# Don Boudria

Don Boudria PC (born August 30, 1949) is a former Canadian politician and current senior associate at Sandstone Group, an Ottawa-based executive advisory firm. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 2006 as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien.

## Municipal and provincial politics

Boudria was born in Hull, Quebec, and raised in Sarsfield, Ontario. Similarly, he was educated in the area and worked as a public servant before entering political life. A Franco-Ontarian, he was elected as councillor for Cumberland Township in 1976, and remained a council member until his election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1981 provincial election. Boudria defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Joseph Albert Bélanger by 5,172 votes in Prescott and Russell, and served in the legislature for three years as a member the Ontario Liberal Party, which was then the official opposition to the Progressive Conservative government, led by William Davis.

## Entry into federal politics

He left provincial politics to run for the House of Commons in the 1984 federal election. Boudria won a convincing victory in Ontario's easternmost riding, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, even as his party suffered a landslide defeat against Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives. Joining the opposition benches of the Commons in 1984, he became a member of the Liberal Rat Pack with Brian Tobin, Sheila Copps and John Nunziata. This group of young Liberals made it their business to challenge the Tories at every possible chance. In his first federal term, Boudria successfully sponsored a motion to erect a statue of Canada's only Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson.

## Re-election and cabinet positions

Boudria was re-elected without difficulty in 1988, 1993, 1997 and 2000. Like the other Rat Pack members, he rose rapidly in the Liberal ranks. From 1991 to 1993, he served as Deputy Liberal House Leader. After the Liberals won a huge majority in 1993, Boudria returned temporarily to the back benches. He was appointed Chief Government Whip on September 15, 1994. He held this position until October 4, 1996, when he was named to Cabinet as Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie.
Boudria was named Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons after the 1997 election, managing a complex legislative agenda when, for the first time in Canadian history, five parties (Liberals, Reform, Bloc Québécois, New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives, in descending order of seat count) won enough seats to qualify for official party status. In 1998, he sponsored legislation to control third-party advertising during election campaigns strictly. This law was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court and sustained, remaining in place to this day. One of the main challengers of this legislation was the National Citizens Coalition.
He retained this position until January 14, 2002, when he was again given a full portfolio as Minister of Public Works and Government Services. He was reappointed as Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons on May 26, 2002, when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien retired.

### Chrétien loyalist

Boudria was known within the Liberal caucus as a leading Chrétien loyalist. During Question Period, he frequently handed Chrétien notes from a white binder. Due to this practice, Reform Party deputy leader Deb Grey asked in 2000 if Chrétien could answer a question "without any help from Binder Boy." The nickname stuck.
Boudria was not reappointed to cabinet in December 2003 when Paul Martin replaced Chrétien as Liberal leader and prime minister. However, he became chair of the Official Languages Committee, and after the 2004 federal election, became chair of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. Subsequently, he was elected chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages (3rd session of the 37th parliament) and the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (1st session of the 38th parliament).
On May 6, 2005, Boudria announced he would not run in the next election.

## Life after government

Boudria's memoir, Busboy: From Kitchen to Cabinet, was published in late 2005. In 2006, he assisted Stéphane Dion's campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Boudria joined Ottawa-based public relations agency Hill & Knowlton Canada as a senior associate in May 2006, and was promoted to senior counsellor in March 2007. He continued with Hill & Knowlton Canada up until June 2023, before beginning a new professional journey as senior associate at Sandstone Group.
Don's son, Dan Boudria, was elected to the Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est in the 2006 municipal election. In early 2007, the Liberal Party of Canada Association of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell selected the younger Boudria as candidate in the 40th federal election. He lost to incumbent Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux.

## Accolades

Boudria has been decorated on three separate occasions by the International Assembly of French-speaking Parliamentarians with the l’Ordre de la Pleiade award, where he served as the founding president of the Ontario section, for his advocacy of international cooperation and the rights of French-speaking peoples. He was also a recipient of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians' Distinguished Service Award in 2018.
The University of Ottawa has created an annual scholarship under his name to nurture Canadian history scholars.
The city of Ottawa has also established a Don Boudria Park in Orleans to recognize his many years of service to the region and to Canadians at large. It was opened in July 2020 and officially inaugurated by Jim Watson, the Mayor of Ottawa, in August 2021.

## Electoral record

2004 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Don Boudria | 23,921 | 47.9% | −20.1% |
| | Conservative | Alain Lalonde | 18,729 | 37.5% | +10.2% |
| | New Democratic | Martin Cauvier | 4,238 | 8.5% | +4.4% |
| | Green | Roy Fjarlie | 2,634 | 5.3% | |
| | Christian Heritage | Tim Bloedow | 464 | 0.9% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 49,986 | 100.0% |
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.
2000 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Don Boudria | 31,371 | 68.0% | −4.0% |
| | Alliance | L. Sebastian Anders | 8,632 | 18.7% | +9.2% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ashley O'Kurley | 3,942 | 8.5% | −4.0% |
| | New Democratic | Guy Belle-Isle | 1,877 | 4.1% | −0.6% |
| | Natural Law | Wayne Foster | 334 | 0.7% | +0.3% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 46,156 | 100.0% |
Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.
vte1997 Canadian federal election: Glengarry—Prescott—Russell :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Don Boudria | 34,986 | 71.98 | −8.23 | $ 46,386 |
| | Progressive Conservative | France Somers | 6,109 | 12.57 | +4.38 | 10,057 |
| | Reform | Mike Lancop | 4,599 | 9.46 | +1.48 | 2,386 |
| | New Democratic | Fred Cappuccino | 2,289 | 4.71 | +2.37 | 11,524 |
| | Green | Richard Kerr | 417 | 0.86 | | 499 |
| | Natural Law | Mary Glasser | 207 | 0.43 | −0.42 | 0 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 48,607 | 100.00 | −12.93 | $ 62,182 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 598 | 1.22 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,205 | 68.68 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 71,639 |
| Sources: Elections Canada Official Voting Results and Financial Returns |||||||
1993 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Don Boudria | 44,775 | 80.2% | +9.5% |
| | Progressive Conservative | France Somers | 4,572 | 8.2% | −10.9% |
| | Reform | Sam McCracken | 4,456 | 8.0% | |
| | New Democratic | Pascal Villeneuve | 1,304 | 2.3% | −6.8% |
| | Natural Law | Pierrette Blondin | 473 | 0.8% | |
| | Libertarian | Jean-Serge Brisson | 244 | 0.4% | −0.2% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 55,824 | 100.0% |
1988 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Don Boudria | 35,280 | 70.7% | +17.6% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Roger R. Presseault | 9,517 | 19.1% | −13.9% |
| | New Democratic | Helena McCuaig | 4,537 | 9.1% | −4.8% |
| | Libertarian | Jean-Serge Brisson | 335 | 0.7% | |
| | Commonwealth of Canada | John Feres | 199 | 0.4% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 49,868 | 100.0% |
1984 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Don Boudria | 26,057 | 53.1% | −15.4% |
| | Progressive Conservative | John Stante | 16,170 | 33.0% | +13.3% |
| | New Democratic | Annemarie Collard | 6,838 | 13.9% | +13.7% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 49,065 | 100.0% |