Marjory LeBreton (born July 4, 1940) is a Canadian former
leader of the Government in the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
, a
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
-rank position; and past national chair of
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivi ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. She worked with four leaders of the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003.
From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
-
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
,
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield (April 11, 1914 – December 16, 2003) was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative ...
,
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...
and
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
- from 1962 to 1993 before being appointed to the Senate on the advice of Mulroney. She sat as a Progressive Conservative Senator from her appointment until moving with most of her caucus colleagues to the new
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
in 2004, of which she was soon elected to
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
. She served as an advisor to then
opposition leader
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
during the
2006 election, which the Conservative Party won. After the election, she was named to the cabinet position
Leader of the Government in the Senate. On July 4, 2013, LeBreton announced she would not continue in the position as of the next
cabinet shuffle
A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...
, which occurred later that summer. She retired from the Senate upon reaching her 75th birthday on July 4, 2015.
Early and personal life
Marjory LeBreton was born in and completed her elementary and secondary school education in the neighbourhood of City View, in the city of
Nepean, Ontario
Nepean ( ) is a former municipality and now geographic area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located west of Ottawa's inner core, it was an independent city until amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton in 2001 to become the ne ...
which is today part of
Ottawa
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 ...
. She is married to Douglas LeBreton, with whom she had two children: Linda and Michael. Linda was killed in an accident involving a drunk driver which led to LeBreton's active involvement in the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization.
Progressive Conservative staffer
LeBreton began working at
Progressive Conservative party headquarters in 1962,
[ moving from there to the office of leader ]John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
when he became opposition leader following the 1963 election. During her time in the leader's office, she accompanied him on a national whistlestop tour
A whistle stop or whistle-stop tour is a style of political campaigning where the politician makes a series of brief appearances or speeches at a number of small towns over a short period of time. Originally, whistle-stop appearances were made ...
during the 1965 election.
Following Diefenbaker's resignation as leader, she continued in the leader's office under Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield (April 11, 1914 – December 16, 2003) was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative ...
through his three election campaigns - 1968, 1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and 1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
. When Stanfield announced his resignation in 1975, she went to work in the PC Party office helping to coordinate the 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. Joe Clark won the 1976 convention and hired LeBreton as his office's tour coordinator, a position she held until Clark won the 1979 federal election.
LeBreton later worked in the office of Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
while he was prime minister, rising to position of Deputy Chief of Staff and Government Appointments Director. She was appointed by Mulroney to the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
on June 18, 1993, shortly before his retirement from politics.
Senator
LeBreton is generally considered to be a Red Tory
A Red Tory is an adherent of a centre to centre-right or paternalistic-conservative political philosophy derived from the Tory tradition, most predominantly in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and Australia. This philosophy tends to favour ...
and is progressive on social issues such as abortion rights
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...
. She was also one of the few politicians in the Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
to oppose Bill C-36 Bill C-36 refers to various legislation introduced into the House of Commons of Canada, including:
* '' Anti-Terrorism Act'', introduced in 2001 to the first session of the 37th Parliament
* ''Canada Consumer Product Safety Act
The ''Canada Consu ...
, Canada's anti-terrorism legislation
Anti-terrorism legislation are laws with the purpose of fighting terrorism. They usually, if not always, follow specific bombings or assassinations. Anti-terrorism legislation usually includes specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its ...
in 2001.
She was a long-time foe of proposals to merge the Progressive Conservatives with the Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
but reluctantly supported the late 2003 proposal to unite the parties and subsequently became a Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
senator once the merger was completed. Over time, she warmed to the new party, and later served as one of Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
's top advisors in the 2006 federal election.
Senator LeBreton was appointed Leader of the Government in the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper In February 2006 and also acquired the role of Secretary of State for Seniors during a cabinet shuffle on January 4, 2007. On July 4, 2013, she announced her resignation from the cabinet after a stormy period of expenses scandals that tarnished the reputation of the Conservatives, but remained a Conservative Senator for Ontario. As the scandals intensified, LeBreton gave a defiant speech to the Senate in which she said Ottawa was "populated by Liberal elites and their media lickspittles". LeBreton was well known for her campaign work where her job was to "assist the media."Maclean's
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Committee assignments
Following her appointment to the Senate, during the 34th Canadian Parliament
The 34th Canadian Parliament was in session from December 12, 1988, until September 8, 1993. The membership was set by the 1988 federal election on November 21, 1988, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it wa ...
, she sat on the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
During the 35th Parliament, she sat on the Internal Economy committee, Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, as well as the Special Committee on Pearson Airport Agreements.
In the 36th Parliament, she sat on the Internal Economy committee, Social Affairs committee, Agriculture and Forestry committee, Standing Committee on Transport and Communications, Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, as well as the Special Committee on Security and Intelligence.
In the 37th Parliament, she sat on the Social Affairs committee, the Agriculture and Forestry committee, the Transport and Communications committee, the Standing Committee on Privileges, Standing Rules and Orders, and the Standing Committee on National Finance.
In the 38th Parliament, she sat on the Social Affairs committee, the Transport and Communications committee, the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, the Standing Committee on Human Rights, and the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs ( no, Utenrikskomiteen) is a defunct committee of the Norwegian Parliament responsible for matters related to foreign policy, development assistance, international agreements, Svalbard and the Norwegian polar ...
.
In the 39th Parliament, she sat on the Social Affairs committee, the Rules committee, the Human Rights committee and the Foreign Affairs committee.
During the 37th, 38th and 39th parliaments, she was vice-chair of the Social Affairs committee. During the 40th Parliament, as government leader, she did not sit formally on any committee, but was an ex-officio member of them all.
See also
* List of Ontario senators
This is a list of past and present members of the Senate of Canada representing the province of Ontario. Ontario has had an allocation of 24 senators since the time of Confederation. The province is also one of four regional Senate divisions under ...
References
External links
Marjory LeBreton's Biography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebreton, Marjory
1940 births
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Canadian senators from Ontario
Conservative Party of Canada senators
Living people
Women members of the Senate of Canada
Women in Ontario politics
Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry
Women government ministers of Canada
21st-century Canadian women politicians