Joseph Daigle

Who is Joseph Daigle?

Joseph Zenon Daigle, QC is a Canadian lawyer and a former politician and Chief Justice of New Brunswick.

Of Acadian descent, Daigle was born in Saint-Charles, New Brunswick, and educated in his native New Brunswick, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Joseph's College and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University of New Brunswick before studying public international law at the University of Paris in Paris, France . He entered private practise in 1960 and served as a provincial court judge from 1967 until 1974 when he entered politics.

In the 1974 New Brunswick general election, Daigle was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Liberal Party candidate for the newly created riding of Kent North. In 1978 he became leader of the provincial Liberal party and assumed the role of Opposition Leader in the Assembly.

In the 1978 election, Daigle was personally reelected while leading his party to a narrow loss. His Liberals garnered 44.36 per cent of the popular vote, just 0.03 per cent less than the winning Progressive Conservatives, and captured twenty-eight seats to the Conservative's thirty.