Robert G. Thibault, (born September 29, 1959) 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 ...

politician.

Early life

Thibault was born in

Digby, Nova Scotia Digby is a Canadian town in southwestern Nova Scotia. It is in the historical Digby County, Nova Scotia, county of Digby and a separate municipality from the Municipality of the District of Digby. The town is situated on the western shore of the ...

in 1959. He is the grandson of former provincial politician,

Joseph William Comeau Joseph William (Willie) Comeau (March 12, 1876 – January 11, 1966) was a Canadian educator and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Digby County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1907 to 1925 and from 1928 to 1 ...

Political career

Thibault served as a municipal councillor in

Clare, Nova Scotia Clare, officially named the Municipality of the District of Clare, is a district municipality in south Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district. Geography The Municipality of the Dis ...

from 1988 to 2001 and was reelected in 2012. He is a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

and a former member in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

, serving three terms as the representative of

West Nova West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

from 2000 to 2008. He won his first federal election in 2000. He was named Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) in 2001. He was

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans The minister of fisheries () is the minister of the Crown responsible for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). The minister is a member of the King's Privy Council for Canada and the Canadian Cabinet ...

from 2002 to 2003. He won re-election in 2004. Thibault was the Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 2004 to 2006 under

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

. In the 2006 election, he defeated Conservative opponent and former Nova Scotia cabinet minister

Greg Kerr John Gregory Kerr (born October 8, 1947) is a Canadian politician. He was the Member of Parliament for West Nova from 2008 to 2015 and a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1978 to 1993. Early life and education Born in Annapolis ...

by 511 votes. On April 27, 2007, Thibault was named Liberal Critic for Competitiveness and the New Economy by Liberal leader

Stéphane Dion Stéphane Maurice Dion (; ; born 28September 1955) is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the List of ambassadors of Canada to France, Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the Eu ...

. He was subsequently appointed Liberal critic for Health. Thibault was defeated in Canada's 40th general election on October 14, 2008, by Conservative opponent Greg Kerr. On October 3, 2009, Thibault was once again nominated to contest the West Nova seat for the Liberals in the 2011 federal election. On May 2, 2011, Thibault was defeated in his comeback attempt, losing to Kerr by more than 4,000 votes.

Controversy

In August 2008, Thibault caused controversy with some accusing him of

ageism Ageism, also called agism in American English, is a type of discrimination based on one's age, generally used to refer to age-based discrimination against Old age, elderly people. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe this ...

when he suggested that his Conservative opponent Greg Kerr was too old for the job. Only five days later, Thibault was accused of

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

when he called

Marjory LeBreton Marjory LeBreton (born July 4, 1940) is a Canadian former leader of the Government in the Senate of Canada; a member of the Canadian cabinet; and past national chair of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Canada. She worked with four leaders of t ...

, then government leader in the Senate, an "idiot" and suggested she should "go back to making tea" for former prime minister

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

.Liberal MP apologizes for another taunt
The Globe and Mail Three months later, Thibault lost his seat in the 2008 election.

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thibault, Robert 1959 births Living people Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Digby County, Nova Scotia Politicians of Acadian descent 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada