Gerald "Gerry" Weiner, (born June 26, 1933) is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician. A

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

educated at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and 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 ...

, Weiner entered local politics and eventually became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Dollard-des-Ormeaux Dollard-des-Ormeaux (; commonly referred to as D.D.O. or simply Dollard) is a city and a predominantly English-speaking suburb of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the most populous suburb on the Island of Montreal. The town was na ...

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, ...

in 1982. He was a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1984 election, winning a

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as Member of Parliament for Dollard,

in the Tory landslide that brought

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

to power. After serving for two years as a parliamentary secretary, Weiner was promoted to

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Mulroney's Cabinet as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

. In 1988, he became Minister of State for Multiculturalism and served in that position until 1991. He was re-elected as MP for the new riding of

Pierrefonds—Dollard Pierrefonds—Dollard () is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. Its population was 108,587 at the 2016 Canadian Census. This riding occupies the northwest part ...

in the 1988 election. In 1989, he became

Secretary of State for Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Sco ...

. From 1990 to 1993, he was

Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship The Minister of Multiculturalism and Citizenship was an office in the Cabinet of Canada from 1991 to 1996 and from 2013 to 2015. It was superseded in 1996 and again in 2015 by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In 2019, Bardish Chagger was appoint ...

in the cabinets of Mulroney and his successor

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician who was the 19th prime minister of Canada from June to November 1993. Campbell is the first and only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the f ...

. He lost his seat in the 1993 election that also defeated the Campbell government and reduced the Tories to two seats. Weiner entered provincial politics, serving as president of the Equality Party, which was a party advocating the rights of

anglophones The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

in Quebec. In 1998, he was elected to the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

as a member of the

Vision Montreal Vision Montreal () was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1994 and dissolved in April 2014. Between 2001 and 2013 it formed the official opposition on Montreal City Council. Origins Vision Montreal was e ...

party and a supporter of Mayor Pierre Bourque. Weiner served on the city's executive committee. Since 2017, Weiner has transitioned back to the private sector, as an Executive Director at APS Global Partners Inc. This esteemed business consulting company specializes in the Canadian Start-Up Visa program, facilitating the growth and success of aspiring entrepreneurs. Weiner continues to practice as a pharmacist in Montreal. He is currently the president of the board of directors for The Centre For Literacy of Quebec; the national vice-president of the Friends of Haifa University; the chair of the board of directors of the Old Port of Montreal Corporation; a member board of directors of Mount Sinai Hospital and member of the board of directors of the Canada-India Business Council.

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiner, Gerry 1933 births Anglophone Quebec people Canadian pharmacists Living people People from Dollard-des-Ormeaux McGill University Faculty of Science alumni Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry Members of the 25th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Montreal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Université de Montréal alumni Jewish mayors of places in Canada 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century mayors of places in Quebec