Guy Carleton Boutilier was a Canadian politician, who sat as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1997 to 2012.
42 Facts About Guy Boutilier
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Guy Boutilier was elected as a Progressive Conservative, and served in several capacities in the Cabinet of Alberta under Premiers Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach before being ejected from the PC caucus in July 2009; he joined the Wildrose Alliance Party after sitting as an independent for a year.
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When Fort McMurray was amalgamated with the surrounding area to form the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in 1995, Boutilier served as the new municipality's first mayor.
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Guy Boutilier was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia on February 28,1959.
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Guy Boutilier earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from St Francis Xavier University, a Bachelor of Education from St Mary's University, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.
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Guy Boutilier has worked as a financial analyst in the petroleum industry and as a business management instructor at Keyano College.
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Guy Boutilier was lecturing business economics at the University of Alberta's school of business.
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Guy Boutilier moved to Fort McMurray as a summer student with Syncrude and, according to friend and supporter Willie Hoflin, "fell in love with the place" and met his wife, Gail.
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Guy Boutilier volunteered with Fort McMurray's local hockey and sports scenes.
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Guy Boutilier hosted a hockey-themed interview show on a community access channel.
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Guy Boutilier was elected to the Fort McMurray city council on October 20,1986, to a three-year term as alderman.
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Guy Boutilier was re-elected October 16,1989, and was elected the youngest mayor in the city's history October 22,1992.
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Guy Boutilier served in this capacity until April 1,1995, when Fort McMurray lost its status as a city and was rolled into the new Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
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Guy Boutilier was the first mayor of this new municipality, serving until 1997 when he resigned to enter provincial politics.
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Guy Boutilier was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1997 Alberta election, when he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Fort McMurray.
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The incumbent Liberal, Adam Germain, was not seeking re-election, and Guy Boutilier won by defeating John Vyboh by more than a thousand votes.
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Also in 1997, Guy Boutilier sponsored the Cost Declaration Accountability Act, a private member's bill that never reached second reading.
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Guy Boutilier was re-elected in the 2001 election with a substantially increased margin over Vyboh.
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Guy Boutilier kept the municipal affairs until after the 2004 election, when Klein transferred him to the post of Minister of the Environment.
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Guy Boutilier held this post in 2005, when a Canadian National Railway train derailed, spilling oil into Wabamun Lake.
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Guy Boutilier was at the forefront of his government's opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, at one point slipping his Quebec counterpart Thomas Mulcair a note during a United Nations conference on the subject in Montreal, which Mulcair interpreted as a request that Quebec soften its support of Kyoto in exchange for investment in the Montreal Stock Exchange by Alberta industry.
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Guy Boutilier characterized the note as "discussions in terms of what we would want to be able to do in a positive environmental initiative" and denied that he was trying to influence Quebec's position.
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Guy Boutilier was re-elected by another expanded margin in the 2008 election, but was not named to Stelmach's new cabinet, making him the only returning member of the pre-election cabinet not to receive a portfolio.
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Guy Boutilier's demotion was met with protest in his home riding, which contains much of the oilsands activity driving Alberta's economy at the time, and the local Progressive Conservative riding association sent a letter of protest to Stelmach.
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Stelmach's spokesman said that his ejection was due to his seeking "preferential treatment" for his riding; Guy Boutilier denied that he had done so.
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Guy Boutilier was joined by fellow former Tories Heather Forsyth and Rob Anderson.
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Guy Boutilier continued to demand a long-term care centre project and progress on twinning Highway 63, which had been announced and was scheduled to be finished in 2012.
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Guy Boutilier quickly earned a reputation on council as a strong fiscally conservative voice who frequently criticized past administrations for hiring companies and consultants based outside Alberta.
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In May 2014, Fort McMurray Today discovered Guy Boutilier did consultant work for the municipality prior to being elected to council.
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The report and invoice was leaked to the newspaper and showed Guy Boutilier ran his consulting business out of a residential home in Edmonton.
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Guy Boutilier said he owned an Edmonton home because his son regularly had treatments related to his autism at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and he lectured part-time at the University of Alberta.
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Vargo wrote in his affidavit that Guy Boutilier had moved to Edmonton shortly after Stelmach expelled him from the Progressive Conservative Party's caucus.
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Guy Boutilier's lawyer dismissed the affidavits as "a frivolous application" and said a defence was being prepared.
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In January 2015, Guy Boutilier resigned from council one day after Vargo dropped the challenge.
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Guy Boutilier denied his resignation was related to the dropped case.
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The lawyers for Vargo and Guy Boutilier said the motivations behind dropping the challenge would remain a private matter between the two men.
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Guy Boutilier said he was returning to the party because of the leadership of Premier Jim Prentice.
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Guy Boutilier reminded people his first name was pronounced with the French pronunciation, Ghee, while his last name was anglicized Boot-a-LEER.
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Hoflin notes Guy Boutilier was an introvert in his personal life, but an extroverted politician who frequently joked with constituents, journalists, politicians and staff from all parties.
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Dan MacLennan, who served as president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees between 1997 and 2006, credits Guy Boutilier for securing a northern living allowance for AUPE members in Fort McMurray.
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Shortly after the groundbreaking ceremony, Guy Boutilier told Fort McMurray Today in 2018 he had no regrets about his actions that led to his expulsion from the PC caucus.
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In 2021, Guy Boutilier joined the Edmonton-based lobbying firm Alberta Counsel as a senior advisor.