Marc Godbout (born June 8, 1951) 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, teacher and education administrator. He is the former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the Ottawa—Orléans riding. He was first elected in the

2004 Canadian federal election The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue in ...

, representing the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

. Born in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Godbout has a master's degree in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

. Before entering politics, he worked as a high school history teacher. He has been Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for elementary and secondary education in Ontario and Director General and Secretary Treasurer of the Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est de l’Ontario. He entered federal politics by running for the Liberal nomination against sitting Liberal MP

Eugène Bellemare Eugène Bellemare (April 6, 1932 — July 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician. Bellemare was a former Member of Parliament of the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Ottawa—Orléans between 2 ...

. Bellemare, who held the riding for several elections, was removed. After his defeat in the nomination, Bellemare retired from politics. Godbout succeeded in beating the Conservative candidate Walter Robinson in the general election of 2004, by a slim majority. He campaigned on bringing more federal government jobs to the east end of Ottawa. In the 2006 general election, Godbout ran on a platform of Liberal support for municipalities and infrastructure. After eighteen years of the riding being held by the Liberals, Godbout was defeated for re-election when the Conservative Party of Canada won the riding under Royal Galipeau in the federal election of January 23, 2006. Godbout, along with a number of former and present Ontario Liberal MPs endorsed party leadership candidate

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of C ...

. At the Liberal Party Convention in Montreal, Godbout supported

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...

after Kennedy dropped off the ballot. At the final ballot, Ignatieff was defeated by

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 ...

. On April 29, 2007, Godbout was nominated to run in the

40th Canadian federal election The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the 39th Canadian Parliament, previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General of ...

in a re-match against Galipeau. In the

2008 Canadian federal election The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the 39th Canadian Parliament, previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General of ...

, Godbout lost for the second time in a row to Conservative incumbent Royal Galipeau, and this time by an increased majority. The re-election of Galipeau marks the first time a Conservative candidate has been re-elected in the Orléans riding since 1872. In July 2009, Godbout announced that he would not make another run at reclaiming the riding in the next federal election. He said the decision was a professional one, as he wanted to focus on his business, a consulting firm, operating out of the east end."Godbout will not join Liberal nomination race"
''Orleans Community News'', July 10, 2009.

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* 1951 births Franco-Ontarian people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Politicians from Ottawa University of Ottawa alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians {{Liberal-Ontario-MP-stub