Roger Duguay

Roger Duguay
Leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party
In office October 13, 2007 – October 25, 2010
Preceded by	Pat Hanratty (interim)
Succeeded by	Jesse Travis (interim)
Personal details
Born	September 19, 1963 Maltempec, New Brunswick
Political party	New Brunswick New Democratic Party
Alma mater	Bachelor of Arts Université de Moncton, Masters of Theology Université de Moncton
Occupation	priest, teacher
Religion	Roman Catholic

Roger Duguay is a former Canadian politician and Roman Catholic priest. He sought election to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick unsuccessfully on four occasions as a representative of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party (NDP). He served as the NDP's leader from 2007 to 2010.

Political career

Duguay has been a candidate for the NB New Democratic Party on three previous occasions, dating back to the 1991 election.^[1]

In 1999, he ran in the riding of Centre-Péninsule. As a result, he was suspended from his position as a pastor with the Catholic Church for breaking the Diocese's policy on political activity.^[2] Although he was reinstated after the election, he later left the church voluntarily in order to continue his political career.

In the 2006 election, Duguay was the party's most successful candidate, winning 26.1 per cent of the vote in the riding of Miramichi Bay-Neguac. This result led to his successful nomination for the party leadership on October 13, 2007.^[3][4]

In May 2009, the party announced that Duguay would seek the nomination in Tracadie-Sheila.^[5] Since his nomination, successive polls have shown Duguay and his party improving in public opinion.

A Corporate Research Associates poll conducted in June 2009 showed an improvement for the NDP from 13 to 16 percent of decided voters, while a subsequent poll conducted in September 2009 showed a jump to 22 percent. In addition, Duguay's personal popularity rating doubled from 6% to 12% in that three-month period.^[6]

Duguay received a 100% vote of confidence in his leadership from the near-100 delegates in attendance for the New Brunswick NDP Biennial Convention, held October 17, 2009.

He stepped down as leader on October 25, 2010 after failing to win a seat in the 2010 general election.^[7] On November 2, 2010, Duguay further announced that he would be leaving the NDP altogether because of what he called "feuding" between party members and "outsiders" had been brought in to run the election campaign.^[8]

Electoral history

New Brunswick general election, 1991: Caraquet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Bernard Thériault	5,298	54.4
	Progressive Conservative	Gilbert Godin	2,279	23.4
	New Democrat	Roger Duguay	2,167	22.2

New Brunswick general election, 1999: Centre-Péninsule

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Louis-Philippe McGraw	3,551	51.8
	Liberal	Denis Landry	2,344	34.2
	New Democrat	Roger Duguay	955	13.9

New Brunswick general election, 2006: Miramichi Bay-Neguac

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Carmel Robichaud	3,108	45.3
	Progressive Conservative	Guy Vautour	1,963	28.6
	New Democrat	Roger Duguay	1,784	26.0

New Brunswick New Democratic Party leadership election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democrat	Roger Duguay	>371*	>50*
	New Democrat	Dennis Atchison	<371*	<50*

*The NDP did not release the vote totals of individual candidates, but there were 742 votes cast and Duguay was the winner.

New Brunswick general election, 2010: Tracadie-Sheila

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Claude Landry	3,806	48.8
	New Democrat	Roger Duguay	2,511	32.2
	Liberal	Norma McGraw	1,478	19.0

References

1. "NDP leader gets boost from latest poll results". Telegraph Journa. September 4, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011.
2. "Priest suspended for entering politics". CBC News. May 18, 1999. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
3. "Former priest takes reins of N.B.'s NDP". CBC News. October 15, 2007. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
4. "Former Catholic priest wins leadership of New Brunswick's NDP". The Globe and Mail. October 13, 2007.
5. "NDP leader to run in Tracadie-Sheila". CBC News. May 14, 2009. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
6. "NDP support breaks record". The Daily Gleaner. September 3, 2009. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.
7. "N.B. NDP Leader resigns". CBC News. October 25, 2010. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
8. "Duguay to leave NDP". CBC News. November 2, 2010. Retrieved 2015-05-05.