Biography
The Honourable Don Boudria represented the Ontario riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell in the House of Commons from 1984 to 2006. During his career in Parliament he was Deputy Chair and then Chair of the Ontario Liberal Caucus, Opposition Deputy Whip, Chair of the Liberal Caucus Committee on Government Operations, Liberal Deputy House Leader (Committees), Deputy Whip and Chief Whip Between 1984 and 1993, he held several opposition critic portfolios, including Agriculture, Supply and Services, Public Works and Canada Post. He was first appointed to Cabinet on October 4, 1996, and has held several Portfolios such as Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie, Chair of the Steering Committee of the 4th Games of La Francophonie of 2001 and Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Receiver General for Canada as well as Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.
Mr.Boudria began his political career in 1976 when he was elected councillor for Cumberland Township. He was re-elected in 1978 and 1980. He served as a member of the Cumberland Township recreational committee and was founding vice-president of theSarsfield Optimist Club, founding member of the Sarsfield Knights of Columbus, founding president of the Cumberland Township Non-profit Housing Corporation, and a member of many other community groups.
From 1981 to 1984, he served in the Ontario Legislature as MPP for Prescott-Russell. During his tenure in provincial office, he was the Liberal Party critic for Government Services, Community and Social Services, and Consumer and Commercial Relations.
The Honourable DonBoudria holds a Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of Waterloo. Before entering politics, he worked as a federal employee, holding various positions, including Chief Purchasing Officer.
Mr.Boudria is also the founding president of the Ontario section of the International Assembly of French-speaking Parliamentarians, which named him a Chevalier in 1988, Officier in 1994 and Commandeur in 1997. He was Chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs from October 2004 until the dissolution of the 38th Parliament in November 2005. He was also elected President of the Canadian Section of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA), and Chair of the Canada-Taiwan Canada-Korea Parliamentary Friendship groups. He was also director of the following two Parliamentary Associations: Canada-NATO and Canada-Africa.
Mr. Boudria was the dean of the Liberal caucus in the House of Commons during the 38th Parliament. He announced his intention not to seek re-election on May 6, 2005 and as of the General Election on January 23, 2006, he ceased to be a Member of Parliament. He has since published his autobiography Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet . To order, please download and fill out this printable order form.
Don Boudria was born in Hull, Quebec in 1949. He and his wife Mary Ann have
two children, Daniel and Julie, and 5 grandchildren. He speaks French, English,
and Spanish. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the
International Election Monitoring Institute as well as the Vice-President of the
Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. Since November 2009, he
is a member of the Pharmaceutical Policy Network Advisory Committee of Canada's
Research Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D).
He joined Hill & Knowlton Canada as an associate in June 2006, providing advice in such fields as parliamentary procedure as well as international affairs. In January 2007, he was promoted to the position of Senior Counsellor.