Geoff_Regan
Geoff Regan
Canadian politician
Geoffrey Paul Regan PC (born 22 November 1959) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 36th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halifax West 2000 to 2021, previously holding the seat from 1993 to 1997. Under Paul Martin, he was Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from 2003 to 2006.
Geoff Regan | |
|---|---|
| 36th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada | |
| In office 3 December 2015 – 5 December 2019 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governors General | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Andrew Scheer |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Rota |
| Chairman of the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations | |
| In office January 20, 2020 – August 15, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Minister of Fisheries and Oceans | |
| In office 12 December 2003 – 5 February 2006 | |
| Prime Minister | Paul Martin |
| Preceded by | Robert Thibault |
| Succeeded by | Loyola Hearn |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons | |
| In office 13 September 2001 – 11 December 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | Jean Chretien |
| Preceded by | Derek Lee |
| Succeeded by | Rodger Gallaway |
| Member of Parliament for Halifax West | |
| In office 27 November 2000 – 20 September 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Gordon Earle |
| Succeeded by | Lena Diab |
| In office 25 October 1993 – 2 June 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Howard Crosby |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Earle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Geoffrey Paul Regan (1959-11-22) 22 November 1959 (age 64) Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | |
| Residence(s) | Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Website | www |
Regan was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Regan is the son of Gerald Regan, a former Premier of Nova Scotia and Cabinet Minister under Pierre Trudeau, and Carole Harrison, the daughter of John Harrison, a Member of Parliament from Saskatchewan.[1] Two of his sisters are also well-known: Nancy Regan was a well-known local television personality with ATV, Laura Regan is an actress.[citation needed]
Regan graduated from Sackville High School in 1977 and then earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. Francis Xavier University in 1980. Following university, Regan went on to earn a law degree from Dalhousie University, graduating in 1983. He was admitted to the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society in 1984 and practiced real estate and commercial law before entering public life.
Regan was a member of Toastmasters for almost ten years, in the late 1980s to early 1990s.[2]
Regan was first elected to the House of Commons as part of the Liberal landslide victory in the 1993 federal election under Jean Chrétien.[1][3] He was defeated in the 1997 election by NDP candidate Gordon Earle, mainly because of the federal government's changes to employment insurance.[1][4]
After regaining his seat in the 2000 federal election, Regan was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, a position then held by Don Boudria.[1][5] In 2003, Paul Martin appointed him as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.[1]
Regan was the Regional Minister for Nova Scotia in the newly formed government of Paul Martin, sworn in on 12 December 2003. Regan was re-elected in the 2004 federal election.[6] He would keep position in cabinet in Martin’s minority government. In February 2004, Regan was appointed to act as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, in matters related to Maher Arar.
In opposition
Upon the defeat of the Liberal government in the 2006 election, he was appointed by Bill Graham, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition, to the shadow cabinet as the Official Opposition Critic for Human Resources and Skills Development. During his time as critic, Regan introduced a private members’ bill to expand Canada Access Grants for disabled and low income students. In January 2007, he was appointed to the newly created Liberal Priorities and Planning Committee, which was chaired by then Liberal Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion. In March 2008, Regan was named Chair of the Caucus Committee on Environmental Sustainability. Regan also served as Vice-Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.
Regan was re-elected in 2008, and 2011 federal elections,[7] despite significant Liberal losses in both. Regan won his seat by a few percentage points in the latter election as the Liberals finished in third place.[1] Under the leadership of Stephane Dion, Regan served as Opposition Critic for Human Resources and Skills Development. Under Michael Ignatieff, Regan served as Liberal Critic for Natural Resources, and later, Public Works and Government Services and also as the Liberal Natural Resources Critic under leader Justin Trudeau and the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.
Speaker of the House of Commons
Regan was re-elected in the 2015 federal election with 68% of the vote as the Liberal party swept all 32 Atlantic Canada seats and formed a majority government.[1] On 2 December 2015, Regan was selected as Speaker of the House of Commons in secret ballot by members of the 42nd Parliament over Liberals Denis Paradis and Yasmin Ratansi and Conservative Bruce Stanton.[1] Regan won on the first ballot and served as the first speaker from Atlantic Canada in almost a hundred years.[8] In December 2019, he ran for re-election for Speaker of the Commons but lost to fellow Liberal MP Anthony Rota.[9] Following Rota's win, the Conservatives said that he had them to thank for his new position. They had made the decision during a caucus meeting to unseat Regan as a show of strength to the Liberal minority government.[10][11]
On March 31, 2021, Regan announced that he would not seek re-election.[12]
- Metro Food Bank Society Community Leadership Award (1992)
- Halifax Board of Trade Certificate of Merit (1992)
- Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
- Appointed member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada (2003)
- Elisabeth Mann Borgese Medal (2005) The International Ocean Institute awarded Regan then Minister of Fisheries and Oceans for his "exemplary leadership in the field of Ocean Governance."
- Lebanese Community Recognition Award (2008)
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
- Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022)
Regan's wife, Kelly Regan, is a provincial MLA and former Deputy Premier of Nova Scotia.[1]
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 26,885 | 49.46 | −19.19 | $47,993.19 | |||
| Conservative | Fred Shuman | 10,488 | 19.29 | +3.64 | $56,155.00 | |||
| New Democratic | Jacob Wilson | 10,429 | 19.19 | +7.42 | $3,588.81 | |||
| Green | Richard Zurawski | 6,555 | 12.06 | +8.12 | $1,525.90 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 54,357 | 99.15 | $103,859.40 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 465 | 0.85 | +0.49 | |||||
| Turnout | 54,822 | 70.71 | −1.00 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 77,531 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | −11.42 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[13] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 34,377 | 68.65 | +31.38 | $51,596.91 | |||
| Conservative | Michael McGinnis | 7,837 | 15.65 | –14.53 | $34,660.89 | |||
| New Democratic | Joanne Hussey | 5,894 | 11.77 | –16.68 | $38,094.46 | |||
| Green | Richard Henryk Zurawski | 1,971 | 3.94 | –0.17 | $258.75 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 50,079 | 100.00 | $203,472.37 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 181 | 0.36 | ||||||
| Turnout | 50,260 | 71.71 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 70,089 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +22.95 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[14][15] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 16,230 | 35.92 | -5.64 | $61,795.88 | |||
| Conservative | Bruce Pretty | 13,782 | 30.50 | +9.37 | $51,236.29 | |||
| New Democratic | Gregor Ash | 13,239 | 29.30 | -0.30 | $42,761.72 | |||
| Green | Thomas Trappenberg | 1,931 | 4.27 | -2.81 | $860.31 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,182 | 100.0 | $84,619.08 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 239 | 0.53 | +0.16 | |||||
| Turnout | 45,421 | 62.34 | +3.21 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 72,862 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -7.47 | ||||||
| Sources:[16][17] | ||||||||
| 2008 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 17,129 | 41.56 | -7.80 | $50,515.55 | |||
| New Democratic | Tamara Lorincz | 12,201 | 29.60 | +5.17 | $25,480.72 | |||
| Conservative | Rakesh Khosla | 8,708 | 21.13 | -1.91 | $29,390.36 | |||
| Green | Michael Munday | 2,920 | 7.08 | +3.90 | $2,823.08 | |||
| Christian Heritage | Trevor Ennis | 257 | 0.62 | – | $123.50 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 41,215 | 100.0 | $81,056 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 154 | 0.37 | +0.04 | |||||
| Turnout | 41,369 | 59.13 | -3.92 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 69,960 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -6.48 | ||||||
| 2006 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 21,818 | 49.36 | +1.86 | $54,533.58 | |||
| New Democratic | Alan Hill | 10,798 | 24.43 | -3.52 | $15,656.30 | |||
| Conservative | Rakesh Khosla | 10,184 | 23.04 | +2.10 | $46,536.45 | |||
| Green | Thomas Trappenberg | 1,406 | 3.18 | -0.43 | $642.68 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,206 | 100.0 | $75,552 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 147 | 0.33 | -0.02 | |||||
| Turnout | 44,353 | 63.05 | -0.46 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 70,349 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +2.69 | ||||||
| 2004 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 19,083 | 47.50 | +6.55 | $60,896.27 | |||
| New Democratic | Bill Carr | 11,228 | 27.95 | -0.12 | $33,350.95 | |||
| Conservative | Ken MacPhee | 8,413 | 20.94 | -9.26 | $32,442.47 | |||
| Green | Martin Willison | 1,452 | 3.61 | – | $1,152.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 40,176 | 100.0 | $71,525 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 141 | 0.35 | ||||||
| Turnout | 40,317 | 63.51 | +3.64 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 63,479 | |||||||
| Liberal notional hold | Swing | +3.34 | ||||||
| Changes from 2000 are based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals. | ||||||||
| 2000 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 18,327 | 39.21 | +8.32 | ||||
| New Democratic | Gordon Earle | 14,016 | 29.99 | -4.64 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Charles Cirtwill | 9,701 | 20.76 | -2.70 | ||||
| Alliance | Hilda Stevens | 4,531 | 9.70 | -0.77 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Tony Seed | 160 | 0.34 | +0.19 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 46,735 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | +6.48 | ||||||
Changes for the Canadian Alliance from 1997 are based on the results of its predecessor, the Reform Party.
| 1997 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Gordon Earle | 16,013 | 34.63 | +26.23 | ||||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 14,284 | 30.89 | -14.73 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Heather Foley | 10,848 | 23.46 | -0.29 | ||||
| Reform | Stephen Oickle | 4,843 | 10.47 | -8.93 | ||||
| Natural Law | John Runkle | 179 | 0.39 | -0.42 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Gary Zatzman | 70 | 0.15 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 46,237 | 100.00 | ||||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +20.48 | ||||||
| 1993 Canadian federal election: Halifax West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Geoff Regan | 26 904 | 45.62 | +7.01 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Joel Matheson | 14 005 | 23.75 | -21.00 | ||||
| Reform | Jim Donohue | 11,439 | 19.40 | |||||
| New Democratic | Sheila Richardson | 4,952 | 8.40 | -7.85 | ||||
| National | Kirby Judge | 1,201 | 2.04 | |||||
| Natural Law | Bernard Gormley | 475 | 0.81 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 58,976 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +14.01 | ||||||
- "Meet Geoff Regan, the new Speaker of the House of Commons". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- "Meet Geoff Regan, Canada's Speaker of the House of Commons". The Toastmaster (August 2016): 16–19. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- "Atlantic region hands Liberals near-clean sweep". The Chronicle Herald. 26 October 1993. Archived from the original on 21 November 2001. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- "NDP's Earle becomes first Black MP for N.S." The Chronicle Herald. 3 June 1997. Archived from the original on 22 May 2001. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- "Halifax West's Regan 'delighted' to be back". The Chronicle Herald. 28 November 2000. Archived from the original on 24 January 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- "Geoff Regan: 'What a thrill'". The Chronicle Herald. 29 June 2004. Archived from the original on 6 September 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- "Regan holds Halifax West for Liberals". CBC News. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- "Geoff Regan elected House Speaker as 42nd Parliament opens". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- Tunney, Catharine; Zimonjic, Peter; Harris, Kathleen (5 December 2019). "Liberal MP Anthony Rota elected Speaker of the House of Commons". CBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- "Liberal MP Anthony Rota elected Speaker. You're welcome, Conservatives say". National Post. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- "Liberal MP Anthony Rota upsets Regan to become Speaker in minority Parliament". Burnaby Now. 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- Renic, Karla (31 March 2021). "Former speaker of the House and long-time Nova Scotian MP Geoff Regan not re-offering". Global News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
- "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- "October 19, 2015 Election Results — Halifax West (Validated results)". Elections Canada. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on 15 August 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Halifax West 1993–1997 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Halifax West 2000–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada 2015–2019 |
Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Fisheries and Oceans 2003–2006 |
Succeeded by |