Gerald Joseph Doucet, QC (May 4, 1937 – November 23, 2017) was a Canadian politician and lobbyist. He represented the electoral district of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

from 1963 to 1974, as a Progressive Conservative. Born in

Grand Étang, Nova Scotia Grand Étang is a small community in the Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Inverness County on Cape Breton Island. Grand Étang is noted for its periodic high wind events called Suetes, Les Suête ...

in 1937, Doucet graduated from

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

in 1958, and went on to earn a law degree from Dalhousie University in 1961. Doucet was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 1963 general election, 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 ...

leader Earl Urquhart by 83 votes in the Richmond riding. He was re-elected in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

. He served in the

Executive Council of Nova Scotia The Executive Council of Nova Scotia (informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Nova Scotia) is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Almost always made up of members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, the Cabinet is sim ...

as Provincial Secretary, and Minister of Education. When appointed in 1964, Doucet was the first Acadian cabinet minister in the province's history. Doucet ran for leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia at the party's 1971

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

, finishing second to John Buchanan. Starting in 1984, the year he wrote ''Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Agreement: One Year Later'', Doucet was a member of the successful but sometimes controversial Ottawa consulting firm Government Consultants International (GCI), along with

Frank Moores Frank Duff Moores (February 18, 1933 – July 10, 2005) served as the second premier of Newfoundland. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservatives from 1972 until his retirement in 1979. Moores was also a successful businessman in bo ...

Francis Fox Francis Fox (born December 2, 1939) is a former member of the Senate of Canada, Canadian Cabinet minister, and Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, and thus was a senior aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin. He also worked as ...

, and

Gary Ouellet Gary Ouellet (January 9, 1945 – June 8, 2002) was a French-Canadian television producer and magician who lived and worked in the United States. He may be best known as the driving force behind a number of network television specials that helped ...

(''The Insiders'', by

John Sawatsky Ferdinand John Sawatsky (born 1948) is a Canadian author, journalist and interviewer. Early career Born in Winkler, Manitoba in 1948, he graduated from Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford and attended Simon Fraser University in the late ...

, 1987; ''On The Take'', by Stevie Cameron, 1994). In 2004 Doucet published his biography, ''Acadian Footprints''. Doucet was the brother of

Fred Doucet Jean Alfred "Fred" Doucet (born January 30, 1939) is a Canadian lobbyist, educator, university administrator, and political aide. He was chief of staff to Brian Mulroney, from 1983 to 1984, when he was Leader of the Opposition and was a senior ...

, who served as Brian Mulroney's first Chief of Staff when he became leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party in 1983, and served on his staff in the Prime Minister's Office while Mulroney was

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

from 1984 to 1993. His daughter Michelle Doucet is Assistant Superintendent, Corporate Services sector, at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). Doucet died in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

on November 23, 2017.

References

Further reading