Rob Moore (politician)

Early life and career

Moore was born in Gander, Newfoundland. He is the son of a Pentecostal minister, R. Douglas Moore (of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada) and his wife, Marie. He has two younger sisters and a younger brother. Due to his father's pastoral work, Moore spent time during his childhood living near Syracuse, New York and also spent eight years from late childhood to his mid-teenage years living in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. While in Pennsylvania, he attended Bethel Christian Academy, a school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania affiliated with his father's church, Bethel Assembly of God. After completing the 8th grade at Bethel Christian Academy (now called Carlisle Christian Academy), he briefly attended Boiling Springs High School (with the South Middleton School District) in Boiling Springs, PA. His family returned to Canada in the summer of 1989 when his father, a Canadian citizen and native, started a church. Moore completed his high school education at Kennebecasis Valley High School in 1992.

Moore has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of New Brunswick. He was admitted to the Law Society of New Brunswick in June 2000.

He and his wife Melinda live in Quispamsis with their two daughters, Madeline and Katelyn and son Robert.

Political career

Moore ran in the 2000 federal election for the Canadian Alliance in the New Brunswick riding of Fundy—Royal. He finished third, with 8,392 votes behind John Herron of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Following the 2003 merger of the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance into the new Conservative Party of Canada, Moore ran as the Conservative candidate in the 2004 election in the reshaped riding of Fundy against Herron, who had not supported the merger and ran as the Liberal candidate in the 2004 election. Moore won the rematch.

In the 2006 election, Moore ran against three opponents: Eldon Hunter of the Liberal Party of Canada, Rob Moir of the New Democratic Party, and Patty Donovan of the Green Party of Canada, and won again. In February 2006, Moore was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Moore's duties as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice included representing the Minister in Parliament and in the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Stephen Harper after that election was able to sustain a minority government for over two years before the Canadian federal election, 2008 after which a coalition threat was narrowly defeated by a combination of delaying tactics and leadership shifts in the Liberal Party of Canada. Moore won in that election also.

On January 19, 2010, Moore was appointed to cabinet as the Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism). He replaced Diane Ablonczy, who moved to Minister of State (Seniors). He was eventually released from cabinet after the general election in May 2011. Michael Sona, the only person charged in relation the 2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal, worked for a time as a communications special assistant for Moore after the election.

On July 15, 2013, Moore was reinstated in the cabinet and named Minister of State (ACOA) and Regional Minister for New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador in a cabinet shuffle. Moore ran for reelection as the Conservative candidate for Fundy Royal in the 2015 Canadian federal election, placing second.

Post parliamentary career

On September 15, 2016, Moore was appointed as the Conservative critic for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) by Interim Leader of the Conservative Party, Rona Ambrose, replacing Scott Armstrong. He is the only Conservative Party critic who is not a member of either the Senate or the House of Commons.