Ray Perrault

Raymond Joseph Perrault (born February 6 1926) is a retired Canadian senator.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia. After graduating from the University of British Columbia he became a communications consultant.

Perrault entered politics in his thirties becoming leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party in 1959. He was first elected to the provincial legislature in 1960 in which the Liberals went from two to four MLAs with 20.9% of the popular vote. The next election he led the party into in 1963 saw the Liberals gain one more MLA for a total of five while their share of the popular vote fell to 19.98%. Perrault's final election as leader in 1966 saw the addition of another MLA bringing the Liberals to six and a modest increase in the vote to 20.24%.

He remained an MLA until he resigned in 1968 to entered federal politics in the 1968 Canadian election when he won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal MP only to lose his seat in the 1972 Canadian election.

Perrault was appointed to the Senate by Pierre Trudeau in October 1973. A year later he joined the cabinet as Leader of the Government in the Senate. When the Liberals lost power in the 1979 Canadian election, Perrault became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate but resumed his position as government leader when the Liberals returned to power in the 1980 Canadian election. In 1982 he was reassigned to the position of Minister of State for fitness and amateur sport, serving in that position until leaving cabinet in August 1983. He remained in the Senate until his retirement in 2001.