Simard, Raymond

Manitoba, Saint Boniface, Liberal Party of Canada

Raymond Simard was first elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Saint Boniface in a May 2002 by-election. He was re-elected in 2004.

Mr. Simard has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister responsible for Internal Trade, Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Minister responsible for Official Languages and Associate Minister of National Defence.

He has chaired the Manitoba Federal Liberal Caucus since March 2003, and was Chair of the Northern and Western Caucus from February 2004 to October 2004. He has been president of the Liberal Caucus for Official Languages in Minority Communities since August 2005 He is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, and of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

Mr. Simard has served as President of two family businesses, and in 1999, became the founding President and CEO of the Riel Economic Development Corporation.

He helped establish Canada’s first Bilingual Services Centre, a single-window service centre providing federal, provincial and municipal information to the public. He also oversaw the opening of the Riel Tourism Bureau.

Mr. Simard has served as President of the Caisse populaire de Saint-Boniface, Vice-President of the Fédération des caisses populaires du Manitoba, President of CLÉ (Entreprise Saint-Boniface) and President of Place Eugénie.

He has been a member of the UNEVOC Canada National Advisory Committee and the National and Regional Small Business Advisory Committees for the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

Mr. Simard was born in Sainte-Anne, Manitoba. He lives with his spouse, Marguerite Desrosiers, in Saint Boniface. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba.

majority seats = 155