The Canadian Club of Toronto and The Empire Club of Canada are pleased to bring you Finance Minister Ralph Goodale’s first post-budget 2005 address, following discussion in the House of Commons.
Minister Goodale became Minister of Finance on December 12, 2003, and was reappointed to this portfolio on July 20, 2004. He also carries regional political responsibilities for Saskatchewan and the North.
Minister Goodale was raised in a farming family in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, and educated at both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan. He was first elected to the Parliament of Canada in 1974 at the age of 24, representing the federal constituency of Assiniboia.
In the 1980s, he served as leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and in 1986 was elected a member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly. He returned to the House of Commons as MP for Regina-Wascana (now Wascana) in October 1993 and has served as a Federal Cabinet Minister for the past 11 years. He has also been the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians.
Minister Goodale and his wife, Pamela, make their home in Regina.
