Biography
The Rt. Hon. Romeo LeBlanc was appointed Speaker of the Senate on 7 December 1993. He resigned as Speaker and from the Senate on his appointment as Governor General, an office he assumed on 8 February 1995.

Senator LeBlanc was born at L'Anse-aux-Cormier, Memramcook, New Brunswick on 18 December 1927. He was educated at St. Joseph University and the University of Paris. Early on in his career he worked as a journalist and then taught for a few years at Moncton's teachers college. In 1959 he returned to journalism, signing on as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Canada) correspondent for New Brunswick and later working in the Ottawa bureau before winning postings as a foreign correspondent in first London and then Washington.

Senator LeBlanc's political career began in 1967 when Prime Minister Pearson called on him to serve as his Press Secretary. He stayed on in this position when Pierre Eliot Trudeau replaced Mr. Pearson as leader of the Liberal Party and as Prime Minister in 1968. In 1972 he successfully ran for the Liberals in the New Brunswick riding of Westmoreland-Kent, a riding he continued to represent until 1984. As Minister of Fisheries in three of Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinets, he was responsible for extending Canada's coastal fishing zone from 12 to 200 miles. He also served as Minister of the Environment when this responsibility was grouped with Fisheries, and as Minister of Public Works.

Senator LeBlanc was summoned to the Senate in June 1984 on the eve of the general elections. He was elected Chairman of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration in 1988 at the beginning of the 1st Session of the 34th Parliament. He also sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee and on the Sub-Committee on Security and National Defence and was a member of the Canada-France Parliamentary Association and the International Association of French-speaking Parliamentarians. He was appointed Speaker on 7 December 1993. After less than a year in office, he resigned as Speaker and from the Senate on his appointment as Governor General, a post which he held until October 1999.