LeBlanc ran for the leadership of the 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 was considered a likely candidate in the race to succeed him as party leader, but did not run.[3][4]
LeBlanc first ran in that riding in 1997,[7] losing to New Democratic Party candidate, Angela Vautour.[8] During that race there were accusations of political patronage as LeBlanc's father was the sitting viceroy, and there was criticism that the governor general had a series of events planned in New Brunswick the very week that the election writs dropped.[9][10][11][12]
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.
In opposition
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 Michael Ignatieff as the critic for justice and attorney general. Before the return of Parliament in September 2010, Ignatieff shuffled his Shadow Cabinet and appointed LeBlanc as the Liberal critic for national defence.[14] 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.
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.[15] 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.[16]
LeBlanc with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (centre-left) during the 2011 federal election campaign launch, in Ottawa.
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.[17][18]
2011–2015
LeBlanc retained his seat in the 2011 election, while the Liberals dropped down to third place in the House of Commons.
Following Ignatieff's resignation as leader, LeBlanc was seen as a potential leadership candidate.[19] LeBlanc did not say whether he was considering a bid but hoped to be part of the "rebuilding and renewal" of the party.[20] Later, LeBlanc said that the next leader needs to commit 10 to 15 years of his or her life "occupied exclusively" with rebuilding the Liberal party and winning elections.[21] On October 5, 2012, he announced he would not stand for the leadership and instead endorsed Justin Trudeau.[22]
On August 19, 2016, Leblanc was replaced as leader of the Government in the House of Commons by Bardish Chagger. He retained the post of Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.[5]
On July 18, 2018, Leblanc was shuffled from Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, a combination of two positions, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, and Northern Affairs.[25]
On September 12, 2018, the ethics commissioner, Mario Dion found LeBlanc broke conflict of interest rules when he awarded a lucrative Arctic surf clam licence to a company linked to his wife's cousin in February 2018.[26]
On April 26, 2019, Leblanc announced he would be stepping back from cabinet as he sought treatment for cancer.[27]
43rd Canadian Parliament
On November 20, 2019, Leblanc returned to Cabinet as President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, a position with reduced responsibilities. His former role as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, was split between the Minister of Northern Affairs, and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.[28]
After the resignation of Bill Morneau as Minister of Finance, Leblanc again became Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs after his successor, Chrystia Freeland, took the role of Minister of Finance in a cabinet shuffle on August 18, 2020. He retained his position as President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.[29]
44th Canadian Parliament
As of 31 August 2022, Leblanc sat on seven of the 13 cabinet committees then extant:[30]
Cabinet Committee on Agenda, Results and Communications
Sub-Committee on Intergovernmental Coordination
Cabinet Committee on Operations
Sub-Committee on Litigation Management
Cabinet Committee on Economy, Inclusion and Climate “B”
Sub-Committee on the federal response to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
^From 2020 to 2021, the role was known as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs; on October 26, 2021, the role was renamed Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, with LeBlanc gaining responsibility for Infrastructure and Communities from Catherine McKenna.
Personal life
In 2003, he married Jolène Richard, a former Moncton lawyer who became a judge on the Provincial Court of New Brunswick in 2008, and eventually became a chief judge.[36] She is the daughter of Guy A. Richard, who served as Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick.[37][38] He has an adult stepson.[38]
In December 2017, he announced that he had been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and would begin chemotherapy immediately while continuing to serve in his parliamentary roles.[38]
In 2019 he got a treatment with stem cells (chance of 1 to 1 million match) from an 18-year-old German donor and has been cured since.[39] After the regular two-years non-contact time between donor and patient, both have been in personal contact since then and the donor paid a visit to LeBlanc in Canada in September 2022.[40]
Arms
Coat of arms of Dominic LeBlanc
Notes
inherited his arms from his father
Adopted
January 1, 1995 (granted to his father), June 24, 2009 (inherited)
Crest
Four eagle feathers within a circlet of Micmac quill decration Gules
Torse
Argent and Gules
Escutcheon
Argent on a pile Gules the Star of Acadia ensigned by a representation of the Royal Crown Or;
Supporters
Two dolphins Argent each gorged with a collar of maple leaves Gules and fleurs de lys Or, pendand therefrom a plate Azure, dexter surmounted by a steam locomotive wheel Or, sinister surmounted by a book Or
Compartment
Issuant from a mound set with maple leaves all Gules flanked by waves proper
Motto
SEMPER AMISSOS MEMINISSE DECET (It is right to remember the forgotten)
Symbolism
The use of white recalls the LeBlanc family name, while the pile refers to the Memramcook Valley, where Roméo LeBlanc was born, and the dolphins evoke the Rivière Dauphin (now Annapolis River), where LeBlanc's ancestors settled in the mid 17th century, as well as Roméo LeBlanc's maritime heritage and his service as the minister of fisheries. The star is a symbol long used by the Acadians, as are the fleurs de lys representative of LeBlanc's roots in that community, and the royal crown represents Roméo LeBlanc's appointment as the representative of the Canadian sovereign. The eagle feathers, a symbols of peace, honour the Canadian First Nations, and the number represents Roméo LeBlanc's four children. More family links are depicted in the steam locomotive wheel – representing LeBlanc's father's service on the Canadian railways – and the book evoking Roméo LeBlanc's training and work as a teacher. The compartment symbolises a multi-ethnic Canada between two seas, and recalls the Micmac origin of the word Memramcook, meaning multi-coloured landscape.[41]
^Smith, David E. (1999), written at Toronto-Buffalo-London, Jackson, Michael D. (ed.), "The Republican Option in Canada: Past and Present"(PDF), Canadian Monarchist News, vol. Autumn-Winter 2007, no. 27, Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada (published 2007), p. 12, archived from the original(PDF) on July 8, 2009, retrieved July 26, 2009
^Boyce, Peter (2008), written at Sydney, Jackson, Michael D. (ed.), "The Senior Realms of the Queen"(PDF), Canadian Monarchist News, vol. Autumn 2009, no. 30, Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada (published October 2009), p. 10, archived from the original(PDF) on December 29, 2009, retrieved October 22, 2009
1The office of Minister of Marine and Fisheries was abolished and the offices of Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Marine were created in 1930. The Minister of Marine office was a precursor to the Minister of Transport. 2From 1971 to 1976 the Minister of the Environment was also the Minister of Fisheries.
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