Stephen Christopher Leonard Blais (born July 20, 1980) is a Canadian politician who has served as the

member of Provincial Parliament Member of Provincial Parliament is the title given to provincial legislators in two legislatures: * Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada) * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape) In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of Pro ...

(MPP) for

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

, he was the

Ottawa City Council Ottawa City Council () is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents wards throughout the city. Council member ...

lor for Cumberland Ward. He won the ward in the

2010 Ottawa municipal election The 2010 Ottawa municipal election was a municipal election that was held on October 25, 2010, to elect the mayor of Ottawa, Ottawa City Council and Boards of Trustees of Ottawa's English public, English Catholic, French public and French C ...

, defeating the incumbent

Rob Jellett Robert Jellett (born c. 1960) is a former Ottawa City Councillor. He represented the large Cumberland Ward, located at the city's eastern edge from 2003 to 2010. Jellett worked as a reporter, news anchor and Assistant News Director with local ra ...

. He was re-elected in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

municipal elections.

Early life and career

Blais was born at the Grace Hospital in

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 ...

to Stephen and Debbie Blais (née Kane) and grew up in the Queenswood Heights neighbourhood of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Cumberland Township. Upon graduating from St. Peter Catholic High School, he attended the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

to pursue a bachelor's degree in political science. Following university, he served as Executive Assistant to Jim Watson while Watson served in the Ontario Cabinet. Blais later moved to

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

where he worked as a media and communications advisor. Prior to being elected as a councillor, Blais served as an

Ottawa Catholic School Board The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 53 prior to 1999) is a publicly funded separate school board in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in the Nepean area of Ottawa. It ...

Trustee for Orléans-Cumberland. He was first elected as a Trustee in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

when he defeated the incumbent.

Political career

School Trustee

As part of his election campaign, Blais promised to donate the pay raise trustees voted for themselves. In 2006, Blais endowed a bursary at

for high school students from Orleans, Ontario.

Ottawa City Council

In 2010, Blais was elected the city councillor for Cumberland Ward, defeating the two-term incumbent,

. In his first term, he secured an environmental assessment for the proposed widening Highway 174 and pushed to extend

light rail transit Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

to Orléans. In 2011, Blais successfully spearheaded a campaign to ban smoking on outdoor patios in Ottawa. In 2013, Blais proposed that Ontario should re-upload Highway 174 and if not, allow the City of Ottawa to introduce a toll on out-of-town users to help pay for the much needed widening of the highway with the addition of a dedicated bus lane to Rockland. Ottawa City Council received a direction to pursue the uploading of Highway 174 and if not, to designate it as a toll highway under Subsection 40(2) of the ''Municipal Act, 2001'' if Council so chooses in the future. The idea was well received by residents of Orléans. In his first term of office, Blais announced a plan to partner with the local homebuilding industry to complete an $8 million expansion of

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Chicago Loop, Loop Community areas of Chicago, community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in July 2004, is a prominent civic center near t ...

. In 2014, Blais was named Chair of the City of Ottawa Transit Commission. The Transit Commission is the body charged with oversight of the City's public transit provider

OC Transpo OC Transpo is the primary Transit district, public transport agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operating bus rapid transit, light rail, conventional transit bus, bus routes, and door-to-door paratransit in the nation's capital regi ...

. Blais was re-elected in the

and

municipal elections.

Provincial Politics

In October 2019, Blais announced that he would be seeking the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

nomination for the provincial riding of

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Marie-France Lalonde Marie-France Lalonde (born ) is a Franco-Ontarian politician in Ontario, Canada who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Orléans as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada since 2019. She also served as the Liberal ...

stepped down to run for the federal

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 ...

. He won the nomination on November 9. Blais won the February 27 by-election with 55 per cent of the vote, defeating his nearest rival, Progressive Conservative candidate Natalie Montgomery, by more than 8,000 votes. This is the largest majority in Orléans in more than 30 years. Blais has served as the Ontario Liberal critic for several areas: * Caucus Chair * Municipal Affairs and Housing * Education * Economic Development and Trade As of July 7, 2024, he serves as the Liberal Party critic for Infrastructure and Municipalities and as the critic for Labour and Skills Training. In 2021, Blais introduced a private member's bill, ''Uploading Highways 174 and 17 Act, 2021'', to return Highway 174 and Highway 17 back to provincial jurisdiction. The two highways had been downloaded to the municipal governments in the 1990s. He was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario election.

Personal life

Blais and his wife Marta have one son. They live in the Chaperal neighbourhood. On January 7, 2013, while working out at a local gym, Blais suffered a heart attack. He was initially treated at

Montfort Hospital Montfort Hospital (), commonly shortened to Montfort in both English and French, is a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Ottawa. It offers short-term primary and secondary health care, offering service in both the French and E ...

before being transferred to the

University of Ottawa Heart Institute The University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) ''(French: Institut de cardiologie de l'Université d'Ottawa (ICUO))'' is Canada's largest cardiovascular health centre. It is located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It began as a department in The Otta ...

. Blais spent four months in hospital recovering.

Election results

Provincial

Municipal

School Board

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blais, Stephen 1980 births Living people Canadian Roman Catholics Franco-Ontarian people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Ontario school board trustees Ottawa city councillors University of Ottawa alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario