Karl Bélanger (born 1975) is a former political operative. He was the interim National Director of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

(NDP) of Canada from January 23, 2016 to September 12, 2016. He was principal secretary to NDP Leader

Tom Mulcair Thomas Joseph Mulcair (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2012 to 2017 and Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the Official Oppos ...

during his tenure as Leader of the Official Opposition. Bélanger was a member of NDP Leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

's team, serving as senior

press secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...

. He also was his principal secretary for Quebec in spring 2009, ahead of the Quebec Orange Crush. He remained senior press secretary under the interim leadership of Nycole Turmel. He was the

spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Alexa McDonough Alexa Ann McDonough ( Shaw; August 11, 1944 – January 15, 2022) was a Canadian politician who served as leader of the New Democratic Party from 1995 to 2003. She was the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia ...

when she was NDP Leader and has worked for the party since the 1997 federal election. Bélanger is a native of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. He was a candidate in the 1993 federal election in the riding of

Jonquière Jonquière (; ; Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 60,250) is a List of boroughs in Quebec, borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay, Quebec, Saguenay in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Sag ...

, and in the 1996 federal

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

Lac-Saint-Jean Lac-Saint-Jean (, ) is a federal electoral district in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, northeast Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 2004, and has been represented since 2015. Demographics ...

. He was president of the from 1994 to 1998 and vice-president of the New Democratic Youth of Canada from 1995 to 1997. He appears regularly on CTV's ''

Power Play "Power play" is a sporting term used to describe a period of play where one team has a numerical advantage in players, usually due to a rule violation by the opposing team. Temporary numerical advantage in players during a team sport In several ...

'' and

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...

and is a regular columnist for Loonie Politics and

L'actualité ''L'actualité'' is a Canadian French-language news and general interest magazine published in Montreal by Rogers Communications until 2016, then by Mishmash (XPND Capital). The magazine has over a million readers, according to Canada's Print Meas ...

. He is also a regular guest on radio stations, including

CFRA CFRA is a news/ talk formatted radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts on the assigned frequency of 580 kHz. CFRA's studios are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street in Downtown Ottaw ...

and

Cogeco Cogeco Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications and media company. Its corporate offices are located at 1 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The company is structured into three strategic business units (SBU); Cogeco Connexion, Breezeline (p ...

radio stations. He was President of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation from 2016 to 2022. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

in Quebec City in 1997. He previously had received a college degree in arts and media technology at the Jonquière

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; , ; also written CÉGEP and cegep) is a publicly funded college providing general, professional, academic or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, it ori ...

in 1995. Alan Kellogg of the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'' called Bélanger "a Great Canadian" for his longtime work as assistant to the NDP leader. Bélanger placed numerous times on the Terrific Twenty-Five Staffers List, as put together by the ''Hill Times'', based on a survey of parliamentary staff. He was listed as #3 in 2014. He is portrayed by Joel S. Keller in the 2013

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

film '' Jack''. Bélanger lives in

Chelsea, Quebec Chelsea is a municipality located immediately north of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, and about north of Ottawa. Chelsea is located within Canada's National Capital Region. It is the seat of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality ...

Electoral record

Awards and recognition

Bélanger received the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

in 2012. He was nominated by NDP MP Nycole Turmel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belanger, Karl 1975 births Living people Canadian political consultants New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Université Laval alumni People from Quebec City People from Chelsea, Quebec