Robert Bertrand

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Robert "Bob" Bertrand (born April 4, 1953 in Fort-Coulonge, Quebec) is a Canadian politician.

He was a federal member of Parliament for the riding of Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle. He ran and won in the 1993, 1997 and 2000 Canadian federal elections under the banner of the Liberal Party of Canada. Although considered a backbencher, he was very active in Parliament, participating in several standing committees including primarily National Defence and Veterans Affairs working to study and improve the poor quality of life for members of the Canadian armed forces and their families. He also served as Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of National Defence from 1998 to 2000.

Although prepared to run in the 2004 federal election, he lost the Liberal party candidate nomination to an unknown at the time, David Smith. This was due to new party nomination rules put in place by Paul Martin that changed the long standing policy of selecting the incumbent by acclamation. Many rural party members (who traditionally supported Mr. Bertrand) felt disenfranchised by this defeat because of the new party nomination rules which called for 3 polling locations spread out across the riding (Fort-Coulonge[Rural], Wakefield[Rural] and Maniwaki[Urban]) instead of the traditional 1 polling site for both candidates, considered neutral territory. They believed this favoured the urban party members (most of whom supported Mr. Smith) because of the greater concentration in their numbers in conjunction with their polling location.

He is currently living in Fort-Coulonge with his wife Sandra. He has 3 adult children Chad, Eric and Stephanie. He is a passionate outdoorsman as well.

[edit] External link

• Biography from the Library of Parliament

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Barry Moore	Member of Parliament for Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle (Electoral district dissolved in 2003. Please see Pontiac) 1993-2004	Succeeded by David Smith