Raymond Simard (born March 8, 1958) is a politician from Manitoba, Canada. He is currently a member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of St. Boniface for the Liberal Party of Canada.
Simard was born in Ste. Anne , Manitoba. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College universitaire de Saint-Boniface, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba. Simard worked as a businessman and consultant before entering political life, initially for a number of business concerns owned by his family. In 1999, he became the founding President and CEO of Riel Economic Development Corporation, and is also the President and co-owner of Simard Solutions.
In 2002 sitting St. Boniface MP Ron Duhamel was appointed to the Canadian Senate by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (it later emerged that Duhamel had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and that his appointment was an act of charity; he died later in the year). Simard was selected as the Liberal candidate for the resulting by-election, and on May 13, 2002 defeated Canadian Alliance candidate Denis Simard by about 4400 votes.
In parliament, Simard has expressed a special interest in matters relating to francophone concerns in Canada. His riding is one of the few in western Canada with a significant francophone population (16% list French as their mother tongue, according to the 2001 Canadian census), and the only such riding which regularly elects francophone candidates to parliament. In his private business life, Simard was responsible for opening the first bilingual services centre in Canada.
Simard was re-elected fairly easily in the 2004 federal election, defeating Conservative Ken Cooper by about 6000 votes. On July 20, 2004, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to Mauril Belanger, the Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons with responsibility for Official Languages and Democratic Reform .
