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Mauril Bélanger (born June 15, 1955) is a Canadian Member of Parliament. He is a member of the governing Liberal Party and a member of the Canadian Cabinet.
Bélanger was born in Mattawa, Ontario, a small logging town in Eastern Ontario. He attended the University of Ottawa where he was heavily involved in student politics and stayed in Ottawa working in government and the private sector.
He was first elected to parliament on February 13, 1995 in a by-election after his predecessor, Jean-Robert Gauthier, was appointed to the Senate. Bélanger represents a largely francophone riding of Ottawa-Vanier in eastern Ottawa. It is one of the most solidly Liberal ridings having returned a Liberal since 1935, usually in a landslide. Bélanger has continued this trend won by large margins in the 1997 election and 2000 election.
During the Jean Chrétien administration he was a backbencher, he served as chair of the Official Languages Committee and was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. When Paul Martin became Prime Minister in 2003 Belanger was named Chief Government Whip and was given the cabinet position of deputy government house leader. In July 2004, he ceased being Chief Whip but he continued to the Martin cabinet taking on the portfolios of Associate Minister of National Defence, Minister responsible for Official Languages and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform in addition to his role as deputy house leader.
Bélanger has been a noted advocate for the rights of Franco-Ontariens.
External links
- Official Site (http://maurilbelanger.parl.gc.ca/welcome.asp?lang=en)
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