Donald Arseneault (born in

Dalhousie, New Brunswick Dalhousie ( ) is a formerly incorporated town, located in Restigouche County, New Brunswick. New Brunswick's northernmost point of land is situated in Dalhousie, where the Restigouche River meets Chaleur Bay. On 1 January 2023, Dalhousie merg ...

) is a

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 ...

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 is the former

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 ...

member of 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, ...

for the riding of

Dalhousie-Restigouche East Dalhousie-Restigouche East (french: Dalhousie-Restigouche-est) was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a ...

. At the time one of the youngest members of the legislature, Arseneault worked in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

before being elected in the 2003 election. He was named to the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

shadow cabinet following the election as critic for both the Office of Human Resources and the Department of Intergovernmental and International Relations. He was elected caucus chair in 2004 and 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 Overh ...

to be critic for tourism in early 2005. He was re-elected in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and his party formed the government and he became Minister of Natural Resources. He also chairs a cabinet committee on forestry issues consisting of fellow ministers Victor Boudreau,

Greg Byrne Greg Byrne, K.C. (born April 14, 1960, in Harvey, New Brunswick) is a lawyer and former MLA in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Byrne was educated at Fredericton High School, Saint Thomas University (where he received a Bachelor of Ar ...

and

Jack Keir Jack Keir is a former politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick to represent the electoral district of Fundy-River Valley in the 2006 election. A member of the New Brunswick Liberal Association, which formed the ...

. On 12 November 2008, he became minister of post-secondary education, training and labour. In the Brian Gallant government, which won the

2014 New Brunswick general election The 2014 New Brunswick general election was held on September 22, 2014, to elect 49 members to the 58th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The 2013 redistribution reduced the size of ...

, he was named the Minister of Energy and Mines.cbc.ca: "Fracking commission appointed to study shale gas conditions"
24 Mar 2015 After being shuffled out of Cabinet on September 5, 2017, Arseneault came under fire a month later when he accepted the government relations manager for Canada's Building Trades Unions and announced he would simultaneously hold his seat as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. Although he was cleared by Integrity commissioner Alexandre Deschênes, who warned him that while there were things he should avoid doing whilst holding the job, nothing in the law prevented him from taking it. As a result of the controversy and given an ultimatum by Premier Brian Gallant, Arseneault announced he would resign as an MLA, effective November 30, 2017. Aresenault served as campaign manager to

Kevin Vickers Kevin Michael Vickers (born September 29, 1956) is a Canadian politician, former diplomat, and retired police officer. He served as the leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Association from 2019 to 2020, a retired Canadian diplomat, former Serge ...

' Liberal campaign during the 2020 General election. Vickers resigned after the Liberals were reduced to 17 seats from 20. Subsequently he announced on the 28th of October, 2021 that he was going to enter the 2022 Liberal Leadership Election to succeed Vickers.Onetime Liberal cabinet minister hits comeback trail with bid for party leadership
/ref>

Sources

* Derwin Gowan, ''Cabinet committee will tackle forestry issues'',

Telegraph-Journal The ''Telegraph-Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It serves as both a provincial daily and as a local newspaper for Saint John. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News. The ''Telegraph-Journal'' i ...

. Page A2, October 12, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arseneault, Donald Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick New Brunswick Liberal Association MLAs Living people Deputy premiers of New Brunswick 21st-century Canadian politicians 1974 births