Marcel Beaubien (born ) is a former politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003 and unsuccessfully sought election to the House of Commons of Canada as the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate in the federal riding of Sarnia-Lambton in 2004.

Background

Beaubien was an insurance broker in private life, and served as President of the Sarnia United Way.

Politics

He began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a councillor in Petrolia, of which he later became mayor. He also served as a regional councillor for

Lambton County Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cl ...

. He was elected to the Ontario legislature for the provincial riding of Lambton in the provincial election of 1995, 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 ...

candidate Larry O'Neill by over 4,000 votes. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Beaubien served as a government backbencher for the next four years. In 1995, Beaubien put pressure on the newly elected provincial government to intervene in the native protest at Ipperwash which culminated in the

Ipperwash Crisis The Ipperwash Crisis was a dispute over Indigenous land that took place in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario, in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park to assert claim to nearby land which had been expropriated ...

. From July 1995 to April 1997, Premier Mike Harris assigned him as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. In 1998, he was responsible for a spearheading a government decision to deny

Ontario Health Insurance Plan The Ontario Health Insurance Plan ( French: ''Assurance-Santé de l'Ontario''), commonly known in both official languages by the acronym OHIP (pronounced ), is the government- run health insurance plan for the Canadian province of Ontario. OHI ...

(OHIP) coverage to patients seeking sex-change operations. In the provincial election of 1999, Beaubien defeated O'Neill again by fewer than 1,000 votes in the redistributed riding of

Lambton—Kent—Middlesex Lambton—Kent—Middlesex (formerly known as Middlesex—Kent—Lambton) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. The district includes all of Middlesex Coun ...

. As before, he was not appointed to cabinet and served as a government backbencher. On April 25, 2002, newly minted Premier

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership upon Mike Harris's resignation as party leade ...

appointed him to the position of

parliamentary assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Janet Ecker Janet Ecker (born October 18, 1953) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. Backg ...

. The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the provincial election of 2003, and Beaubien lost his seat to Liberal Maria Van Bommel by over 3,500 votes. The following year, he challenged long-serving

Roger Gallaway Roger John Gallaway, (born May 23, 1948 in Sarnia, Ontario) is a Canadian educator and retired politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2006, representing the riding of Sarnia—Lambton for the Liberal Party ...

in the federal riding of

Sarnia—Lambton Sarnia—Lambton (formerly known as Sarnia) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. It is located in the area of the city of Sarnia, in the southwest corner of ...

, and lost by over 5,000 votes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaubien, Marcel 1940s births Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Living people People from Lambton County Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs