Madeleine "Mado" Dubé (born September 26, 1961) is a Canadian

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Early life and education

Dubé was born on September 26, 1961, in Edmundston, the daughter of Adrien and Huguette Dubé. She attended l'

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

(UdeM), where she received a Bachelor of Social Work. She has completed course work toward a Masters of Social Work with a specialization in group intervention at Université Laval. A social worker, she has worked for the Department of Health and Community Services (

Edmundston Edmundston () is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada. Established in 1850, it had a population of 16,437 as of 2021. On January 1, 2023, Edmundston amalgamated with the village of Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick, Rivière-Verte and ...

and Grand Falls) and the Region 4 Hospital Corporation Drug Addiction Service. She was co-owner and president of a human development agency named Priorité Santé Inc. She also taught introductory courses leading to a certificate in drug addiction studies at the Université de Moncton – Edmundston campus, and is certified in the fields of family mediation, grievance mediation, defusing/debriefing, suicide prevention, and toxicology.

Political career

Dubé was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

in the 1999 provincial election and was re-elected in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In her first term, she chaired the

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and joined the cabinet immediately following her re-election first as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and then, on February 14, 2006, as Minister of Family and Community Services. After her election to a third term she served in the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

. She has been elected as Progressive Conservative Caucus chairperson in the Fall of 2007. In September 2010, she was re-elected four times in a row to the New Brunswick Legislature with one of the largest majorities. She was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election that saw the defeat of the Progressive Conservative government and her return to the Opposition benches where she serves as Opposition House Leader. Dubé was named to the Select Committee on Cannabis, pursuant to Motion 31 of the 3rd session of the

58th New Brunswick Legislature The 58th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly was created following a general election in 2014 and dissolved on August 23, 2018, for the new general election. Leadership Lieutenant Governor Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau was installed October 23, 2014. Sp ...

University administration

She decided to retire from politics and not run again in the 2018 provincial election. In June 2018, she was named vice-president of the Edmundston campus of the

. In April 2025 she was named chancellor of the Université de Moncton for a five-year term.

Personal life

Dubé lives in Edmundston with her husband, Mike. She has two children, Shawn and Paryse. Dubé was made a Member of the

Order of New Brunswick The Order of New Brunswick is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The order was instituted through the ''Order of New Brunswick Act'', which was granted royal assent on 20 December 2000. The order is intended ...

in 2021.

References

MLA Bios, Government of New Brunswick
;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Dube, Madeleine 1961 births Politicians of Acadian descent Canadian social workers Ministers of health and labour of New Brunswick Living people Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs People from Edmundston Université de Moncton alumni Women MLAs in New Brunswick 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Members of the Order of New Brunswick