Éric R. Mercier (born October 3, 1967) is a military officer, publicist, and politician from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. 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 ...

, Mercier represented the Charlesbourg electoral district in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

from 2003 to 2007.Staff report (March 27, 2007)
ADQ shines in Quebec City.

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...

Life and career

His father Ralph Mercier (1937–2020) was also a politician from Quebec. Mercier attended

Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures is a city in central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint Lawrence River, adjacent to Quebec City. The town was founded in 1691 by three families (Desroches, Racette, Couture). It was merged with Quebec City on January 1, 2002 ...

, graduating in 1987. He then attended

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Mont ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in communications and public relations in 1991 and a bachelor's degree in political science in 1996. He also took courses in the law school while attending Laval. He earned a degree in tourism at

Collège Mérici Collège Mérici is a private college, the equivalent of a CEGEP, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The college was founded in 1930, and was named in honour of Italian saint Angela Merici Angela Merici or Angela de Merici ( , ; 21 March 1474 � ...

in 1994. Mercier was appointed project manager for the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

group at the Mallette Maheu division of

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporat ...

in 1996. Mercier then took military training courses for officers and leadership at

Royal Military College Saint-Jean , mottoeng = Truth, Duty, Valour , established = 1952 , type = Military college , chancellor = Anita Anand (''ex officio'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Command ...

, completing the work in 1998. After naval training in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...

, he studied information and public affairs for the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Ai ...

in Victoria until 2001. He was appointed as a career officer of the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...

in 1998, training on ''

HMCS Oriole HMCS ''Oriole'' is the sail training vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy based at CFB Halifax in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is a sailing ketch, currently the oldest commissioned vessel in the Royal Canadian Navy, and also the longest serving comm ...

'' in 1998 and the frigate HMCS ''Ottawa'' in 1999 and 2000. He served as liaison officer and administrative assistant at the

Canadian Forces Naval Reserve The Naval Reserve (NAVRES, french: link=no, Réserve navale) is the Primary Reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The primary mission of the NAVRES is to force generate sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, inc ...

in 1999 and 2000, then as public communications officer attached to the headquarters of the Naval Reserve in 2000 and 2001. Mercier was Divisional Officer at Department of Education at the Naval Unit HMCS ''Montcalm'' in Quebec in 2002 and 2003. He served as Deputy Director and Director of Communications Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

in 2002 and 2003. He was elected in the

2003 Quebec general election The 2003 Quebec general election was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec (Canada). The Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ), led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Premier Bern ...

, succeeding the retiring

Jean Rochon Jean Rochon (July 29, 1938 – October 16, 2021) was a Canadian politician and member of the National Assembly of Quebec. He was a cabinet minister for several ministries from 1994 to 2003 when the Parti Québécois formed the government under ...

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereignist and social democracy, social democratic provincial list of political parties in Quebec, political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates Quebec sovereignty movement ...

. Mercier was defeated by Catherine Morissette of

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 ...

in the

2007 Quebec general election The 2007 Quebec general election was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on March 26, 2007 to elect members of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party led by Premier Jean Charest managed to win a plurality of seats, ...

References

External links

Éric R. Mercier
via

1967 births Living people French Quebecers Politicians from Quebec City Quebec Liberal Party MNAs 21st-century Canadian politicians {{Quebec-MNA-stub