Ronald J. Duhamel, (March 2, 1938 – September 30, 2002) was 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 ...

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 o ...

and Senator.

Biography

Ronald Duhamel was born in

Saint Boniface, Manitoba St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. B ...

, he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) from

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA) and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

. He was a teacher, school principal, professor at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. He died of cancer on September 30, 2002, survived by his wife Carolyn and three daughters, Kathie, Natalie and Karine.

Political career

Duhamel was elected as a Liberal candidate in the riding of Saint Boniface in the 1988 federal election. He was re-elected in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Duhamel was wildly popular in the riding and never won an election with less than 50% of the vote, winning each of his elections by 52%, 63%, 51% and 52%. In 2000, Duhamel was appointed to the federal Cabinet by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to the portfolio of

Veterans Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

, a post he held until 2002. Other posts he held include Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works (Public Works and Government Services), Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, Secretary of State (Science, Research and Development), Secretary of State (Western Economic Diversification), and Secretary of State (Francophonie). Duhamel was appointed to the Senate on January 15, 2002, representing the senatorial division of Manitoba.

Electoral history

References

*
Debates of the Senate (Hansard), 2nd Session, 37th Parliament, Volume 140, Issue 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duhamel, Ronald 1938 births 2002 deaths Canadian senators from Manitoba Franco-Manitoban people Lakehead University alumni University of Toronto alumni Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Saint Boniface, Winnipeg Politicians from Winnipeg University of Manitoba faculty