FREDERICTON - The last time New Brunswick Conservative Bernard Valcourt was involved in federal politics, he was a member of a Tory majority government.

Two decades later, he finds himself in a familiar situation.

"I come back with a different outlook because the world has changed," Valcourt said Wednesday in an interview.

The 59-year-old bilingual lawyer served as a cabinet minister under the governments of Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell.

On Monday, he unseated three-term Liberal MP Jean-Claude D'Amours. His victory built upon an already solid Conservative base in the province.

He says he decided to re-enter federal public life following an 18-year absence after seeing the constant stream of Atlantic Canadians leave the region for better employment prospects elsewhere.

"You cannot remain insensitive to the plight of our region when you are witnessing what's happening," he said.

"Workers with talent are moving outside of northern New Brunswick because they have no work opportunities. Young kids are not coming back after their degrees because their skills are not in demand here.

"All of that together pushed me to decide to return to try to do something about it."

Valcourt was first elected to Ottawa in 1984 in the government of Brian Mulroney and was named to cabinet two years later. But his political career was not without controversy.

In 1989, he was forced to resign as minister of consumer and corporate affairs after pleading guilty to impaired driving. He was fined $600 and had his driver's license suspended for six months after a motorcycle accident that cost him his sight in one eye.

But a year later, Mulroney invited him back into cabinet. He was defeated in 1993, when the Progressive Conservatives were left with two seats.

Valcourt says he applied for a pardon in September to scrap his criminal record but is still awaiting a response.

"My pardon application is in the process for the time being," he said. "It's still on the books."

After he was ousted from Ottawa, Valcourt was elected to the New Brunswick legislature, where he served as the province's Conservative leader for two years before returning to his law practice.

Don Desserud, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick, said Valcourt could find himself back in federal cabinet.

"One reason is the fact that he is a francophone from Eastern Canada, and there are not a lot of francophones from Eastern Canada, including Quebec, for the prime minister to choose his cabinet from," Desserud said.

Valcourt's riding of Madawaska-Restigouche borders on Quebec, and Desserud said that could make Valcourt a valuable commodity.

"I think because of the problems the prime minister has had in Quebec, he'll be looking for a cabinet minister to reorganize the Quebec base."

Valcourt said his priority is to work for the people of his riding and hasn't given a lot of thought to a cabinet role, but would accept it if the prime minister makes the offer.

Two MPs from New Brunswick were at the cabinet table prior to the election -- Keith Ashfield and Rob Moore.