Introduction
Victor E. Boudreau (born May 3, 1970) is a New Brunswick politician. He is the member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick for the riding of Shediac-Cap-Pelé for the New Brunswick Liberal Association and the Leader of the Opposition in the legislature.
Biography
Boudreau was recruited to the Liberal Party in 1989 by Dominic LeBlanc and he attended the 1990 federal Liberal leadership convention to support Jean Chrétien. Chrétien, who was then without a seat in the Canadian House of Commons, ran in a by-election in Boudreau's riding of Beauséjour.
Following this initial engagement, Boudreau became very active in politics. He served as president of the Young Liberals and then worked for Fernand Robichaud when he was a member of the Cabinet of Canada and for Bernard Richard—his predecessor as MLA for Shediac-Cap-Pelé—when he was in the New Brunswick cabinet
Prior to his election to the legislature, he worked as village administrator of Cap-Pelé where he always balanced the budget and kept village councillors up to speed on all issues of the day.
Career as legislator
He was elected to the legislature in a by-election on October 4, 2004 to replace Richard, who had resigned to become the provincial ombudsman. Boudreau was a quick rising star in the Liberal caucus being named to the high-profile role of Health & Wellness critic in the shadow cabinet shortly after his election.
Graham ministry
He was re-elected in 2006 and took on the high-profile role of finance minister in the cabinet of Shawn Graham. Boudreau was given several additional responsibilities, both ministerial and non-ministerial.
| Provincial Government of Shawn Graham | ||
| Cabinet Posts (3) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Greg Byrne | Minister of Business New Brunswick 2009–2010 | Paul Robichaud |
| Jeannot Volpé | Minister of Finance 2006–2009 | Greg Byrne |
| Rose-May Poirier | Minister of Local Government 2006–2007 | Carmel Robichaud |
| Special Cabinet Responsibilities | ||
| Predecessor | Title | Successor |
| Kirk MacDonald | Minister responsible for the Red tape Reduction 2006– | none |
| Roly MacIntyre | Minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation 2008– | Paul Robichaud |
| Greg Byrne | Minister responsible for Communications New Brunswick 2009– | Margaret-Ann Blaney |
| Greg Byrne | Minister responsible for Service New Brunswick 2009– | Bruce Fitch |
| Greg Byrne | Minister responsible for the Population Growth Secretariat 2009–2010 | Donald Arseneault |
Back in opposition
Following the party's defeat in the 2010 election, Boudreau was named interim leader of the party on November 10, 2010 after Graham stepped down. Brian Gallant was elected leader of the party on October 27, 2012, and assumed the role of opposition leader when he won the district of Kent in a by-election on April 15, 2013.
Gallant ministry
He was named Minister of Health by Premier-elect Brian Gallant on 7 October 2014. He chaired the Strategic Program Review, which was designed to solve a large gap, between $485 million and $600 million in the account books of the province.