Restigouche West
Gilles LePage was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick as the member for the new riding of Restigouche West in the September 22, 2014, election. He was re-elected on September 24, 2018.
In June 2016, he was appointed Vice-Chair of the Legislative Instruments and Regulations Board. He chaired the Standing Committee on Economic Policy and was a member of the Standing Committee on Crown Corporations, the Standing Committee on Law Amendments, the Standing Committee on Private Bills, and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. In September 2017, he became Minister of Labor, Employment and Population Growth, a new portfolio created to better partner with the labour movement, workers, and employers and to help keep our young people in the province, encourage New Brunswickers to come back to the province, and support recruitment of newcomers. He currently serves as policy advocate for Seniors.
Born in Dalhousie in 1966, Mr. LePage graduated in 1984 from École Aux quatre vents, in Dalhousie. He did his post-secondary studies at Université de Moncton, graduating in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing, followed by a certificate in municipal administration in 2008.
Mr. LePage has been involved in the community as a coach, executive director, and Chef de mission for the Jeux de l’Acadie. Through this experience, he met his wife Johanne, with whom he has two daughters, Valérie and Myriam. He now resides in Balmoral.
He has 25 years of experience in community and economic development. After eight years at the helm of the Société des Jeux de l’Acadie, Mr. LePage worked as an economic development officer for the Restigouche Economic Development Commission. He then worked in the private sector as a dispatcher and personnel manager at Dynamic Transport. He was Executive Director of the Village of Balmoral from 2001 to 2008, before taking the position of sustainable development manager for the same municipality, a position he held until March 2014. He was also coordinator of the Restigouche-East community action plan from 2010 to 2011.
He serves as Critic for Economic Development and Opportunities New Brunswick, for Small Business and Trade Policy and for Population Growth and Immigration.