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Brian Alexander Gallant (born April 27, 1982) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 33rd premier of New Brunswick from October 7, 2014, until November 9, 2018. Of Acadian and Dutch descent, Gallant practised as a lawyer before winning the Liberal leadership in October 2012, securing the riding of Kent in a by-election on April 15, 2013, shortly followed by his swearing in as
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. After the 2014 election, in which the Progressive Conservative government of David Alward was defeated, Gallant was sworn in as Premier at the age of 32. Gallant announced on November 15, 2018, that he would be stepping down as Liberal leader as soon as a leadership election was held to choose his successor. He resigned as MLA for Shediac Bay-Dieppe on October 7, 2019. At age 32, he was the second youngest Premier of
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 ...
to assume office ( George Edwin King became premier at age 30 in 1870). When Gallant left office at age 36, he was the youngest premier in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
at the time and second youngest in history. Gallant is CEO of the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation, a research think tank.


Early life

Gallant was born in Shediac Bridge. His
Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...
father, Pierre, was the youngest of seven children, while his mother, Marilyn (born Scholten), was the child of Dutch immigrants who arrived in the 1950s. He also has two siblings, Melissa and Pierre. In his youth, he was educated at a variety of schools across New Brunswick; he ascribed his many moves to his parents' search for work, labouring at minimum wage jobs in convenience stores and fast food restaurants, eventually having to move the family into the small home of Gallant's grandparents. He ended up graduating from Polyvalente Louis-J.-Robichaud back in Shediac - his principal recalled telling Gallant he predicted he would one day be Premier, saying, "You have all the qualities of being a future premier here in New Brunswick." Gallant says his interest in politics started when, with nobody else offering, he became vice president of his grade 5 class, and by the end of his teenage years he decided he would pursue a political career. In order to pay his way through university, he started and ran two small companies, eventually allowing him to graduate 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 ...
with both a BA in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Laws degree, later receiving a Master's in Law from
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
. Whilst at Moncton, he was made president of the student federation. Afterwards, he practised corporate and commercial law with the firm Stewart McKelvey, and then became a partner at Veritas Law in
Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...
.


Early political career

His first foray into provincial politics came at 24, when he secured the Liberal nomination to run against Premier Bernard Lord in the Progressive Conservative's riding of Moncton East for the 2006 election. Although in the end Lord held his seat, the election was far from being a runaway. The campaign against a sitting premier gave added exposure to Gallant. When the Liberal government of Shawn Graham was defeated in 2010, Gallant authored a paper on reforming the Liberal Party, to make it more accessible for new members and a new generation of leaders to emerge; many of its recommendations were reportedly adopted. After Graham's resignation as leader of the party, Gallant put himself forward to succeed him, winning against former justice minister Mike Murphy and dairy farmer Nick Duivenvorden in its 2012 leadership election. After a successful by-election run in Graham's former riding of
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, where he gained a commanding lead, Gallant was sworn into the Legislative Assembly on April 30, 2013, making him
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
to David Alward's PC government.


Leader of the Opposition

Heading into the 2014 election campaign, Gallant pushed a $900 million package of infrastructure spending over six years as a way to create 1,700 jobs for a province with one of the country's worst unemployment rates. He also campaigned on a tax rate increase for some of the province's biggest earners, and on removing property tax breaks for businesses. The Liberal platform also promised a rise in the minimum wage, from $10 per hour, to $10.30 per hour by the end of 2014, and to $11 by the end of 2017.


Premier

On an election night marred by technical glitches with the voting tabulators, the Liberals won a majority and formed the government in the 58th New Brunswick Legislature with Gallant as Premier on October 7, 2014. Gallant's first cabinet, of 13 members, was smaller than the outgoing cabinet.cbc.ca: "Brian Gallant's smaller cabinet faces long list of demands"
7 Oct 2014
During his government's mandate the province's economy and exports grew each year;
30 Jan 2018
the unemployment rate which was hovering around 10% was reduced to just over 7%; in 2016 KPMG found that three of the four most cost competitive cities in which to do business in Canada and the United States were in New Brunswick; one of the most vibrant cybersecurity clusters in North America was developed in New Brunswick's capital city; and the province saw its first budget surplus in a decade. 2016 Canadian Census, The 2016 census found that New Brunswick was the only province in Canada to see a drop in population from the 2011 census, declining 0.5% to 747,101 people. Just two years later, however, due largely to an influx of immigrants and non-permanent residents, the province's population grew to a record high surpassing 770,000 people for the first time. For instance, in 2016, New Brunswick welcomed the most Syrian refugees displaced by the humanitarian crisis per capita of all the provinces in the country, welcoming almost 1,500 refugees. The Gallant government increased the budget for education and early childhood development by 15% over its mandate in order to invest in literacy initiatives, introduce coding in more schools, and reintroduce trades in high schools. The Gallant government created programs to help the middle class with the cost of childcare and to provide free childcare to families which need the most support. The Gallant government also created programs to help the middle class with the cost of tuition and to provide free tuition for those who need the most support. The Gallant government eliminated the two-doctor rule that was hindering women's right to choose abortion for decades in New Brunswick. Gallant was the first premier in the history of New Brunswick to walk in a pride parade. The Gallant government also advanced women's equality by moving pay equity forward to the point of New Brunswick having the second lowest gender wage gap of all the Canadian provinces in 2017; by having over 50% of government appointments to agencies, boards, and commissions go to women; and by providing the first gender parity on New Brunswick's provincial court. Gallant has repeatedly stated that climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity. With this in mind, the Gallant government took concrete action to protect the environment including by creating the “Transitioning to a Low Carbon Economy” plan which commits to historic measures to fight climate change. The Gallant government also placed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and a ban on the disposal of fracked wastewater in municipal systems. In addition to premier, Gallant has served New Brunswick as the Attorney General, the Minister responsible for innovation, the Minister responsible for women's equality, and the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The 2018 provincial election resulted in Gallant's Liberals winning only 21 seats compared to Blaine Higgs and the
Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a Centre-right politics, centre-right Conservatism in Canada, conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The party has its o ...
who won 22. Gallant vowed to attempt to remain in power with 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 ...
and hoped to retain the
confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...
of the
Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...
either on a vote-by-vote basis or with the agreement of the smaller parties, the
Green Party of New Brunswick The Green Party of New Brunswick (PVNBGP; ), commonly known as the Greens, is a green politics, green provincial political party in New Brunswick, Canada. Formed in 2008, the party has been under the leadership of David Coon since 2012. The party ...
and the People's Alliance of New Brunswick, each of which won 3 seats in the election. On November 2, 2018, Gallant's Liberal minority government was defeated by a confidence vote on its throne speech by a margin of 25 to 23 with the opposition Progressive Conservatives and People's Alliance voting against the government and the Greens voting with the government.


Resignation

Gallant resigned as premier on November 2, 2018, after a vote of non confidence was held in the New Brunswick legislature. Blaine Higgs was appointed in his place after having won the most seats in the 2018 provincial general election. Gallant announced his intention to step down as Liberal leader days later and officially resigned as Liberal leader and Leader of the Opposition in February 2019, also announcing that he would not be standing for re-election as an MLA. In September 2019, he announced his intention to resign his seat in the legislature by October 7, 2019, after accepting a position as an advisor to the president of Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on innovation, cybersecurity, and the law. In the 2020 general election his seat was retained for the Liberals by Robert Gauvin.


After politics

Gallant is currently the CEO of the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation, a think-tank which publishes thought leadership and research about the evolving purpose of business in society. In 2021, Gallant co-authored a report with Global Canada on “Canadian Voices on the Role of Business in Society”. Since leaving office, Gallant has been a vocal champion of bilingualism. In 2019, the former premier authored a report on Bilingualism in New Brunswick– Canada's only officially bilingual province. Gallant has also been a weekly business and public policy commentator including on CBC Power & Politics, Radio-Canada's zone économie and Radio-Canada's coverage of the 2021 Canadian federal general election. In May 2021 he appeared on
Ici Radio-Canada #REDIRECT ICI {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
's literary debate show ''
Le Combat des livres ''Le Combat des livres'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Ici Radio-Canada Première in Canada. A French edition of the ''Canada Reads'' competition, the program was launched in 2004. It aired annually from ...
'', advocating for Jean Babineau's novel ''Infini''. Gallant also serves on the boards of the Canadian Olympic Foundation and Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada. In 2022, Gallant was named the CEO of Space Canada. He declined to run in the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election.


Electoral record

, - , Liberal , Brian Gallant , align="right", 3,543 , align="right", 59.10% , align="right", +3.38 , - , NDP , Susan Levi-Peters , align="right", 1,615 , align="right", 26.94% , align="right", +11.62 , - , Progressive Conservative , Jimmy Bourque , align="right", 837 , align="right", 13.96% , align="right", -11.79 , -


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallant, Brian 1982 births Living people New Brunswick Liberal Association leaders People from Westmorland County, New Brunswick New Brunswick Liberal Association MLAs Université de Moncton alumni Canadian people of Acadian descent Canadian people of Dutch descent Lawyers in New Brunswick Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick Corporate lawyers Université de Moncton École de droit alumni McGill University Faculty of Law alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Attorneys general of New Brunswick Premiers of New Brunswick