Karl Bélanger (born 1975) is the Senior press secretary for Canada's New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton. He was named principal secretary for Quebec in spring 2009.[1]
He previously was the spokesman for former NDP Leader Alexa McDonough and has worked for the party since the 1997 federal election. Bélanger is a native of Quebec City, and noted for his fondness for team sports. Bélanger represented Quebec at the 1990 U16 World Table Tennis championships in Helsinki, Finland.
He was a candidate in the 1993 federal election in the riding of Jonquière, and in the 1996 federal by-election in Lac-Saint-Jean. He was president of the New Democratic Youth of Québec from 1994 to 1998 and vice-president of the NDYC from 1995 to 1997.
As a party spokesperson, he appears regularly on CPAC's political panels and on CTV's Power Play, and is a regular columnist in The Hill Times. He is also a regular guest on radio stations such as CJAD, CFRA and CINW.
He earned a B.A. in political science from Université Laval in Quebec City in 1997. He previously had received a college degree in arts and media technology at the Jonquière CEGEP in 1995.
Alan Kellogg of the Edmonton Journal called Bélanger "a Great Canadian" for his longtime work as assistant to the NDP leader.[2]
Bélanger was named five times on the Terrific Twenty-Five Staffers List, as put together by the Hill Times, based on a survey of parliamentary staff. He was listed as #6 in 2010.. (#7 in 2002, #5 in 2006, #13 in 2008, #6 in 2009[3]) Bélanger lives in Gatineau, Quebec.