Leonard Goucher (born September 19, 1947) 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, who represented the electoral district of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

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 2006 to 2009. He is a member of the Progressive Conservatives. A town councilor in

Bedford, Nova Scotia Bedford is a community of the Halifax Regional Municipality, in Nova Scotia, Canada. History The area of Bedford has evidence of Indigenous peoples dating back thousands of years. Petroglyphs are found at Bedford Petroglyphs National Historic ...

from 1988 to 1996, Goucher was elected to

Halifax Regional Council Halifax Regional Council (french: Conseil régional d'Halifax) is the governing body of Halifax, known as the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Halifax is governed by a mayor-council system, where councillors are elected from sixteen geographi ...

in 2000. He was re-elected in 2004 and served as Deputy Mayor of the

Halifax Regional Municipality 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 ...

. He entered provincial politics in the 2006 election, defeating Liberal leader

Francis MacKenzie Francis MacKenzie (born May 7, 1960) is a former leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. He won the leadership for the party on October 23, 2004. Early life Following graduation from St. Francis Xavier University in 1982, MacKenzie worked in On ...

in the Bedford riding. In June 2006, Goucher was appointed to 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 Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. In October 2007, Goucher was shuffled to Minister of Immigration. In January 2009, he was given two additional roles in cabinet, becoming Minister of the Public Service Commission, and Minister of Seniors. In the 2009 election, Goucher was defeated by Liberal

Kelly Regan Kelly Maureen Regan (née Smith) MLA (born 4 February 1961) is a Canadian politician who has served in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly since 2009, most recently as the MLA for Bedford Basin. She was first elected as the Member for Bedford-Bi ...

. In February 2010, he became embroiled in a spending scandal involving inappropriate expenses charged to the public by a number of Nova Scotia MLAs. Goucher was singled out by the

Canadian Taxpayers Federation The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF; french: Fédération canadienne des contribuables, link=no) is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization in Canada. It claimed 30,517 donors and 215,009 supporters in 2018–19. Voting membership, h ...

when they highlighted Nova Scotian politicians for their "outrageous" expense claims, naming him the all-star of the scandal and giving him the nickname Len "the master of multi-tasking" Goucher. On February 14, 2011 the RCMP released its investigation results and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

References

1947 births Living people Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia MLAs People from Bedford, Nova Scotia Members of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia Halifax Regional Municipality councillors 21st-century Canadian politicians {{ProgressiveConservative-NovaScotia-MLA-stub