Bernard Lord (born September 27, 1965) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

lawyer, business executive and former politician. He served as the 30th premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006. Lord was appointed as board chair of

Ontario Power Generation Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is w ...

in 2014.

Early life

Lord was born in Roberval, Quebec, the youngest of four children of Marie-Émilie (Morin), a former teacher, and Ralph Frank Lord, a pilot. His father was anglophone and his mother was francophone, and he was raised in a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

household in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, where he spent the rest of his early life.Trichur, Rita (December 22, 2012). "A wireless speaker with a political calling", ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', p. B3. After graduating from high school, he earned a bachelor's degree in social science with a major in economics, as well as a bachelor's degree in common law, from the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

. While Lord attended the Université de Moncton, he had some electoral success being elected the president of the Université de Moncton student union (FEECUM) and served for three terms. Lord married his wife Diane in 1990; they have two children. One of his brothers, Roger Lord, is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist.

Election as leader

In 1997, Lord was elected leader of the PC Party of New Brunswick and then became the MLA for the district of Moncton East in a 1998

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. Much of Lord's success came from the countless months he spent meeting party members across New Brunswick, and in part because he was also flawlessly

and able to draw a strong concentration of support in the

area, one of four cities in which members could vote. Lord defeated Norman Betts, who was the perceived frontrunner, as well as Margaret-Ann Blaney, who, with Betts, would go on to serve in Lord's cabinet and Cleveland Allaby.

Premier

On June 7, 1999, Lord's PC party overcame an early deficit in the polls to pull out a landslide victory in the provincial general election, winning 44 of 55 seats in the legislature. At just 33 years of age, Lord (on June 21) became one of the youngest Premiers in Canadian history. Using the successful tactics from the 1994

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

elections of Republican Congressional leader,

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

, Lord was elected on his "200 Days of Change" platform, consisting of 20 promises of things he would do within the first 200 days of his mandate if he were elected premier. In 2002, Lord delivered what the media and others hailed as an electrifying speech at the national

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

convention in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, which started speculation that he might run for a job in federal politics, specifically, replacing

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian businessman, writer, and retired politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. He also served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the ...

as federal PC leader. A very strong movement of influential conservatives erupted after Edmonton to lobby the Premier into federal politics, everything from a website to a coast to coast organization was being set up to woo the Premier to leave Fredericton and head to Ottawa. A short time later, Lord shot down any notions that that might happen, choosing instead to remain focused on provincial politics and the 2003 New Brunswick election. That election was not kind to Lord, with the Liberals using the issue of rising car insurance to catch the PC Party off guard. The Party wasn't able to regain its footing until relatively late in the campaign, and barely held on to a majority over the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

led by Shawn Graham. Lord was again courted for federal politics in late 2003, when the PC Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance merged into the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

. In the end, Lord opted to stay in New Brunswick due to his young family and the fact that his departure would force his party into a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

situation. In 2004, Lord's government came under fire over a variety of unpopular stances, most notably changes to health care. These included closures of beds at hospitals in Miramichi and Dalhousie, and consolidation of four hospitals in the Upper Saint John River Valley into one. The Liberals, under leader Shawn Graham, led in public opinion polls as of the summer of 2004 and maintained that lead; however, Lord remained the most favoured Leader to be Premier of New Brunswick for a time. On August 10, 2006, Lord announced that on August 19, he would be calling an election for September 18. This election call was in response to the loss of a caucus member, Peter Mesheau, who announced his intention to resign to work in the private sector. The resignation would have caused Lord to slip into a

and the subsequent

could have flipped the balance of power to the Liberals. Lord decided that instead of a by-election deciding the fate of his government, he would let the people choose. Some observers saw Lord's election call as a bold move considering his popularity numbers had only recently started to surpass the Liberal Leader. In the head-to-head campaign that followed, Lord lost the government to the Liberals, who took 29 seats to 26 for the Conservatives. The Tories did manage to win the popular vote, besting the Liberals 47.5% to 47.2%. Lord left the Premier's Office on October 3, 2006. On December 13, 2006, Lord announced that he was resigning as PC leader, further he said he would resign his

legislative seat A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

in Moncton East on January 31, 2007.

Post-premiership

After leaving politics, Lord took a position as senior counsel with the law firm McCarthy Tetrault, splitting time between their offices in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

while continuing to maintain his residence in Fredericton. On December 3, 2007, Stephen Harper, the

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

, appointed Lord as head of the Bilingualism Committee. He reviewed Canada's Official Language Laws, and he made suggestions where improvements can be made. In December 2007, Lord was named as the president of the 2009 CHL

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

selection-committee. In October 2008, it was announced that Lord would be appointed as president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, a lobbyist group that represents cellular, messaging, mobile radio, fixed wireless and mobile satellite carriers, as well as companies that develop and produce products and services for the industry. Lord was named in 2013 to the board of Ontario's public utility provider,

, and he was appointed as board chair in March 2014 by the government of

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

. He was tasked with cutting expenses after an auditor's report that came out late in the term of his predecessor, Jake Epp, criticized the agency for cost overruns and excessive executive wages and bonuses. On June 15, 2016, Lord was named as the Chief Executive Officer of

Medavie Blue Cross Medavie Blue Cross (French: Croix Bleue Medavie) is a not-for-profit Canada, Canadian medical care insurance company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick. Affiliated with the Blue Cross Canada, Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans, Medavie ...

effective September 1, 2016.

Honours

* In 2007, he was awarded the Order of New Brunswick * Grand Officier de l' Ordre de la Pleiade (La

Francophonie The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

) *

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Bernard 1965 births Living people Politicians of Acadian descent Canadian King's Counsel Lawyers in New Brunswick Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick Members of the Order of New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs People from Moncton People from Roberval, Quebec Premiers of New Brunswick Université de Moncton alumni Université de Moncton École de droit alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick