Biography

Scott Brison, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants (Nova Scotia), has won election to Canada's House of Commons in five general elections: June 1997, November 2000, June 2004, January 2006 and October 2008.  He is a key Liberal Party spokesperson on economic issues and currently serves in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet as the Liberal Party Critic for International Trade and as Chairman of the Leader's Advisory Committee on Economic Strategy. He is a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade.

He was previously the Critic for Industry, Science & Technology and the Critic for Finance, and co-chaired the Liberal Party of Canada 2008 Election Platform Committee with Mr. Bob Rae.  Mr. Brison was a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party at the December 2006 convention.

Mr. Brison is a member of the Trilateral Commission and has been named by the World Economic Forum (WEF) of Davos, Switzerland, as one of its "Young Global Leaders." He has participated in WEF meetings in Davos, Switzerland; Dalian, China; and Washington, D.C.

He served as Minister of Public Works and Government Services, and Receiver General of Canada, from 2004 to 2006, the youngest member of Prime Minister Paul Martin's cabinet. He also served on three cabinet committees: Treasury Board, Domestic Affairs and Expenditure Review. Mr. Brison previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister with special emphasis on Canada-U.S. Relations. He has also served as Vice-Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.

Mr. Brison is a member of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group and has served as the vice-president of the Canadian group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In this role he has participated in Inter-Parliamentary Union conferences in Moscow and New York. He also served as a member of the Canadian delegation to two annual meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.

Mr. Brison has had extensive private sector experience ranging from business start-ups and U.S. market development to serving as Vice-President of a Canadian investment bank.

Mr. Brison and his partner, Maxime St-Pierre live in Cheverie, Nova Scotia, on the shores of the Minas Basin, home of the world's highest tides. He was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia on May 10th, 1967 and in 1989 graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance. He has completed the Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century Executive Education program at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

He enjoys economics, foreign policy, sea kayaking, downhill skiing and growing apples.