Donald Boudria, (born August 30, 1949) is a former
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. He served in the
House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 2005 as a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada, and was a
cabinet minister in the government of
Jean Chrétien.
Municipal and provincial politics
Boudria was born in
Hull, Quebec, raised in
Sarsfield, Ontario, and educated in the area, and was a public servant before entering political life. A
Franco-Ontarian, he was elected as a councillor in
Cumberland Township in 1976, and remained a council member until his election to the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the
1981 provincial election. Boudria defeated
Progressive Conservative incumbent
Joseph Albert Bélanger
Joseph Albert Bélanger (October 22, 1922 - July 1, 2005) was an Ontario dairy farmer and political figure. He represented Prescott and Russell in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1981 as a Progressive Conservative member.
He ...
by 5,172 votes in
Prescott and Russell, and served in the legislature for three years as a member the
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022.
The party espouses the principles of li ...
, which was then the official opposition to the Progressive Conservative government of
William Davis.
Entry into federal politics
He left provincial politics to run for the House of Commons in the
1984 federal election. Boudria won a convincing victory in Ontario's easternmost riding,
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, even as his party suffered a landslide defeat against
Brian Mulroney's
Progressive Conservatives. Joining the
opposition bench
Parliamentary opposition is a form of opposition (politics), political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster system, Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''executive (government), gov ...
es of the Commons in 1984, he became a member of the
Liberal Rat Pack with
Brian Tobin,
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps (born November 27, 1952) is a former Canadian politician who also served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Canada from November 4, 1993, to April 30, 1996, and June 19, 1996, to June 11, 1997. Her father, Victor Copps, ...
and
John Nunziata. This group of young Liberals made it their business to harass the Tories at every possible turn.
Re-election and cabinet positions
Boudria was re-elected without difficulty in
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
,
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
. Like the other Rat Pack members, he rose rapidly in the Liberal ranks. From 1991 to 1993, he served as Deputy Liberal
House Leader
{{Politics of Canada
In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...
. After the Liberals won a huge majority in 1993, Boudria became a backbencher once again for a time. He was appointed
Chief Government Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
on September 15, 1994. He held this position until October 4, 1996, when he was named to Cabinet as
Minister for International Cooperation and
Minister responsible for La Francophonie
The Minister responsible for La Francophonie is a member of the Canadian Cabinet who handles relations with the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, an international community of francophone nations considered the French equivalent of ...
.
Boudria was named
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. ...
after the
1997 election. He retained this position until January 14, 2002, when he was again given a full portfolio as
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
The minister of public services and procurement (french: ministre des services publics et de l’approvisionnement) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada's "common service ...
. In March 2002, he stayed at a weekend resort owned by
Groupe Everest, a prominent recipient of departmental funds. The trip was paid for by Boudria's son, and the minister was not directly accused of a conflict of interest. He was nonetheless deemed to have shown poor judgement, and was reassigned as Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons on May 26, 2002.
Chrétien loyalist
Boudria was known within the Liberal caucus as a leading Chrétien loyalist. During
Question Period
Question Period (french: période des questions), known officially as Oral Questions (french: questions orales) occurs each sitting day in the House of Commons of Canada, in which members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (i ...
, he frequently handed Chrétien notes from a white binder. In 2000, this practice led
Reform Party deputy leader
Deb Grey to wonder if Chrétien could answer a question "without any help from Binder Boy."
The nickname stuck.
He lost his cabinet position in December 2003 when
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
replaced Chrétien as Liberal leader and prime minister. Subsequently, he was elected chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages (3rd session of the
37th parliament) and the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (1st session of the
38th parliament).
On May 6, 2005, Boudria announced he would not run in the
next election.
Life after government
Boudria's memoir, ''Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet'', was published in late 2005. In 2006, he assisted
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion (born 28 September 1955) is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the European Union since 2017. Dion was Leader of ...
's campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Boudria joined Ottawa-based public relations agency Hill & Knowlton Canada as a senior associate in May 2006, and was promoted to senior counsellor in March 2007.
His son Dan Boudria was elected to the
Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est in the
2006 municipal elections. In early 2007, the Liberal Party of Canada Association of
Glengarry—Prescott—Russell selected his son as candidate in the
2008 federal election. He lost to incumbent Conservative candidate
Pierre Lemieux
Pierre Lemieux (born April 9, 1963) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell from 2006 to 2015, first elected in Canada's 39th general election and defeated in the ...
.
Electoral record
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.
Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.
See also
*
List of University of Waterloo people
The University of Waterloo, located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is a comprehensive public university that was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles. It has grown into an institution of more than 42,000 students, faculty, and ...
References
External links
Don Boudria: Personal WebsiteHow'd They Vote?: Don Boudria's voting history and quotes*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boudria, Don
1949 births
Living people
People from the United Counties of Prescott and Russell
Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Franco-Ontarian people
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Politicians from Gatineau
University of Waterloo alumni
Ontario Liberal Party MPPs