Bernard Lord
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Bernard Lord (born September 27 1965 in Quebec) is a Canadian politician. He is currently serving as New Brunswick's 30th Premier.
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Missing image Bernardlord.jpg Image:Bernardlord.jpg | |
| Rank: | 30th |
| Term of Office: | June 7, 1999 - present |
| Predecessor: | Camille Theriault |
| Successor: | n/a |
| Date of Birth: | September 27, 1965 |
| Place of Birth: | Quebec |
| Spouse: | Diane Haché |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political Party: | Progressive Conservative |
Lord was raised in a bilingual household in Moncton, New Brunswick. He took a keen interest in politics as a child, and became a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. 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. In 1997 he became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, and became the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the district of Moncton East in a 1998 by-election.
On June 7,1999, Lord's PC party overcame an early deficit in the polls to pull out a landslide victory on the provincial general election, winning 44 of 55 seats in the legislature. At just 33 years of age, Lord became the youngest premier in Canadian history.
Using the successful tactics from the 1994 United States elections of Republican Congressional leader, Newt Gingrich, Bernard 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. Although he did accomplish all of them, many opponents of Lord argued with him over the ways he accomplished those goals, and that he spent too much time with those 20 promises while neglecting other important matters to the province.
In 2002, Lord delivered what the media and others hailed as an electrifying speech at the national Progressive Conservative convention in Edmonton, Alberta, which started speculation that he might run for a job in federal politics, specifically, replacing Joe Clark as federal PC leader. A short time later, Lord shot down any notions that that might happen, choosing instead to remain focused on provincial politics and the New Brunswick general election, 2003.
That election was not kind to Lord, as he neglected to mention the issue of rising car insurance rates until relatively late in the campaign, and barely held on to a majority over the surging Liberal Party led by Shawn Graham.
Lord was again courted for federal politics in late 2003 when the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance merged into the Conservative Party of Canada. 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 situation.
In 2004 Lord's government came under fire over a variety 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 St. John River Valley into one. The Liberals, under leader Shawn Graham, now lead in public opinion polls as of the summer of 2004, however Bernard Lord remains the most favoured Leader to be Premier of New Brunswick.
In 2005 Lord's popularity continues to drop although there are renewed calls for him to enter Federal politics.
Much fun has been made of the fact that his last name is "Lord". The policy of referring to political figures by their last names has led people to infer a connection with God, who is also known as Lord. In one instance, a banner in a polling station reading "Trust in the Lord" had the last word covered with black tape so that it would not influence voting.
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Preceded by: | Premier of New Brunswick since 1999 |
In office |