Camille Thériault

Who is Camille Thériault?

Camille Henri Thériault served as the 29th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

The son of Joséphine Martin and Norbert Thériault, a former provincial cabinet minister and Canadian Senator, Camille Thériault was born in Baie-Ste-Anne, New Brunswick, and graduated from Baie-Sainte-Anne High School. He then obtained a bachelor of social science degree with a major in political science from the Université de Moncton.

Thériault was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in the 1987 provincial election that saw the Liberal Party, of which he was a member, win every seat in the province.

Due to the unusual situation of leading a government with no parliamentary opposition, Premier Frank McKenna named backbench members of his caucus to form a shadow cabinet. Thériault was the leader of this "unofficial opposition", which met daily when the house was in session to prepare questions of Question Period of which the ministers would be given no notice.

Following the 1991 election, some balance was restored to the legislature with the opposition parties holding 12 of 58 seats and the "unofficial opposition" was not continued. Thériault was named to cabinet as Minister of Fisheries. In 1994, he was appointed Minister of Advanced Education and Labour