The man referred to as the fishermen’s minister died at home on Wednesday, June 24, in a room overlooking the sea.
Romeo LeBlanc, Canada’s first Acadian governor general, died at the age of 81 after a lengthy illness. Born in New Brunswick, he worked as a teacher and journalist before being elected as an MP in 1972.
In the Pierre Trudeau government he became Canada’s longest-serving federal fisheries minister. He held the post from 1974 to 1982. LeBlanc was instrumental in creating Canada’s 200-mile offshore economic zone. He declared himself to be “minister, not of fish, but of fishermen.”
In his tenure as fisheries minister he brought in quotas and other policies that protected the share of the small and medium-sized boats. He banned foreign corporations from holding commercial fishing licences and he helped set up fishery advisory committees to give fishermen a stronger voice at the table. He also set up a new licensing system that imposed quotas aimed at protecting fish stocks.
He became a senator in 1984. He was appointed Speaker of the Senate in 1993.
In 1995, Premier Jean Chretien chose him to be this country’s govenor general.
LeBlanc is survived by his wife and four children.
Romeo LeBlanc, the country’s longest-ever serving fisheries minister, dies at age 81
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