Marcel Beaubien is a politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He was a Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...

 member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 from 1995 to 2003, and unsuccessfully sought election to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as the Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

 candidate in the federal riding of Sarnia-Lambton in 2004.

Beaubien was an insurance broker in private life, and served as President of the Sarnia United Way. He began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

 in Petrolia

Petrolia, Ontario

Petrolia is a town in Ontario, Canada, near Sarnia. The town, an enclave within Enniskillen Township, is billed as "Canada's Victorian Oil Town" and is often credited with starting the Oil industry in North America....

, of which he later became Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

. He also served as a regional councillor for Lambton County

Lambton County, Ontario

Lambton County is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county is located in Southwestern Ontario. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which flows into the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake...

.

He was elected to the Ontario legislature for the provincial riding of Lambton

Lambton (electoral district)

Lambton was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1882. It was located in the province of Ontario...

 in the provincial election of 1995

Ontario general election, 1995

The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...

, defeating Liberal

Ontario Liberal Party

The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

 candidate Larry O'Neill

Larry O'Neill

Larry O'Neill is a 1915 short silent American drama film directed by Clem Easton and starring William Garwood and Violet Mersereau. Also starring Portuguese actor Hal De Forrest....

 by over 4,000 votes. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Beaubien served as a government backbencher for the next four years. In 1995, Beaubien put pressure on the newly-elected provincial government to intervene in the native protest at Ipperwash which culminated in the Ipperwash Crisis

Ipperwash Crisis

The Ipperwash Crisis was an Indigenous land dispute that took place in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park in order to assert their claim to nearby land which had been expropriated from them during World War II...

. In 1998, he was responsible for a spearheading a government decision to deny Ontario Health Insurance Plan

Ontario Health Insurance Plan

The Ontario Health Insurance Plan is the government-run health insurance plan for the Canadian province of Ontario...

 (OHIP) coverage to patients seeking sex-change operations.

In the provincial election of 1999

Ontario general election, 1999

An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

, Beaubien defeated O'Neill again by fewer than 1,000 votes in the redistributed riding of Lambton--Kent--Middlesex

Lambton—Kent—Middlesex (provincial electoral district)

Lambton—Kent—Middlesex is a provincial electoral district in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario....

. As before, he was not appointed to cabinet and served as a government backbencher. On April 25, 2002, newly minted Premier Ernie Eves

Ernie Eves

Ernest Lawrence "Ernie" Eves was the 23rd Premier of the province of Ontario, Canada, from April 15, 2002, to October 23, 2003.-Beginnings:...

 appointed him to the position of parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance, Janet Ecker

Janet Ecker

Janet Ecker is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.-Background:...

.

The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the provincial election of 2003

Ontario general election, 2003

The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

, and Beaubien lost his seat to Liberal Maria Van Bommel

Maria Van Bommel

Maria Van Bommel is a politician in Ontario, Canada. From 2003 to 2011, she was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the London area riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex for the Ontario Liberal Party....

 by over 3,500 votes. The following year, he challenged long-serving Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 Roger Gallaway

Roger Gallaway

Roger John Gallaway, PC is an educator and retired Canadian politician. He was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2006, representing the riding of Sarnia—Lambton for the Liberal Party....

 in the federal riding of Sarnia--Lambton, and lost by over 5,000 votes.