David J. Brazil ( ; born September 20, 1963) is a Canadian politician from

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. He represented the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Conception Bay East - Bell Island Conception commonly refers to: * Concept, an abstract idea or a mental symbol * Conception (biology), fertilization of the ovum Conception may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Conception'' (album), an album by Miles Davis * "Conception" (son ...

in the

Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly () is the Unicameralism, unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Bu ...

from 2010 until 2023. He served as interim Leader of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador The Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is a provincial political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The party was founded in 1949 and most recently formed the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador from the 200 ...

and interim Leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2023. Brazil previously served as Opposition Leader in 2018 between the resignation of Paul Davis and the election of

Ches Crosbie Chesley Furneaux "Ches" Crosbie, (born 12 June 1953) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. Crosbie was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador on April 28, 2018 serving until March 31, 2021. He s ...

as MHA.

Political career

Government member

In November 2010, Brazil won the nomination to be the

candidate in a by-election for the electoral district of Conception Bay East – Bell Island defeating five other candidates for the nomination. The by-election was being held to replace the late Dianne Whalen who had died a month earlier. The by-election was called for December 2, 2010 with two other candidates running for the

New Democrats New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United State ...

and the Liberals. One week before the by-election, on November 25,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Danny Williams announced that he would retire from politics on December 3, 2010. With the announcement that the Premier would be resigning it left many wondering if Brazil, who was initially thought to easily hold on to the seat for the Tories, would be able to win now that the party's popular leader was stepping down. However, on December 2, 2010, Brazil defeated both the New Democratic and Liberal Party candidates, winning 66% of the popular vote. The percentage of the vote was consistent with previous by-election wins the PCs had before the announcement that Williams was retiring. Brazil was re-elected with 55% of the vote in the 2011 election. On July 17, 2014, Brazil was appointed to the

Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador The Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador (in French: ''le Conseil exécutif de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador'', but informally and more commonly, the Cabinet of Newfoundland and Labrador, and in French: ''le Cabinet de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrado ...

as Minister of Service NL. When Paul Davis took over as premier in September 2014, he moved Brazil to Minister of Transportation and Works.

Opposition member

Brazil was re-elected in the 2015 election, defeating Liberal Danny Dumaresque by almost 1,900 votes. In 2017, Brazil declined to seek the leadership of the PC Party and endorsed Tony Wakeham in the 2018 election, serving as his campaign manager. Following the election of

as PC leader in April 2018, Paul Davis announced he would resign as Leader of the Opposition. Since Crosbie did not have a seat in the House of Assembly when elected leader, Brazil was appointed the Leader of the Opposition on May 14, 2018. On September 20, 2018 Crosbie won the district of Windsor Lake in a by-election, therefore becoming Leader of the Opposition. Brazil was re-elected in the 2019 provincial election. Brazil was re-elected in the 2021 provincial election. PC leader Crosbie was personally defeated in his district of Windsor Lake. The Liberals under Furey won a majority government. On March 31, 2021, Crosbie resigned as leader and Brazil was appointed interim Leader and interim Leader of the Opposition. In 2022, Brazil suffered a major

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

but returned to work a few months later. On January 16, 2023, Brazil announced he would not be a candidate in the 2023 provincial PC leadership election. He was succeeded as leader by Tony Wakeham on October 14, 2023. On November 10, 2023, Brazil announced his resignation as MHA effective December 29, 2023. The provincial by-election to replace him was held on January 30, 2024 electing Liberal Fred Hutton.

Federal politics

On June 12, 2024, Brazil announced that he was seeking the federal conservative nomination in St. John's East for the

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

. Brazil was subsequently acclaimed the nomination but lost in the election placing a distant second behind Liberal incumbent Joanne Thompson.

Electoral results

, - , - , NDP , Bill Kavanagh , align="right", 2,290 , align="right", 41.17% , align="right", +14.97% , - , NDP , George Murphy , align="right", 1043 , align="right", 26.20% , align="right", +15.96% , Liberal , Joy Buckle , align="right", 299 , align="right", 7.51% , align="right", −10.46%

References

External links

David Brazil PC Party Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazil, David 1963 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs 21st-century members of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador Conservative Party of Canada candidates in the 2025 Canadian federal election