His Excellencythe Honourable Ralph Goodale PC
Goodale in 2025
Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office April 13, 2021
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau Mark Carney
Preceded by	Stefanie Beck (acting)
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
In office November 4, 2015 – November 19, 2019
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Steven Blaney
Succeeded by	Bill Blair
Minister of Finance
In office December 11, 2003 – February 6, 2006
Prime Minister	Paul Martin
Preceded by	John Manley
Succeeded by	Jim Flaherty
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
In office May 26, 2002 – December 11, 2003
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	Don Boudria
Succeeded by	Stephen Owen
Minister of Natural Resources
In office June 11, 1997 – January 14, 2002
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	Anne McLellan
Succeeded by	Herb Dhaliwal
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
In office November 4, 1993 – June 10, 1997
Prime Minister	Jean Chrétien
Preceded by	Charles Mayer
Succeeded by	Lyle Vanclief
Member of Parliament forRegina—Wascana (Wascana 1997–2015)
In office October 25, 1993 – October 20, 2019
Preceded by	Larry Schneider
Succeeded by	Michael Kram
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan forAssiniboia-Gravelbourg
In office October 20, 1986 – January 1, 1988
Preceded by	Allen Engel
Succeeded by	Jack Wolfe
Member of Parliament forAssiniboia
In office July 8, 1974 – May 22, 1979
Preceded by	Bill Knight
Succeeded by	Lenard Gustafson
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
In office September 7, 2010 – November 3, 2015[1]
Leader	Michael Ignatieff Bob Rae (interim) Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Michael Ignatieff (2009)
Leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party
In office June 13, 1981 – October 7, 1988
Preceded by	Edward Cyril Malone
Succeeded by	Lynda Haverstock (1989)
Personal details
Born	Ralph Edward Goodale (1949-10-05)October 5, 1949 (age 76) Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Pam Goodale
Alma mater	University of Regina (BA) University of Saskatchewan (LLB)

Ralph Edward Goodale (born October 5, 1949) is a Canadian diplomat and retired politician who has served as theCanadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since April 19, 2021.

Goodale was first elected in 1974 as themember of Parliament (MP) forAssiniboia, as a member of theLiberal Party. He was defeated in 1979, and moved into provincial Saskatchewan politics, serving as leader of theSaskatchewan Liberals from 1981 to 1988. He returned to federal politics in 1993, as the MP forRegina—Wascana (known simply as Wascana from 1997 to 2015), and served in the governments ofJean Chrétien,Paul Martin andJustin Trudeau, in several roles including asminister of finance andminister of public safety. He was defeated in 2019 and retired from politics.

Goodale was born inRegina,Saskatchewan and raised on a farm nearWilcox, Saskatchewan, the son of Winnifred Claire (Myers) and Thomas Henry Goodale.^[2][3] He was a member ofScouts Canada and earned the rank of Queen's Scout.^[4] He first attended theUniversity of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus and then obtained a law degree from theUniversity of Saskatchewan inSaskatoon, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for academic achievement.^{[citation needed]}

Active at politics from a young age, he was first elected to theParliament of Canada in the1974 election at the age of 24 from the seat ofAssiniboia. He defeatedNew Democratic Party (NDP) incumbentBill Knight. He served as a backbench supporter of Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau's government until the1979 election, when he was defeated, coming in third behind winningProgressive ConservativeLenard Gustafson and Knight.^{[citation needed]}

In 1981, Goodale was named leader of theSaskatchewan Liberal Party. He led that party to a very poor showing in the1982 provincial election, in which the party received 4.51% of the popular vote and won no seats in theprovincial legislature. However, Goodale was the only Liberal candidate to receive more than 1,000 votes; he won 2,760 inAssiniboia-Gravelbourg and lost narrowly to incumbentAllen Engel.^[5]

The party won 9.99% of the vote in the1986 provincial election, but only Goodale was elected to the legislature, defeating Engel in a rematch. Goodale ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility in this election, arguing that both theProgressive Conservative andNew Democratic parties favoured excessive spending policies, typified by their proposals for aKeynesian-style stimulation of the provincial economy through subsidized home improvement and renovation schemes.^{[citation needed]}

Goodale resigned as leader to run for the federal Liberals in the1988 election for the seat ofRegina—Wascana. He lost narrowly to former Regina mayorLarry Schneider, who later went on to serve briefly inKim Campbell's cabinet. Beginning earlier that year and prior to his resignation, Goodale's executive assistant wasJason Kenney. Kenney would become aConservative Party of Canada MP inCalgary ridingsCalgary Southeast andCalgary Midnapore (1997–2016) and laterPremier ofAlberta (2019-2022).^[6]

Goodale then spent five years in the private sector, working for companies such as the Pioneer Life Assurance Company, Pioneer Lifeco Inc., and Sovereign Life Insurance Co.; he has stated in interviews that he felt his political career had ended.^{[citation needed]}

Goodale contested Regina—Wascana again in the1993 federal election and was elected as part of the Liberallandslide that year. As a member of the newChrétiencabinet, Goodale was namedMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. He has the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of theQueen's Privy Council for Canada on November 4, 1993.^[7] He was reelected for this riding, known as Wascana from 1997 to 2015, in the next seven federal elections.

In 1997, he became theMinister of Natural Resources. In May 2002, he was namedMinister of Public Works and Government Services, a few weeks after the Auditor GeneralSheila Fraser issued a report accusing the department of inappropriate contracting practices.^[8] This began the exposure of theSponsorship scandal.^{[citation needed]}

A close ally ofPaul Martin, Goodale was appointed to the senior portfolio of Finance Minister when Martin becamePrime Minister on December 12, 2003. In that capacity he tabled two consecutive balanced budgets and launched the Government's productivity agenda.^{[citation needed]}

On December 28, 2005, a letter surfaced fromRoyal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)CommissionerGiuliano Zaccardelli confirming the force was launching a criminal investigation into whether details regarding government tax policies relating to income trust funds were leaked from the Finance Minister's office. Goodale said he would co-operate completely with any investigation, but would not step aside while the RCMP continued their probe. The investigation dealt only with the Department of Finance, and not the minister himself.^[9] On February 15, 2007 the RCMP announced the conclusion of the income trust investigation and laid a charge of 'Breach of Trust' against Serge Nadeau, an official in the Department of Finance,^[10] who pleaded guilty in 2010.^[11] Goodale was cleared of any wrongdoing,^[12] and blamed the NDP'sJudy Wasylycia-Leis for sabotaging the Liberals in the 2006 election.^[13]

Goodale was re-elected to the House of Commons in the general election onJanuary 23, 2006, but the Conservatives won government and he lost his cabinet position. He was namedOpposition House Leader by interim Liberal leaderBill Graham in 2006, and continued to serve in this role under the leaderships ofStéphane Dion andMichael Ignatieff until September 2010 when he was promoted toDeputy Leader.^{[citation needed]}

After the Liberals' defeat and Paul Martin's election-night announcement that he would resign as party leader, Goodale initially indicated that he was not interested in succeeding Martin in that post. "I do not anticipate ever having to cross that bridge," he said. "I rule it out."^[14] On March 13, 2006, theToronto Star reported that Goodale was reconsidering his decision, and stated that he may enter theLiberal leadership election after all.^[15] In the end, he declined, citing his inability to speak French as a key reason. On November 28, 2006, he endorsedBob Rae to be the next leader of the Liberal Party.^[16] After the third ballot, Bob Rae, who finished third, was eliminated. Goodale then endorsedStéphane Dion, the eventual winner.

Goodale was opposed toDavid Orchard's candidacy in the by-election forDesnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River.^[17] Dion terminated the nomination contest and appointedJoan Beatty as the candidate.

Goodale was re-elected once more in thefall of 2008. One month later, in November 2008, the Liberals and their fellowopposition parties in theCanadian parliament, the NDP andBloc Québécois, indicated their intention to defeatStephen Harper's Conservative government in amotion of no confidence, and expressed their desire forGovernor GeneralMichaëlle Jean to ask a member of the opposition to form a new government. While there was initially some speculation that Goodale would become Prime Minister of Canada as leader of the proposedcoalition government,^[18] the coalition agreement simply made "the leader of the Liberal Party" Prime Minister. The Liberals agreed shortly after that Stéphane Dion would lead the government on an interim basis until a new Liberal leader was chosen.^[19] In the end, at Prime Minister Harper's request, Jeanprorogued Parliament before a confidence vote could be put to the House. By the time Parliament resumed in January 2009,Michael Ignatieff had become interim leader of the party. He did not seek to bring down the government and agreed to support Harper's budget with amendments.^{[citation needed]}

Goodale was one of the 34 Liberal MPs who was returned in the2011 federal election, the Liberal Party of Canada's worst-ever electoral performance.^{[citation needed]} He andKevin Lamoureux ofWinnipeg North inWinnipeg,Manitoba, were the only two Liberal MPs elected from the Prairie provinces.

The NDP surpassed the Liberals in number of seats, becoming the official opposition, resulted in priority in choosing parliamentary offices. They requested that Goodale forfeit his suite in the coveted Center Block. The Liberals saw this as a measure of disrespect to Goodale, noting that he had seniority as a former cabinet minister and house leader, despite this being standard practice and noting the Conservatives had not asked any Liberals to give up their offices.^[13]

The Liberals won a majority government in the2015 federal election, and Goodale was re-elected to a ninth term in the House of Commons, once again representingRegina—Wascana as a consequence of electoral district redistribution. In his first cabinet, the new prime ministerJustin Trudeau named Goodale to beMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.^[20] He was the only MP to serve in government with both Pierre and Justin Trudeau.^[21] Anorder in council on November 4, 2015,^[22] placed Goodale as first in line to assume the prime minister's powers and duties asacting prime minister, should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau become incapacitated. Trudeau did not appoint adeputy prime minister at that time.

Goodale sought re-election in the2019 federal election, but lost his bid to Conservative Party candidateMichael Kram in a rematch of the 2015 race. Despite having represented the riding since 1993, Goodale was defeated by more than 16 percentage points.^[23]

On March 31, 2020, Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau announced the appointment of Goodale as Special Advisor to the Government of Canada's response toUkraine International Airlines Flight 752 crash.^[24] Goodale will "examine lessons learned" from Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752,Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302,Air India Flight 182 and other air disasters and "develop a framework to guide Canada's responses to international air disasters."^[25]

Goodale was appointed the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on April 13, 2021,^[26][27] replacingJanice Charette, who was appointed the interimclerk of the Privy Council.^[28] Goodale's priorities in the position will include "working with the U.K. on climate change and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic" as well as replacing the "transitional trade agreement with a permanent deal in the wake ofBrexit".^[28]

On December 13, 2023, Goodale was appointed as representative of Canada to theIsmaili Imamat.^[29]

The appointment drew praise from Saskatchewan premierScott Moe, who called the appointment "well deserved" and stating Goodale will be "a real advocate and a great representative for the nation and Canada, but he’ll also be, in many ways, a great representative for the province of Saskatchewan", as well asConservative foreign affairs criticMichael Chong, who said Goodale "brings a lot of experience to the job".^[28]

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the Canadian Alliance vote in 2000 election.

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

Commonwealth honours

Country	Date	Appointment	Post-nominal letters
Canada	4 November 1993 – Present	Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada	PC
Canada	6 February 1977 – Present	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
Canada	7 May 1992 – Present	125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
Canada	6 February 2002 – Present	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
Canada	6 February 2012 – Present	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(November 2020)

• Ralph Goodale – Parliament of Canada biography

• 1949 births
• Ministers of finance of Canada
• Commission for Africa members
• Lawyers in Saskatchewan
• Liberal Party of Canada MPs
• Living people
• Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry
• Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry
• Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Saskatchewan
• Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
• Ministers of mining of Canada
• Politicians from Regina, Saskatchewan
• Saskatchewan Liberal Party MLAs
• University of Saskatchewan alumni
• University of Saskatchewan College of Law alumni
• Leaders of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party
• 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

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