Roch Cholette (born May 16, 1963 in Lachine, Quebec) is a Canadian public

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

and a former municipal and provincial politician in Quebec, Canada.

Early life and education

Cholette studied at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (Université du Québec à Hull at that time) and completed a bachelor's degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

in 1987. He served as the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the provincial riding of

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

from 1998 until 2008, as a member of the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

caucus. He was a member of the Ordre des comptables generaux licenciés du Québec (Certified General Accountants of Quebec) for over 10 years and also worked at the Office of the

Auditor-General of Canada The Auditor General of Canada is an officer of the Parliament of Canada to aid accountability and oversight by conducting independent financial audits of federal government operations. These audits provide members of parliament with objective e ...

Political career

Cholette started his political career in 1992 when he was elected as a councillor for the former city of

. He remained at that position until the 1998 provincial election when he ran as a candidate in the riding of Hull. He was elected in 1998 and the opposition critic in immigration then in municipal affairs. During his first mandate, the Liberals were the opposition party and the Parti Québécois (PQ) under Lucien Bouchard and later Bernard Landry were in power. Cholette was the Liberal Party's municipal affairs critic and had heavily criticized the party's municipal reorganization project, known as Bill 170. After being re-elected and the Liberals won a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

in the

2003 election The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...

, Cholette remained a backbencher MNA, and was named the Parliamentary Secretary of Premier Jean Charest in 2005. In the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative elec ...

, Cholette defeated PQ candidate and well-known teacher

Marcel Painchaud Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian s ...

and social activist

Bill Clennett Shawinigan Handshake is the epithet given to a chokehold executed on February 15, 1996, by Jean Chrétien, then-Prime Minister of Canada, on anti-poverty protester Bill Clennett. The phrase comes from Chrétien's birthplace of Shawinigan, Quebec, ...

from Québec Solidaire. However, Cholette's majority was reduced significantly during the 2007 election because of the strong performance of the

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

's candidate Francois Lizotte and the Green Party's Melanie Perrault. He was later named the Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

of Finances and President of the Treasury Board, portfolios that are occupied by

Monique Jérôme-Forget Monique Jérôme-Forget (born August 8, 1940) is a psychologist and a former Quebec politician. She was the National Assembly of Quebec, Member of National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeoys (provincial electoral district), Mar ...

. On April 9, 2008, Cholette announced his resignation as Hull MNA and was replaced by his constituency assistant

Maryse Gaudreault Maryse Gaudreault (born July 6, 1959) is a Canadian politician, who was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Hull from 2008 to 2022. Gaudreault was elected for the Quebec Liberal Party on May 12, 2008 in Hull during a b ...

in the resulting by-election. Cholette has shown interest in running for mayor of the city of Gatineau in the 2009 municipal elections.

Electoral record (partial)

References

External links

Roch Cholette's Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cholette, Roch 1963 births Living people People from Lachine, Quebec Politicians from Gatineau Politicians from Montreal Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Université du Québec en Outaouais alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians