Seamus O'Regan

Seamus O'Regan
O'Regan in June 2018
Minister of Seniors
Assumed office
July 26, 2023
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byKamal Khera
Minister of Labour
Assumed office
October 26, 2021
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byFilomena Tassi
Minister of Natural Resources
In office
November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021
Preceded byAmarjeet Sohi
Succeeded byJonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Indigenous Services
In office
January 14, 2019 – November 20, 2019
Preceded byJane Philpott
Succeeded byMarc Miller
Minister of Veterans Affairs
Associate Minister of National Defence
In office
August 28, 2017 – January 14, 2019
Preceded byKent Hehr
Succeeded byJody Wilson-Raybould
Member of Parliament
for St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byRyan Cleary
Personal details
Born
Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan

(1971-01-18) January 18, 1971 (age 53)
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Spouse
Steve Doussis
(m. 2010)
ResidenceSt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Alma mater
Occupation

Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan PC MP (born January 18, 1971) is a Canadian politician who has been the federal minister of labour since October 26, 2021, and minister of seniors since July 26, 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, O'Regan was elected to the House of Commons in 2015, representing St. John's South—Mount Pearl. He has been in Cabinet since 2017, previously serving as minister of natural resources from 2019 to 2021, minister of Indigenous services in 2019, and minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of national defence from 2017 to 2019. Before he entered politics, O'Regan was a correspondent with CTV National News, and a host of Canada AM, which he co-hosted from 2003 to 2011 with Beverly Thomson.

Early life and education

O'Regan was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, and spent 14 years growing up in Goose Bay, graduating from Goose High School. O'Regan is of half Irish descent. His father, also named Seamus O'Regan, was a judge of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. At the age of 10, O'Regan became a regional correspondent for CBC Radio's Anybody Home?, producing stories that celebrated the unique accomplishments of local residents, ranging from a professor hunting for giant squid to one woman's fight against leukemia.

He studied politics at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. He studied marketing strategies at INSEAD, an international business school near Paris, France. He received his Masters of Philosophy in Politics from the University of Cambridge, studying at Darwin College in Cambridge, England.

Career

He has worked as an assistant to Environment Minister Jean Charest in Ottawa and to Justice Minister Edward Roberts in St. John's, and was policy advisor and speechwriter to Premier Brian Tobin of Newfoundland and Labrador. In December 1999, O'Regan was named as one of Maclean's 100 Young Canadians to Watch in the 21st century.

In 2000, O'Regan joined talktv's current affairs program, the chatroom. He began his duties at Canada AM on December 19, 2001. On November 8, 2011, he announced that he would be leaving Canada AM on November 24, 2011, to become a correspondent for CTV National News. O'Regan left CTV in 2012. Since leaving CTV, he has occasionally been a fill-in host on radio station CFRB in Toronto, ⁣ and worked on independent television productions and as a media innovator in residence at Ryerson University. O'Regan also served as the executive vice president for communications of the Stronach Group.

Political career

In September 2014, O'Regan was nominated as the Liberal Party candidate in the Newfoundland and Labrador riding of St. John's South—Mount Pearl for the 2015 federal election. On October 19, 2015, O'Regan won the election, defeating New Democrat incumbent Ryan Cleary. He was appointed to the cabinet on August 28, 2017, as the minister of veterans affairs and on January 14, 2019, was made the minister of Indigenous services, vacating his previous post.

He was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. Following the election, he was appointed minister of natural resources. He was re-elected again in the 2021 federal election.

O’Regan has been serving as minister of labour since 2021 and expanded his portfolio to also include minister of seniors during the 2023 cabinet shuffle. As the labour minister, O’Regan was involved in the BC port workers strike between International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the BC Maritime Employers Association, which included a 13 day work stoppage in the summer of 2023.

Personal life

On July 9, 2010, O'Regan married his longtime partner, Steve Doussis, in Newfoundland.

O'Regan serves on the Boards of Katimavik, Canada's leading youth service-learning programme, and The Rooms, which houses the provincial art gallery, museum, and archives of Newfoundland and Labrador. He also sits on the board of directors for fellow Newfoundlander Allan Hawco's theatre company, The Company Theatre, located in Toronto.

In January 2016, O’Regan announced that he entered an alcoholism rehabilitation programme.

In November 2017, he was hospitalised in Ottawa for a major gastrointestinal obstruction.

Shortly after the November 2020 death of his father Seamus Bernard O'Regan (1942–2020), Natural Resources Canada announcements began to give his name as Seamus O'Regan Jr.; previous announcements did not use the "Jr." suffix.

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election: St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Seamus O'Regan 19,478 56.17 +5.07 $92,438.10
New Democratic Ray Critch 8,113 23.40 -3.38 $25,603.86
Conservative Steve Hodder 6,447 18.59 -0.50 $8,313.27
People's Georgia Faith Stewart 638 1.84 $0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 34,676 98.82 +0.25 $105,099.33
Total rejected ballots 414 1.18 -0.25
Turnout 35,090 53.00 -8.42
Registered voters 66,201
Liberal hold Swing +4.21
Source: Elections Canada
2019 Canadian federal election: St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Seamus O'Regan 20,793 51.13 −6.73 $58,125.56
New Democratic Anne Marie Anonsen 10,890 26.78 −9.98 $25,130.37
Conservative Terry Martin 7,767 19.10 +14.53 $56,978.54
Green Alexandra Hayward 740 1.82 +1.01 $0.00
People's Benjamin Ruckpaul 335 0.82 none listed
Christian Heritage David Jones 141 0.35 none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 40,666 98.57 $100,487.58
Total rejected ballots 592 1.43 +1.13
Turnout 41,258 61.42 −5.71
Eligible voters 67,170
Liberal hold Swing +1.62
Source: Elections Canada
2015 Canadian federal election: St. John's South—Mount Pearl
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Seamus O'Regan 25,992 57.86 +29.16 $124,533.70
New Democratic Ryan Cleary 16,467 36.76 –9.58 $98,225.69
Conservative Marek Krol 2,047 4.57 –19.64 $24,331.40
Green Jackson McLean 365 0.81 +0.09
Total valid votes/expense limit 44,801 100.00 $201,093.98
Total rejected ballots 133 0.30
Turnout 44,934 67.13
Eligible voters 66,936
Liberal gain from New Democratic Swing +19.37
Source: Elections Canada

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