Marcel Massé (born June 23, 1940) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and civil servant.

Biography

Massé was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec in 1940 and graduated from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

and Pembroke College, Oxford (as Rhodes Scholar in 1963). He served as Clerk of the Privy Council in 1979 during the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

. In his distinguished public service career, he also served as President of the

Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...

, on two occasions; was undersecretary for external affairs; and represented Canada as its executive director at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

and Inter-American Development Bank. Massé's career in elected politics began when he ran as a candidate for Jean Chrétien's

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in the 1993 federal election. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Hull—Aylmer. The incumbent, Gilles Rocheleau, had joined the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois in 1990 after the

Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...

failed. However, Rocheleau found himself running as a sovereigntist in a strongly federalist riding. Massé routed him by almost 13,700 votes, reverting the seat to its traditional status as a Liberal stronghold; before Rocheleau's brief stint in the Bloc, the riding had been in Liberal hands without interruption since its creation in 1914. Following the election, he was appointed to the

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the ...

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs The minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities (french: Ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the federal government's relations wi ...

President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada In the Canadian cabinet, the president of the King's Privy Council for Canada (french: président du Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada) is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The president of the Privy Council also has the larg ...

and Minister responsible for

Public Service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

Renewal. In 1996, a Cabinet shuffle moved him to the positions of

President of the Treasury Board The president of the Treasury Board () is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The president is the chair of the Treasury Board of Canada (a committee of Cabinet in the Privy Council) and is the minister responsible for the Treasury ...

and Minister responsible for Infrastructure. Massé was re-elected in the 1997 election, but retired from Cabinet in 1999 and resigned his seat in the House of Commons. In 1985, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. After the Liberal Party of Canada's leadership convention in December 2006 he was asked to join the transition team of newly elected leader

Stéphane Dion Stéphane Maurice Dion (born 28 September 1955) is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the European Union since 2017. Dion was Leader of ...

. He served as Dion's Principal Secretary in the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition for a period after Dion's selection as leader. He later left the post for health reasons.

Electoral record

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masse, Marcel 1940 births Canadian King's Counsel Canadian Rhodes Scholars Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Liberal Party of Canada MPs Officers of the Order of Canada Lawyers in Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Clerks of the Privy Council (Canada) Living people