Karl Bélanger

Bélanger during 2009.

Karl Bélanger (born 1975) is the Principal secretary for Canada's New Democratic Party Leader Thomas Mulcair.

He was previously working for NDP Leader Jack Layton as Senior press secretary, and he also was his principal secretary for Quebec in spring 2009,^[1] ahead of the Quebec Orange Crush. He remained Senior press secretary under the interim leadership of Nycole Turmel, who later gave him one of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medals every member of parliament was allowed to hand out.

He was previously 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.^{[citation needed]}

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^[2] 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 including 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.^[3]

Bélanger placed numerous 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 #3 in 2012.

He is portrayed by Joel S. Keller in the 2013 CBC Television film Jack.

Bélanger lives in Chelsea, Quebec.

References