He has been Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for elementary and secondary education in Ontario and Director General and Secretary Treasurer of the Conseil des écoles catholiques de langue française du Centre-Est de l’Ontario.

Godbout succeeded in beating the Conservative candidate Walter Robinson in the general election of 2004, by a slim majority.

Godbout, along with a number of former and present Ontario Liberal MPs endorsed party leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy.

At the Liberal Party Convention in Montreal, Godbout supported Michael Ignatieff after Kennedy dropped off the ballot.

He said the decision was a professional one, as he wanted to focus on his business, a consulting firm, operating out of the east end.