Former N.B. MLA dies at age 92

A former Progressive Conservative MLA and cabinet minister has died.

Omer Léger passed away Friday at the age of 92, according to his obituary.

Léger was first elected in the riding of Kent in a 1971 byelection to replace former premier Louis J. Robichaud.

“He was the first Progressive Conservative to be elected in the traditionally Liberal Kent County in almost 60 years,” said his obituary.

Léger joined the cabinet of former premier Richard Hatfield as provincial secretary until the 1974 election.

He was re-elected in 1974 as member for Kent South and served again as provincial secretary and as fisheries minister.

After the 1978 election, Léger returned to his lifelong profession of insurance agent with Assomption Vie.

But he was called to serve his province once again and won a seat in the 1982 election, serving as tourism minister until 1987, when the Liberals swept every seat in the province.

Léger was defeated in that election by Camille Thériault, who went on to become New Brunswick’s 29th premier in the late 1990s.

He continued to work as an agent for Assomption Vie for many years after politics, never giving up his agent’s licence.

Léger also tried his hand twice at federal politics, losing to sitting MP Fernand Robichaud in the 1988 election and Liberal Dominic LeBlanc in 2006.

“He got to stay in his home until the last few weeks, served by an extramural system he helped to create, and died in a hospital he championed,” said his obituary.

Outside of politics and insurance, the Massachusetts-born Léger served as school commissioner in Saint-Antoine from 1962 to 1968 and as president of the school board from 1968 to 1971.

Le Pays de la Sagouine was also “his pride and joy” among his many accomplishments, according to his family.

“Omer was a stalwart advocate for our province, his home region of Kent and for the Acadian community,” Premier Blaine Higgs said in a statement on Sunday.

Visitation will be held from the St-Antoine Community Center on July 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. and on July 4 from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m.

Funeral mass will be held from St-Antoine-l’Ermite RC Church on July 4 at 4:30 p.m.