Regan was first elected to the House of Commons as part of the Liberal victory in the
1993 federal election under
Jean Chrétien. He was defeated in the
1997 election by
NDP candidate
Gordon Earle, mainly because of the federal government's changes to employment insurance. After regaining his seat in the
2000 federal election, Regan was appointed
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, a position then held by
Don Boudria. In 2003, Paul Martin appointed him as
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. He would keep position in cabinet in Martin’s minority government. In February 2004, Regan was appointed to act as
Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of Canada, in matters related to
Maher Arar.
In opposition during the
2011 federal election campaign Upon the defeat of the Liberal government in the
2006 election, he was appointed by
Bill Graham, Interim Leader of the Official Opposition, to the shadow cabinet as the Official Opposition Critic for Human Resources and Skills Development. During his time as critic, Regan introduced a private members’ bill to expand Canada Access Grants for disabled and low income students. In January 2007, he was appointed to the newly created Liberal Priorities and Planning Committee, which was chaired by then Liberal Opposition Leader
Stéphane Dion. In March 2008, Regan was named Chair of the Caucus Committee on Environmental Sustainability. Regan also served as Vice-Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Regan was re-elected in
2008, and
2011 federal elections, despite significant Liberal losses in both. Regan won his seat by a few percentage points in the latter election as the Liberals finished in third place. In December 2019, he ran for re-election for Speaker of the Commons but lost to fellow Liberal MP
Anthony Rota. Following Rota's win, the
Conservatives said that he had them to thank for his new position. They had made the decision during a caucus meeting to unseat Regan as a show of strength to the Liberal minority government. On March 31, 2021, Regan announced that he would not seek re-election. == Awards and honours ==