Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan (born January 18, 1971) 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 served as the Minister of Natural Resources from 2019 to 2021. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, O'Regan has represented St. John's South—Mount Pearl in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

since 2015. He served as the Minister of Veterans Affairs and

Associate Minister of National Defence The associate minister of national defence () is a member of the Canadian cabinet who is responsible for various files within the defence department as assigned by the prime minister or defence minister. The position was created in 1940 during ...

from 2017 to 2019, and as the

Minister of Indigenous Services The minister of Indigenous services (french: ministre des services aux autochtones) is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada, Canadian Cabinet. The minister is Responsible government, responsible for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), ...

in 2019. Before he entered politics, O'Regan was a correspondent with '' CTV National News'', and a host of ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

,'' which he co-hosted from 2003 to 2011 with

Beverly Thomson Beverly D. Thomson (born April 15, 1966) is a Canadian journalist and correspondent with CTV News Channel. Along with Seamus O'Regan, Thomson was co-host of ''Canada AM'', CTV's former national morning show, from 2003 to 2016. In 2006, she re ...

Early life and education

O'Regan was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, and spent 14 years growing up in Goose Bay, graduating from Goose High School. O'Regan is of half

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent. His father, also named

Seamus O'Regan Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan (born January 18, 1971) is a Canadians, Canadian politician who served as the Minister of Natural Resources from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, O'Regan has represented St. Joh ...

, was a judge of the

Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador is the superior court for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear appeals in both criminal and civil matters from the Provincial Court and design ...

. At the age of 10, O'Regan became a regional correspondent for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's ''Anybody Home?'', producing stories that celebrated the unique accomplishments of local residents, ranging from a professor hunting for giant squid to one woman's fight against

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. He studied politics at

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Franc ...

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He studied

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

strategies at

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

, an international business school near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He received his Masters of Philosophy in Politics from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, studying at Darwin College in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career

He has worked as an assistant to Environment Minister

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...

in Ottawa and to

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Edward Roberts in St. John's, and was policy advisor and

speechwriter A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. They can also b ...

to Premier Brian Tobin of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...

. In December 1999, O'Regan was named as one of

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

''100 Young Canadians to Watch'' in the 21st century. In 2000, O'Regan joined talktv's current affairs program, ''the chatroom''. He began his duties at ''

'' on December 19, 2001. On November 8, 2011, he announced that he would be leaving ''Canada AM'' on November 24, 2011, to become a correspondent for '' CTV National News''. O'Regan left CTV in 2012. Since leaving CTV he has occasionally been a fill-in host on radio station

CFRB CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a ...

in Toronto, ⁣"Seamus O'Regan: Mental health spokesman"
. ''

The Grid The Grid is an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Cle ...

'', June 23, 2014. and worked on independent television productions and as a media innovator in residence at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Tor ...

. O'Regan also served as the executive vice president for communications of the Stronach Group.

Political career

In September 2014, O'Regan was nominated as the

candidate in the

riding of St. John's South—Mount Pearl for the 2015 federal election. On October 19, 2015, O'Regan won the election, defeating

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...

incumbent Ryan Cleary. He was appointed to the cabinet on August 28, 2017 as the minister of veterans affairs and on January 14, 2019 was made the minister of Indigenous services, vacating his previous post. He was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. Following the election, he was appointed minister of natural resources. He was re-elected again in the 2021 federal election.

Personal life

On July 9, 2010, O'Regan married his longtime partner, Steve Doussis, in Newfoundland. O'Regan serves on the Boards of Katimavik, Canada's leading youth service-learning programme, and

The Rooms The Rooms is a cultural facility in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The facility opened in 2005 and houses the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Muse ...

, which houses the provincial art gallery, museum, and archives of

. He also sits on the board of directors for fellow Newfoundlander

Allan Hawco Allan Hawco is a Canadian writer, actor, and producer from Bell Island, Newfoundland. He is best known for his roles in the series '' Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'', ''Republic of Doyle'', and '' The Book of Negroes'', and the television limited seri ...

's theatre company, The Company Theatre, located in Toronto. In January 2016, O’Regan announced that he entered an alcoholism rehabilitation program. In November 2017, he was hospitalized in Ottawa for a major gastrointestinal obstruction. Shortly after the November 2020 death of his father Seamus Bernard O'Regan (1942–2020),

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; french: Ressources naturelles Canada; french: RNCan, label=none)Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the dep ...

announcements began to give his name as ''Seamus O'Regan Jr''.; previous announcements did not use the "Jr." suffix.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website

Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister
*
National Speakers Bureau biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oregan, Seamus 1971 births Living people Alumni of Darwin College, Cambridge Alumni of University College Dublin Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian television reporters and correspondents Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry People from Happy Valley-Goose Bay Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Speechwriters St. Francis Xavier University alumni LGBT journalists from Canada LGBT broadcasters from Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Journalists from Newfoundland and Labrador Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian LGBT Members of Parliament Canadian television hosts CTV Television Network people Gay politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians