Steven Blaney

The Honourable Steven Blaney PC MP
Official Opposition Critic for Public Services
In office November 20, 2015 – September 29, 2016
Minister	Judy Foote
Leader	Rona Ambrose
Preceded by	Pat Martin
Succeeded by	Kelly McCauley
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
In office July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Vic Toews
Succeeded by	Ralph Goodale
Chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages
In office May 31, 2007 – June 20, 2011
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Guy Lauzon
Succeeded by	Michael Chong
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Constituency established
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Lévis—Bellechasse
In office January 23, 2006 – October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Réal Lapierre
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	April 8, 1965 Sherbrooke, Canada
Political party	Conservative (Federal) CAQ (Provincial)
Spouse(s)	Marie Bouchard
Alma mater	University of Quebec, Montreal University of Sherbrooke
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Steven Blaney PC, MP (born April 8, 1965 in Sherbrooke, Quebec) is a Canadian businessman and Conservative politician. He served as the minister of Public Safety Canada from July 15, 2013 to November 4, 2015, and previously as the minister of Veterans Affairs and minister of State for La Francophonie in the cabinet of the Prime Minister Stephen Harper (May 18, 2011 to July 14, 2013). He represents the Québec riding of Lévis—Bellechasse in the Canadian House of Commons since the 2006 federal election. Despite his Anglophone-sounding name, Blaney is a francophone. He was reelected in the 2015 election.

Early life

Blaney was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, and was raised in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce. Today, he lives in Lévis along with his wife Marie Bouchard and his two children, William-Antoine and Alexandra.^[1] For 15 years, he worked in Quebec’s engineering sector, more particularly in water purification and energy efficiency. Blaney started up two companies specializing in environmental technology and carried out many environmental projects.^[2] Blaney was an active member of Réseau Environnement, Canada’s largest group of environmental professionals; he presided over the organization’s Québec-Chaudière-Appalaches chapter between 2003 and 2006.^[1]

Political career

Provincial politics

Blaney’s first political stint occurred during the Quebec general elections of 1998; he was a candidate of the Action démocratique du Québec in the provincial electoral district of Beauce-Nord. Blaney arrived in third place, behind Normand Poulin (PLQ) and Gaston Gourde (PQ), collecting 14.42% of the votes.^[3]

Federal politics

Following many years of activity with the Conservative Party in Quebec, Blaney decided to run for the first time for a seat at the House of Commons during the 2006 federal elections in the riding of Lévis-Bellechasse. He successfully defeated Bloc Québécois incumbent Réal Lapierre with 46.40% of the votes.^[4] Blaney joined nine other Quebec MPs in Ottawa, following the Conservative Party breakthrough in Quebec that year.^[5]

After his victory in 2006, Blaney was appointed Vice-President of the Quebec conservative caucus. On May 31, 2007, he was selected as Chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages; a position that he held till September 2010.^[6]

Moreover, he joined various other committees, ranging from Indian Affairs to Industry, Science and Technology, including the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee.^[7] In January 2006, Blaney visited Canadian soldiers in Kandahar as part of a trip organized by the Standing Committee on National Defence for its members. He is also Vice-Chair of the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association.

After his reelection in 2008, Blaney became the new President of the Quebec conservative caucus.^[1] Furthermore, he promised to offset the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from his activities through tree planting, in cooperation with Tree Canada and the Comité de restauration de la rivière Etchemin, thus becoming the first carbon neutral MP.^[8]

On May 2, 2011, Blaney was reelected for a third mandate as representative of Lévis-Bellechasse at the House of Commons earning 43.95% of the votes, beating the NDP candidate with more than 10% of the votes, receiving 1065 more votes than during the 2008 election.^[4]

Minister of Veterans Affairs

Steven Blaney at Halifax International Security Forum 2014

On May 18, 2011, Blaney was appointed to the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He assumed the position of Minister of Veterans Affairs taking over this role from Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who was defeated in the May 2 election. Blaney also sits as a member of the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. Blaney carried on the policies launched by his two conservative predecessors. During the summer following the elections, Blaney announced regulatory changes to the Enhanced Veterans Charter Act to revamp the pension system that was set up following World War I and World War II.^[9] The New Veterans Charter (NVC) was designed to provide Veterans with the support they required to successfully transition from military to civilian life.

As Minister of Veterans Affairs, Blaney can be credited for improving the benefits and services for Veterans suffering from severe diagnosed medical conditions or/and disabilities. He also launched the Helmet to Hardhats Program which assists many former Canadian Forces members find well-paid jobs in the construction sector.^[10] Preoccupied by the modernization of Veterans Affairs Canada, Blaney initiated the Cutting Red Tape for Veterans initiative^[11] aimed at simplifying administrative processes for Veterans and at making all of Veterans Affairs Canada’s forms and decisions comprehensible for all.

In March 2011, Blaney sparked controversy by telling a meeting of seniors, "Et rappelez-vous, le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge!" (And remember—Heaven is blue, Hell is red!), referring to the colours of the Conservative and Liberal parties. The slogan was used by the government of Maurice Duplessis in the mid-20th century during the period of church-state collaboration in Quebec known as the Grande Noirceur.^[12]

Minister of Public Safety

Canadian Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Steven Blaney meets with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson

Canadian Minister of National Defence & MP for Niagara Falls Rob Nicholson (R), Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Steven Blaney (C) and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on the Ontario side of Peace Bridge

On July 15, 2013, Blaney assumed the position of Minister of Public Safety, taking over this role from Vic Toews who announced his retirement on July 9, 2013. The announcement of the appointment was made during the Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2013 Cabinet shuffle.

On August 13, 2013, in response to a brief from Dennis Edney arguing that Omar Khadr should be held in a youth facility not an adult prison, because he was a minor when the crimes he was convicted of occurred, Blaney asserted that the Harper government would fight to keep Khadr in adult prisoner for the full term of his sentence.^[13]

On January 30, 2015, Steven Blaney introduced Bill C-51, the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015. This Bill was tabled in response to jihadist terrorist attacks on Canada, namely the 2014 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming attack and the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

The Bill has 6 key elements, namely:

• Creating a criminal offence for the advocacy or promotion of terrorism,
• Allow judges to issue seizure order for terrorist propaganda,
• Allow CSIS to engage in threat disruption,
• Enhance the Passenger Protect Program to stop known terrorists from boarding planes,
• Lower the threshold for obtaining a terrorism related peace bond, and
• Enable the sharing of national security information across relevant agencies

Notably, during the debate on this legislation, Blaney said “the important point that often seems to be forgotten around this place, that it is the jihadis who represent a threat, not our own police officers and those protecting us” ^[14]

The legislation received Royal Assent on June 18, 2015.

On October 7, 2014, Steven Blaney introduced Bill C-42, the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act. There were eight measures designed to make Canada’s firearms laws more safe and sensible. These measures included:

• A six-month grace period at the end of the five-year licence period to stop people from immediately becoming criminalized for paperwork delays around license renewals;
• Streamline the licensing system by eliminating the Possession Only Licence (POL) and converting all existing POLs to Possession and Acquisition Licences (PALs);
• Make classroom participation in firearms safety training mandatory for first-time licence applicants;
• Amend the Criminal Code to strengthen the provisions relating to orders prohibiting the possession of firearms where a person is convicted of an offence involving domestic violence;
• End needless paperwork around Authorizations to Transport by making them a condition of a licence for certain routine and lawful activities;
• Provide for the discretionary authority of Chief Firearms Officers to be subject to limit by regulation;
• Authorize firearms import information sharing when restricted and prohibited firearms are imported into Canada by businesses; and,
• Allow the Government to have the final say on classification decisions, following the receipt of independent expert advice.

These measures were supported by hunting and outdoors groups from across the country, such as the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. They were also supported by many frontline law enforcement officers.

Electoral record

Federal

Canadian federal election, 2015: Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Steven Blaney	31,872	50.92	+7.17	–
	Liberal	Jacques Turgeon	12,961	20.71	+14.89	–
	New Democratic	Jean-Luc Daigle	8,516	13.6	-20.21	–
	Bloc Québécois	Antoine Dubé	7,217	11.53	-3.36	–
	Green	André Bélisle	2,032	3.25	+1.71	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			62,598	100.0		$234,497.01
Total rejected ballots			824	0.89	–
Turnout			63,422	68.62	–
Eligible voters			92,420
	Conservative hold		Swing		+13.7
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

Canadian federal election, 2011: Lévis—Bellechasse
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Steven Blaney	25,850	43.95	-1.95	$85,522.71
	New Democratic	Nicole Laliberté	19,890	33.81	+22.97	$336.36
	Bloc Québécois	Danielle-Maude Gosselin	8,757	14.89	-10.57	$44,495.06
	Liberal	Francis Laforesterie	3,421	5.82	-9.24	$16,904.21
	Green	Sacha Dougé	903	1.54	-1.00	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			58,821	100.0		$94.740.90
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			808	1.36	-0.19
Turnout			59,629	65.88	+3.43
Eligible voters			90,515
	Conservative hold		Swing		-12.46
Sources:[17][18]

Canadian federal election, 2008: Lévis—Bellechasse
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Steven Blaney	24,785	45.90	-0.50	$66,280.10
	Bloc Québécois	Guy Bergeron	13,747	25.46	-3.56	$18,536.02
	Liberal	Pauline Côté	8,130	15.06	+6.87	$14,138.27
	New Democratic	Gabriel Biron	5,856	10.84	+6.21	none listed
	Green	Lynne Champoux-Williams	1,370	2.54	-1.56	none listed
	Marxist–Leninist	Normand Fournier	113	0.21	–	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			54,001	100.0		$90,335
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			848	1.55	+0.57
Turnout			54,849	62.45	-3.47
Eligible voters			87,830
	Conservative hold		Swing		+1.53

Canadian federal election, 2006: Lévis—Bellechasse
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Steven Blaney	25,940	46.40	+27.35	$59,351.14
	Bloc Québécois	Réal Lapierre	16,223	29.02	-15.31	$61,706.32
	Liberal	Shirley Baril	4,581	8.19	-19.43	$9,831.42
	Independent	Normand Cadrin	4,275	7.65	–	$15,519.63
	New Democratic	Éric Boucher	2,590	4.63	+0.77	$868.27
	Green	Mathieu Castonguay	2,293	4.10	-0.69	$3,066.75
Total valid votes/Expense limit			55,902	100.0		$83,486
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			551	0.98	-1.24
Turnout			56,453	65.92
Eligible voters			85,635
	Conservative gain from Bloc Québécois		Swing		+21.33

Provincial

Quebec general election, 1998: Beauce-Nord
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Normand Poulin	12,137	46.39	+0.58
	Parti Québécois	Gaston Gourde	10,126	38.70	-6.85
	Action démocratique	Steven Blaney	3,772	14.42	–
	Socialist Democracy	Serge Foisy	127	0.49	-5.62
Total valid votes			26,162	100.00	–
	Liberal hold		Swing		+3.72

References

1. "Biography", Steven Blaney – Official Website
2. http://www.engineerscanada.ca/e/files/engineeringonthehill_issue_09.pdf
3. 1998 Québec General Elections- Results: District Beauce-Nord
4. History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Lévis-Bellechasse
5. Conservatives make breakthrough in Quebec; Bloc wins 51 seats CBC News. Tuesday, January 24, 2006.
6. Member of Parliament Profile- Steven Blaney
7. Idem.
8. Idem.
9. Backgrounder NVC
10. Helmets to Hardhats announcement
11. Cutting Red Tape for Veterans – news release
12. Martin, Stéphanie. "«Le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge!» lance Blaney aux aînés." Le Soleil (Quebec City), 24 March 2011.
13. "Omar Khadr held illegally in federal prison, lawyer argues: 8-year sentence called unlawful". CBC News. 2013-08-13. Archived from the original on 2013-08-13. “Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to very serious crimes, including the murder of American army medic Sgt. Christopher Speer," he said. "The government of Canada will vigorously defend against any attempted court action to lessen his punishment for these crimes."
14. http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=Hansard&Doc=174&Parl=41&Ses=2&Language=E&Mode=1#8583180
15. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, 30 September 2015
16. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
17. Elections Canada – Official voting results, Forty-first general election, 2011
18. Elections Canada – Candidate's electoral campaign return, 41st general election

External links

• Steven Blaney MP official site
• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Steven Blaney – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca