Ralph Bruce Fitch is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, He represents Riverview 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, ...

Early life

Born in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, he is the son of Dr. Ralph Fitch. In 1980, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

. His career in the private sector was in the insurance and financial industries. He worked with

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (french: link=no, Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse), operating as Scotiabank (french: link=no, Banque Scotia), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada ...

and its brokerage firm ScotiaMcLeod for many years prior to his election to the legislature.

Political career

He was first involved in politics when he was elected in 1989 to the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of the Town of Riverview. He was re-elected to that position in 1992 and 1995 before successfully running for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

in 1998. He was re-elected mayor in 2001 and served in that capacity until his election to the legislature in the 2003 provincial election. Fitch was the only non-incumbent Progressive Conservative to win a seat in that election and was immediately named to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Minister of Energy. He was

shuffled Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome. __TOC__ Techniques Overha ...

to the new Justice and Consumer Affairs portfolio on February 14, 2006 despite having no legal training; this was made possible by disassociating the functions of the Office of the Attorney General from the Justice Department. He is a member of the First Baptist Church. His hobbies include sailboarding and golf. An ardent fan and supporter of minor sports, he is frequently seen on the sidelines of his children’s games. He also coached minor soccer and football in the past. He has been involved in the community for many years. He has been a member of many boards and committees, including Codiac Regional Police Board, Lakeview Manor Senior Citizens Home, and the

Atlantic Baptist University Crandall University is a Baptist Christian liberal arts university located in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (Canadian Baptist Ministries). History The school was founded in 1949 u ...

. On October 18, 2014 after the Progressive Conservative Party under

David Alward David Nathan Alward (born December 2, 1959) is a Canadian politician, who served as the 32nd premier of New Brunswick, 2010 to 2014. Alward has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick since 1999 and has been the leader of the P ...

failed to form government, Fitch was made interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition of New Brunswick.New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives choose Bruce Fitch as interim leader
/ref> Fitch was re-elected in the 2018 and 2020 provincial elections.

References

External links

MLA Bios, Government of New Brunswick
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitch, R. Bruce Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Moncton 21st-century Canadian politicians Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick