Pierre Corbeil (born June 23, 1955 in

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe ( , ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie r ...

) is a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

. He was the mayor of

Val-d'Or, Quebec Val-d'Or ( , , ; meaning "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the 2021 Canadian census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue List of regions of Quebec, ...

from 2013 to 2021. He was also a Member of

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

(MNA) for

Abitibi-Est Abitibi-Est is a provincial electoral district in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada, that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The district notably includes eastern portions of the city of Rouyn-Noranda Rouyn ...

as a member of the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

and served as a cabinet minister in the government of

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding se ...

. Corbeil went to the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

and obtained a

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

in dentistry in 1978 before becoming an associate at a local dental clinic. He would later become the manager and vice-president of the Quebec Association of Dental Surgeons. He would also be the president of the

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or ( , , ; meaning "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the 2021 Canadian census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye ...

Chamber of Commerce, a municipal councillor in Val-d'Or for nearly ten years and president of a local hockey league. Corbeil jumped into provincial politics in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

when he was elected as MNA for Abitibi-Est as the Liberals under the leadership of

. He would become the Minister of Forest, Wildlife and Parks in 2003 and during a

cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

in 2005 would become Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife. His term was marked by several closures of plants and sawmills in the lumber sector, including

Domtar Domtar Corporation is a leading, privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products, with a workforce of roughly 14,000 employees in more than 60 locations across North America. While Domtar operated independently for several decades a ...

, which cost several hundred jobs for regions such as the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

Nord-du-Québec Nord-du-Québec (; ) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada. Spread over nearly 14 degrees of latitude, north of the 49th parallel, the region covers on the Labrador Peninsula, making ...

and

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

. Restructuring plans were tabled by the Minister in order to re-launch the economy of several towns affected by the closures due to the softwood lumber dispute. Corbeil was defeated in the 2007 election by the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

's aboriginal candidate Alexis Wawanoloath. He was re-elected in the 2008 election and named the minister responsible for Indian Affairs which was previously held by Benoit Pelletier who did not seek re-election.

External links

* 1955 births Canadian dentists Living people Members of the Executive Council of Quebec People from Saint-Hyacinthe People from Val-d'Or Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Quebec municipal councillors Université de Montréal alumni 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century mayors of places in Quebec Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe alumni {{Quebec-MNA-stub