Len Goucher

The Honourable
Leonard Goucher
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
for Bedford
In office
June 13, 2006 – June 9, 2009
Preceded byPeter Christie
Succeeded byKelly Regan
Personal details
Born (1947-09-19) September 19, 1947 (age 77)
Political partyProgressive Conservative

Leonard Goucher (born September 19, 1947) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Bedford in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2006 to 2009. He is a member of the Progressive Conservatives.[1]

A town councilor in Bedford, Nova Scotia from 1988 to 1996, Goucher was elected to Halifax Regional Council in 2000.[2][3] He was re-elected in 2004 and served as Deputy Mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality.[4] He entered provincial politics in the 2006 election, defeating Liberal leader Francis MacKenzie in the Bedford riding.[5][6] In June 2006, Goucher was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.[7] In October 2007, Goucher was shuffled to Minister of Immigration.[8] In January 2009, he was given two additional roles in cabinet, becoming Minister of the Public Service Commission, and Minister of Seniors.[9] In the 2009 election, Goucher was defeated by Liberal Kelly Regan.[10]

In February 2010, he became embroiled in a spending scandal involving inappropriate expenses charged to the public by a number of Nova Scotia MLAs.[11] Goucher was singled out by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation when they highlighted Nova Scotian politicians for their "outrageous" expense claims, naming him the all-star of the scandal and giving him the nickname Len "the master of multi-tasking" Goucher.[12] On February 14, 2011 the RCMP released its investigation results and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

References

  1. ^ "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). Nova Scotia Legislative Library. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  2. ^ "Cabinet biography". Nova Scotia Legislature. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  3. ^ "Veterans Downey, Schofield lose seats". The Chronicle Herald. October 22, 2000. Archived from the original on November 9, 2000. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  4. ^ "PC Len Goucher runs for re-election". Bedford Beacon. May 7, 2009. Archived from the original on May 17, 2009. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  5. ^ "Bedford". CBC News. June 13, 2006. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  6. ^ "Nova Scotia Premier fiddles, Liberals burn". The Globe and Mail. June 13, 2006. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  7. ^ "MacDonald's expanded cabinet has 3 rookies". CBC News. June 26, 2006. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  8. ^ "Embattled immigration minister out in shuffle". CBC News. October 23, 2007. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  9. ^ "N.S. Premier Rodney MacDonald shuffles cabinet; one new face". Cape Breton Post. January 7, 2009. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. ^ "Nine Tory cabinet ministers bounced". The Chronicle Herald. June 10, 2009. Archived from the original on June 13, 2009. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  11. ^ "Former MLA Goucher biggest spender". CBC News. February 10, 2010. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  12. ^ "N.S. MLAs 'honoured' for wastefulness". CBC News. March 10, 2010. Retrieved 2015-07-25.


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