Bernard Valcourt (born February 18 1952) is a Canadian politician and lawyer.
Valcourt, a New Brunswicker was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative in the 1984 Canadian election that brought Brian Mulroney to power. He was appointed to the Canadian Cabinet in 1986 as a Minister of State. In January 1989 he was promoted to Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs but was forced to resign from Cabinet in August when he was involved in a drunk driving motrocycle accident which cost him an eye. He returned to Cabinet seven months later as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. In 1991 he was promoted to Minister of Employment and Immigration and held the position until the Conservative government of Mulroney's successor, Kim Campbell, was defeated in the 1993 Canadian election in which Valcourt lost his seat.
In November 1994, Valcourt was elected leader of the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party. While he won a seat in the New Brunswick legislature in the 1995 provincial election his party only won six seats against 55 for Frank McKenna's Liberals. Valcourt resigned as leader in 1997 following a lukewarm endorsement of his leadership at a party convention and was succeeded by Bernard Lord.
Last updated: 08-02-2005 00:19:34