Don Boudria

Don Boudria
MPP for Prescott and Russell
In office 1981–1984
Preceded by	Joseph Albert Bélanger
Succeeded by	Jean Poirier
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell
In office 1984–2006
Preceded by	Denis Éthier
Succeeded by	Pierre Lemieux
Personal details
Born	August 30, 1949 Hull, Quebec
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Sarsfield, Ontario
Religion	Roman Catholic

Donald "Don" Boudria, PC (born August 30, 1949) is a Canadian former politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 2005 as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien.

Municipal and provincial politics

Boudria was born in Hull, Quebec, raised in Sarsfield, Ontario, and educated in the area, and was a public servant before entering political life. A Franco-Ontarian, he was elected as a councillor in Cumberland Township in 1976, and remained a council member until his election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1981 provincial election. Boudria defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Joseph Albert Bélanger by 5,172 votes in Prescott and Russell, and served in the legislature for three years as a member the Ontario Liberal Party, which was then the official opposition to the Progressive Conservative government of William Davis.

Entry into federal politics

He left provincial politics to run for the House of Commons in the 1984 federal election. Boudria won a convincing victory in Ontario's easternmost riding, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, even as his party suffered a landslide defeat against Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives. Joining the opposition benches of the Commons in 1984, he became a member of the Liberal Rat Pack with Brian Tobin, Sheila Copps and John Nunziata. This group of young Liberals made it their business to harass the Tories at every possible turn.

Re-election and cabinet positions

Boudria was re-elected without difficulty in 1988, 1993, 1997 and 2000. Like the other Rat Pack members, he rose rapidly in the Liberal ranks. From 1991 to 1993, he served as Deputy Liberal House Leader. After the Liberals won a huge majority in 1993, Boudria became a backbencher once again for a time. He was appointed Chief Government Whip on September 15, 1994. He held this position until October 4, 1996, when he was named to Cabinet as Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie.

Boudria was named Leader of the Government in the House of Commons after the 1997 election. He retained this position until January 14, 2002, when he was again given a full portfolio as Minister of Public Works and Government Services. In March 2002, he stayed at a weekend resort owned by Groupe Everest, a prominent recipient of departmental funds. The trip was paid for by Boudria's son, and the minister was not directly accused of a conflict of interest. He was nonetheless deemed to have shown poor judgement, and was reassigned as Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons on May 26, 2002.^[1]

Boudria is the only cabinet minister in Canadian history to have earned a university degree during his ministerial tenure. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Waterloo in 1999, after taking courses by correspondence.

Chrétien loyalist

Boudria was known within the Liberal caucus as a leading Chrétien loyalist. During Question Period, he frequently handed Chrétien notes from a white binder, a practice that led Reform Party deputy leader Deb Grey to call him "Binder Boy." The nickname stuck. He lost his cabinet position in December 2003 when Paul Martin replaced Chrétien as Liberal leader and prime minister. Subsequently, he was elected chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages (3rd session of the 37th parliament) and the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (1st session of the 38th parliament).

On May 6, 2005, Boudria announced he would not run in the next election.

Life after government

Boudria's memoir, Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet, was published in late 2005. In 2006, he assisted Stéphane Dion's campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Boudria joined Ottawa-based public relations agency Hill & Knowlton Canada as a senior associate in May 2006, and was promoted to senior counsellor in March 2007.

His son Dan Boudria was elected to the Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est in the 2006 municipal elections. In early 2007, the Liberal Party of Canada Association of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell selected his son as candidate in the 2008 federal election. He lost to incumbent Conservative candidate Pierre Lemieux.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Don Boudria	23,921	47.9%	-20.1%
	Conservative	Alain Lalonde	18,729	37.5%	+10.2%
	New Democratic	Martin Cauvier	4,238	8.5%	+4.4%
	Green	Roy Fjarlie	2,634	5.3%
	Christian Heritage	Tim Bloedow	464	0.9%
Total valid votes			49,986	100.0%

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Don Boudria	31,371	68.0%	-4.0%
	Alliance	L. Sebastian Anders	8,632	18.7%	+9.2%
	Progressive Conservative	Ashley O'Kurley	3,942	8.5%	-4.0%
	New Democratic	Guy Belle-Isle	1,877	4.1%	-0.6%
	Natural Law	Wayne Foster	334	0.7%	+0.3%
Total valid votes			46,156	100.0%

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

Canadian federal election, 1997: Glengarry—Prescott—Russell
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Don Boudria	34,986	71.98	−8.23	$ 46,386
	Progressive Conservative	France Somers	6,109	12.57	+4.38	10,057
	Reform	Mike Lancop	4,599	9.46	+1.48	2,386
	New Democratic	Fred Cappuccino	2,289	4.71	+2.37	11,524
	Green	Richard Kerr	417	0.86		499
	Natural Law	Mary Glasser	207	0.43	−0.42	0
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,607	100.0	−12.93	$ 62,182
Total rejected ballots			598	1.22
Turnout			49,205	68.68
Electors on the lists			71,639
Sources: Elections Canada Official Voting Results and Financial Returns

Canadian federal election, 1993
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Don Boudria	44,775	80.2%	+9.5%
	Progressive Conservative	France Somers	4,572	8.2%	-10.9%
	Reform	Sam McCracken	4,456	8.0%
	New Democratic	Pascal Villeneuve	1,304	2.3%	-6.8%
	Natural Law	Pierrette Blondin	473	0.8%
	Libertarian	Jean-Serge Brisson	244	0.4%	-0.2%
Total valid votes			55,824	100.0%

Canadian federal election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Don Boudria	35,280	70.7%	+17.6%
	Progressive Conservative	Roger R. Presseault	9,517	19.1%	-13.9%
	New Democratic	Helena McCuaig	4,537	9.1%	-4.8%
	Libertarian	Jean-Serge Brisson	335	0.7%
	Commonwealth of Canada	John Feres	199	0.4%
Total valid votes			49,868	100.0%

Canadian federal election, 1984
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Don Boudria	26,057	53.1%	-15.4%
	Progressive Conservative	John Stante	16,170	33.0%	+13.3%
	New Democratic	Annemarie Collard	6,838	13.9%	+13.7%
Total valid votes			49,065	100.0%

References

1. "Guide to Canadian Ministries since Confederation". Government of Canada. Retrieved 21 May 2014.

External links

• Don Boudria: Personal Website
• How'd They Vote?: Don Boudria's voting history and quotes
• Don Boudria – Parliament of Canada biography
• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History