1. Geoffrey Paul Regan was born on November 22,1959 and is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 36th speaker of the House of Commons from 2015 to 2019.
20 Facts About Geoff Regan
1. 2.
Geoff Regan is the son of Gerald Regan, the 19th premier of Nova Scotia and Cabinet Minister under Pierre Trudeau, and Carole Harrison, the daughter of John Harrison, a member of Parliament from Saskatchewan.
3.
Geoff Regan is the brother of Nancy Regan, a retired television personality with ATV, and Laura Regan, an actress.
4.
Geoff Regan was admitted to the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society in 1984 and practiced real estate and commercial law before entering public life.
5.
Geoff Regan was a member of Toastmasters for almost ten years, in the late 1980s to early 1990s.
6.
Geoff Regan was first elected to the House of Commons as part of the Liberal victory in the 1993 federal election under Jean Chretien.
7.
Geoff Regan was defeated in the 1997 election by NDP candidate Gordon Earle, mainly because of the federal government's changes to employment insurance.
8.
Geoff Regan was the Regional Minister for Nova Scotia in the newly formed government of Paul Martin, sworn in on 12 December 2003.
9.
Geoff Regan would keep position in cabinet in Martin's minority government.
10.
In February 2004, Geoff Regan was appointed to act as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, in matters related to Maher Arar.
11.
In March 2008, Geoff Regan was named Chair of the Caucus Committee on Environmental Sustainability.
12.
Geoff Regan served as Vice-Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.
13.
Geoff Regan was re-elected in 2008, and 2011 federal elections, despite significant Liberal losses in both.
14.
Geoff Regan won his seat by a few percentage points in the latter election as the Liberals finished in third place.
15.
Under the leadership of Stephane Dion, Geoff Regan served as Opposition Critic for Human Resources and Skills Development.
16.
Under Michael Ignatieff, Geoff Regan served as Liberal Critic for Natural Resources, and later, Public Works and Government Services and as the Liberal Natural Resources Critic under leader Justin Trudeau and the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.
17.
On 2 December 2015, Geoff Regan was selected as Speaker of the House of Commons in secret ballot by members of the 42nd Parliament over Liberals Denis Paradis and Yasmin Ratansi and Conservative Bruce Stanton.
18.
Geoff Regan won on the first ballot and served as the first speaker from Atlantic Canada in almost a hundred years.
19.
On March 31,2021, Geoff Regan announced that he would not seek re-election.
20.
Geoff Regan's wife, Kelly Geoff Regan, is a provincial MLA and former Deputy Premier of Nova Scotia.