Introduction
Randy Boissonnault (born July 14, 1970) is a former Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Edmonton Centre as a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election and served until his defeat in the 2019 Canadian federal election.
He was one of five openly LGBT MPs serving in the 42nd Canadian Parliament, alongside Rob Oliphant, Seamus O'Regan, Randall Garrison and Sheri Benson. He was the first openly gay MP elected in Alberta.
Early life
Boissonnault was born in the Franco-Albertan town of Morinville, Alberta on July 14, 1970.
After graduating from the University of Alberta, Boissonault studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He subsequently worked as a lecturer at the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean and as a journalist and political commentator for Radio-Canada and Les Affaires.
Political career
Boissonnault was elected in the 2015 election in the riding of Edmonton Centre, the first Liberal MP to win in the riding for almost a decade.
Upon being sworn in as a Member of Parliament, Boissonnault was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
On November 15, 2016, Boissonnault was named special advisor on LGBTQ2 issues to the Prime Minister. The role involves advising Trudeau "on the development and co-ordination of the Government of Canada’s LGBTQ2 agenda" including protecting LGBT rights in Canada and addressing both present and historical discrimination.
He was defeated in the 2019 election.
Election results
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | James Cumming | 22,006 | 41.4% | +6.45 | ||||
| Liberal | Randy Boissonnault | 17,524 | 33.0% | -4.19 | ||||
| New Democratic | Katherine Swampy | 10,959 | 20.6% | -3.85 | ||||
| Green | Grad Murray | 1,394 | 2.6% | -0.02 | ||||
| People's | Paul Hookham | 805 | 1.5% | - | ||||
| Rhinoceros | Donovan Eckstrom | 206 | 0.4% | -0.08 | ||||
| Independent | Adil Pirbhai | 119 | 0.2% | -0.10 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Peggy Morton | 79 | 0.1% | - | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 53,092 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 362 | |||||||
| Turnout | 53,454 | 65.4 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 81,766 | |||||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +5.32 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Randy Boissonnault | 19,902 | 37.19 | +13.46 | – | |||
| Conservative | James Cumming | 18,703 | 34.95 | -11.25 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Gil McGowan | 13,084 | 24.45 | -1.37 | – | |||
| Green | David Parker | 1,403 | 2.62 | -0.94 | – | |||
| Rhinoceros | Steven Stauffer | 257 | 0.48 | – | – | |||
| Independent | Kat Yaki | 163 | 0.30 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 53,512 | 100.00 | $210,254.07 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 234 | 0.44 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 53,746 | 68.79 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 78,131 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +12.35 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada | ||||||||