Mauril Bélanger

The Honourable Mauril A. Bélanger
Member of Parliament for Ottawa—Vanier
Incumbent
Assumed office 1995
Preceded by	Jean-Robert Gauthier
Personal details
Born	June 15, 1955(1955-06-15) Mattawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Catherine Bélanger
Residence	Ottawa
Profession	Administrator, political adviser
Religion	Roman Catholic

Mauril A. Bélanger, PC, MP (born June 15, 1955) is a Member of the Canadian Parliament from the Liberal Party, representing Ottawa-Vanier. Bélanger has been involved in advocacy for the rights of Franco-Ontarians.

Bélanger was first elected to Parliament on February 13, 1995 in a by-election. His predecessor, Jean-Robert Gauthier, was appointed to the Senate.

Bélanger represents the riding of Ottawa—Vanier in the eastern part of the city, an electoral district containing diverse economic and social classes. It is home to many ethnic communities and has a large Francophone population. Ottawa-Vanier is considered a solid Liberal riding, having returned a Liberal MP since its creation in 1935, usually in a landslide. Bélanger himself has won by large margins in the 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections. He won re-election for a seventh term by a reduced margin with 38.2% of the vote in the May 2011 election.

As member of Parliament, Bélanger has served as Chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, member of the Standing Committee on the Library of Parliament and member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Urban Issues. From July 1998 to August 2000, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In December 2003, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Chief Government Whip.

Positions

Belanger has earned recognition for his promotion of francophone rights.

He has also stated his belief in the value of co-ops, and is currently the Liberal party advocate for co-operatives.

"Co-operatives create jobs and contribute to regional economies where private businesses would not see the desired returns on equity. This is particularly true in rural areas, where often the only convenient store or gas station is a Co-op and the only financial institution in town is a credit union. Co-operatives follow a model that greatly empowers each member, resulting in a wonderful combination of business success and social responsibility—which plays an important role in the economy and in our communities."

In 2012, Belanger asked the House of Commons to create a committee to examine the role of co-ops in the Canadian economy. This motion was unanimously passed by the House of Commons.

Early life

Bélanger was born in Mattawa, Ontario, a small logging town in Eastern Ontario.

He graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1977, where he had served as President of the Student Federation. In the early 1980s, he worked for Jean-Luc Pépin, then Minister of Transport. In the mid to late 1980s, he worked as a registered investment advisor. He was then the Chief of Staff to Peter Clark (Chair of the Regional Council of Ottawa-Carleton).

Honours

He was given the title of Commandeur de l’Ordre de la Pléiade in 2005. The Ordre de la Pléiade is a francophone order which focuses on contributions made to international friendship and cooperation. In 2007, László Sólyom, President of Hungary, made him an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. In April 2009, the Royal Canadian Legion recognized Belanger's for his contribution to the promotion of goodwill.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mauril Bélanger	20,009	38.17	-8.03
	New Democratic	Trevor Haché	15,391	29.36	+12.30
	Conservative	Rem Westland	14,184	27.06	-0.22
	Green	Caroline Rioux	2,716	5.18	-3.40
	Marxist–Leninist	Christian Legeais	122	0.23	-0.02
Total valid votes/Expense limit			52,422	100.00
Total rejected ballots			316	0.60	+0.07
Turnout			52,738	68.24	+4.20

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mauril Bélanger	23,948	46.20	+3.89	$79,668
	Conservative	Patrick Glémaud	14,138	27.28	-1.39	$53,405
	New Democratic	Trevor Haché	8,845	17.06	-4.75	$30,040
	Green	Akbar Manoussi	4,447	8.58	+1.98	$3,842
	Independent	Robert Larter	227	0.44	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Christian Legeais	130	0.25	+0.04
	Canadian Action	Michel St-Onge	100	0.19	–	$149
Total valid votes/Expense limit			51,835	100.00	$85,605
Total rejected ballots			277	0.53
Turnout			52,112	64.04
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.64

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Mauril Bélanger	23,567	42.31	-6.86
	Conservative	Paul Benoit	15,970	28.67	+4.48
	New Democratic	Ric Dagenais	12,145	21.81	+3.27
	Green	Raphaël Thierrin	3,675	6.60	-0.27
	Progressive Canadian	James C. Parsons	221	0.40
	Marxist–Leninist	Alexandre Legeais	117	0.21	-0.28
Total valid votes			55,695	100.00
	Liberal hold		Swing	-5.67

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Mauril Bélanger	25,952	49.17	-6.40
	Conservative	Kevin Friday	12,769	24.19	-6.95
	New Democratic	Ric Dagenais	9,787	18.54	+9.83
	Green	Raphaël Thierrin	3,628	6.87	+4.62
	Marijuana	Carol Taylor	558	1.06	-0.45
	Marxist–Leninist	Françoise Roy	85	0.49	+0.34
Total valid votes			52,779	100.00

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Mauril Bélanger	26,749	55.57	-6.30
	Alliance	Nestor Gayowsky	7,590	15.77	+5.97
	Progressive Conservative	Stephen Woollcombe	7,400	15.37	+1.77
	New Democratic	Joseph Zebrowski	4,194	8.71	-3.28
	Green	Adam Sommerfeld	1,083	2.25	+0.94
	Marijuana	Raymond Turmel	728	1.51
	Natural Law	Pierrette Blondin	187	0.39	-0.27
	Canadian Action	Raymond Samuéls	131	0.27
	Marxist–Leninist	Kim Roberge	74	0.15	-0.13
Total valid votes			48,136	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Mauril Bélanger	30,728	61.87	+1.14
	Progressive Conservative	Luc Edmund Barrick	6,754	13.60	+3.92
	New Democratic	David Gagnon	5,952	11.99	+5.57
	Reform	Roy Grant	4,868	9.80	-10.76
	Green	Richard Guy Briggs	651	1.31
	Natural Law	Roger Bouchard	330	0.66	+0.10
	Independent	César Antonio Bello	241	0.49
	Marxist–Leninist	Robert Rival	138	0.28	-0.03
Total valid votes			49,662	100.00

External links

• Official website
• House of Commons Webpage
• How'd They Vote?: Mauril Bélanger's voting history and quotes
• Mauril Bélanger – Parliament of Canada biography
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