Don Boudria, Member of Parliament
Don Boudria represented the Ontario district 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 held several portfolios such as Minister for International Cooperation, Minister responsible for La Francophonie, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Receiver General for Canada, and Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. He is the second longest serving Government House Leader in Canadian history.
In addition, Mr. Boudria 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 two Parliamentary Associations, namely Canada-NATO and Canada-Africa.
Prior to his federal experience, Mr. Boudria worked as a federal civil servant and served in municipal and provincial politics. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of Waterloo.
Mr. Boudria is currently Senior Counsellor at Hill & Knowlton Canada where he provides advice in such fields as parliamentary procedure and international affairs. He is also 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. He is author of Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet.