Dominic LeBlanc

The Honourable Dominic A. LeBlanc PC, BA, LLB, LLM, MP
Member of Parliament for Beauséjour
Incumbent
Assumed office 2000
Preceded by	Angela Vautour
Personal details
Born	December 14, 1967 (1967-12-14) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Jolène Richard
Residence	Moncton, New Brunswick
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Catholic [1]
Website	DominicLeBlanc.ca

Dominic A. LeBlanc, PC, MP (born December 14, 1967), is a Canadian lawyer and politician from New Brunswick, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Beauséjour and sits in the Canadian House of Commons as the Liberal Party's Foreign Affairs Critic. He was first elected in the 2000 federal election and has been re-elected in the last four elections. LeBlanc is the son of former Member of Parliament, Senator and Governor General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc.

LeBlanc ran for leadership of Liberal Party in 2008 but dropped out of the race to endorse Michael Ignatieff, who was later acclaimed leader. With the resignation of Ignatieff after the 2011 federal election LeBlanc is considered a likely candidate in the race to succeed him as party leader.

Early life and education

LeBlanc was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Toronto (Trinity College), a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of New Brunswick, and then attended Harvard Law School, where he obtained his Master of Laws degree.

Prior to being elected to the House of Commons, LeBlanc was a Barrister and Solicitor with Clark Drummie in Shediac and Moncton. From 1993-1996, LeBlanc was a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He is the son of the former Governor General of Canada, The Right Honourable Roméo LeBlanc, who had previously been the Member of Parliament for Westmorland-Kent from 1972 to 1984, and then a Senator from 1984 to 1994.

LeBlanc is an Acadian. In 2003, he married Jolène Richard, a Provincial Court judge and daughter of Guy A. Richard who served as Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick. They have one son, Selby.

Political career

LeBlanc is member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Beauséjour in New Brunswick. He first ran in that riding in 1997, losing to New Democratic Party candidate, Angela Vautour. In 2000 he once again ran against Vautour, who had crossed the floor and was a Progressive Conservative, and was easily elected. LeBlanc has been re-elected in the 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011 federal elections.

Government MP

During the Liberal Party's time in power LeBlanc served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, from January 13, 2003, to December 11, 2003, and was the chair of the Atlantic Caucus. On July 10, 2004, he was sworn-in as a Member of the Privy Council for Canada and appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Deputy Chief Government Whip. He has served on the Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs, and the Standing Committees on Fisheries and Oceans, Transport and Government Operations, National Defence and Veterans Affairs, and Public Accounts, Procedures and House Affairs, and International Trade.

Opposition MP

In January 2006, he was named Official Opposition critic for international trade and later that year he was co-chair of the 2006 Liberal Party leadership convention in Montreal. In January 2007, he was named by the Honourable Stéphane Dion, Vice Chair - Liberal Party of Canada Policy and Platform Committee and In October of that year, he was named Official Opposition critic for intergovernmental affairs. In January 2009, he was named by the Honourable Michael Ignatieff as the critic for justice and attorny general. Before the return of Parliament in September 2010, Ignatieff shuffled his Shadow Cabinet and appointed LeBlanc as the Liberal critic for national defence. Following LeBlanc's re-election in the 2011 federal election, interim Liberal leader Bob Rae appointed LeBlanc as the Liberal Party's Foreign Affairs Critic.

2008 leadership bid

On October 27, 2008, LeBlanc was the first candidate to officially announce his intention to seek the leadership of the Liberal party to replace Stéphane Dion. Former leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae came forward shortly after LeBlanc's announcement. His supporters included top staffers in the prime minister's office under Jean Chrétien, such as his former chief of staff Percy Downe, and Tim Murphy, chief of staff under Paul Martin. Some senior organizers in Gerard Kennedy's 2006 leadership bid were also with LeBlanc.

On December 8, 2008, LeBlanc announced he was dropping out of the leadership race because he felt a leader needed to be put in place as soon as possible and that he was throwing his support behind Ignatieff. The next day Rae dropped out of the race and Ignatieff was acclaimed leader when Dion stepped down.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp	Expenditures
	Liberal	Dominic LeBlanc	17,399	39.08%	-7.68%
	Conservative	Evelyn Chapman	14,814	33.27%	+4.12%
	New Democratic	Susan Levi-Peters	10,397	23.35%	+6.47%
	Green	Natalie Arsenault	1,913	4.3%	-2.89%
Total valid votes/Expense limit			–	100.00%

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp
	Liberal	Dominic LeBlanc	19,972	46.6	-0.95
	Conservative	Omer Léger	12,512	29.2	-3.03
	New Democratic	Chris Durrant	7,219	16.8	+0.13
	Green	Mike Milligan	3,187	7.4	+4.61
Total valid votes			42,890

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp
	Liberal	Dominic LeBlanc	22,012	47.55	-5.73
	Conservative	Omer Léger	14,919	32.23	+4.04
	New Democratic	Neil Gardner	7,717	16.67	+1.96
	Green	Anna Girouard	1,290	2.79	-1.03
	Independent	Frank Comeau	357	0.77	Ø
Total valid votes			46,295

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp
	Liberal	Dominic LeBlanc	21,934	53.28	+6.18
	Conservative	Angela Vautour	11,604	28.19	-17.65
	New Democratic	Omer Bourque	6,056	14.71	+7.65
	Green	Anna Girouard	1,574	3.82	Ø
Total valid votes			41,168

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp
	Liberal	Dominic LeBlanc	21,465	47.10	+12.27
	Progressive Conservative	Angela Vautour	14,631	32.11	+16.11
	Alliance	Tom Taylor	6256	13.73	+3.55
	New Democratic	Inka Milewski	3217	7.06	-31.93
Total valid votes			45,569

Canadian federal election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±pp
	New Democratic	Angela Vautour	18,504	38.99	+33.25
	Liberal	Dominic LeBlanc	16,529	34.83	-41.20
	Progressive Conservative	Ian Hamilton	7592	16.00	+0.78
	Reform	Raymond Braun	4833	10.18	Ø
Total valid votes			47,458

External links

• Official website
• Dominic LeBlanc - Parliament of Canada biography