour of Canada