[2][3] His father was anglophone and his mother was francophone,[4] and he was raised in a bilingual household in Moncton, New Brunswick, where he spent the rest of his early life.

On June 7, 1999, Lord's PC party overcame an early deficit in the polls to pull out a landslide victory in the provincial general election, winning 44 of 55 seats in the legislature.

[7] A short time later, Lord shot down any notions that that might happen, choosing instead to remain focused on provincial politics and the 2003 New Brunswick election.

In the end, Lord opted to stay in New Brunswick due to his young family and the fact that his departure would force his party into a minority government situation.

This election call was in response to the loss of a caucus member, Peter Mesheau, who announced his intention to resign to work in the private sector.

Some observers saw Lord's election call as a bold move considering his popularity numbers had only recently started to surpass the Liberal Leader.

[8] After leaving politics, Lord took a position as senior counsel with the law firm McCarthy Tetrault, splitting time between their offices in Montreal and Ottawa while continuing to maintain his residence in Fredericton.

He was tasked with cutting expenses after an auditor's report that came out late in the term of his predecessor, Jake Epp, criticized the agency for cost overruns and excessive executive wages and bonuses.