Jacques Chagnon (born August 28, 1952) is a retired

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 who served in the

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 ...

from 1985 to 2018. A member of

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 ...

, he was appointed

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in 1994, when his party went back on to form government in 2003, he was appointed Minister of Public Security until 2005. He is

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

from 2011 to 2018. He represented the electoral districts of Saint-Louis from 1985 to 1994 and

Westmount–Saint-Louis Westmount–Saint-Louis is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It comprises the city of Westmount as well as parts of the Le Plateau-Mont-Royal and Vil ...

from 1994 to 2018 as a member of the

(QLP). He retired from political life in 2018, after serving more than 33 years as a member of the National Assembly.

Background and early life

Born in Montreal on August 28, 1952, Jacques Chagnon has spent his entire life in Boucherville. He is married to Sylvie Bélisle and has three daughters: Marie-Claude Chagnon, Sophie Roberge and Stéphanie Chagnon. He studied at

Dawson College Dawson College is an English-language public college in Westmount and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately of green space. It is the largest CEGEP in the p ...

and then at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and history. He then studied law and political science at the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He was elected Commissioner of the Saint-Exupéry School Board in 1975, he became vice-president of the Regional School Board of Chambly, becoming its president in 1978. As President, he created the first international public school in the world the Macdonald-Cartier school and launched the creation of the first sports-study schools in Quebec. In 1982, he was elected President of the Fédération des Commissions scolaire du Québec, which he headed until 1985, the year of his election to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Political career

Spotted by

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...

, he was elected to the National Assembly for the first time during the 1985 Quebec general election. He was then Member of National Assembly for Saint-Louis, a riding that took the name of Westmount–Saint-Louis in 1994. He became a parliamentary assistant and a member of the

Treasury Board The Treasury Board of Canada () is the Cabinet committee of the Privy Council of Canada which oversees the spending and operation of the Government of Canada and is the principal employer of the core public service. The committee is supported ...

. He will be re-elected without interruption in the riding of Westmount-Saint Louis until his retirement from political life in 2018. He was the

in the government of Daniel Johnson from January 11, 1994, to September 26, 1994, when the QLP was defeated in the 1994 election. When the QLP retook power in 2003, he was appointed to cabinet by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

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 ...

as Minister of Public Security from April 29, 2003, to February 18, 2005. During his time as Minister of Public Security, he had to deal with the

Kanesatake Kanesatake () is a Mohawk (''Kanien'kéha:ka'') settlement on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains in southwestern Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers and about west of Montreal. People who reside in ''Kan ...

crisis. Chagnon was the chair the committee on education in the National Assembly until 2007 and was named the Second Vice-president of the National Assembly after the elections. From 2007 to 2011, he was second vice-president of the National Assembly. During this period, he participated in many delegations such as that of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie. From April 5, 2011, and until the end of his political career, he served as President of the National Assembly. On October 31, 2017, he publicly took offense in a speech to Parliament that the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) arrested MP Guy Ouellette without charges being laid six days later. "Let's accuse or apologize.” Otherwise, this Assembly will have to take steps to defend the very foundations of its existence. Chagnon was first elected in the riding of Saint-Louis in the 1985 election and was re-elected again in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. He was then elected in the new riding of

during the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

election. He was subsequently re-elected in this riding in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and 2012 elections. On April 5, 2011, Chagnon was appointed Speaker of the

, serving until his retirement in 2018. For almost eight years as president, Jacques Chagnon was heavily involved in parliamentary diplomacy. He twice chaired the APF ( Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie), which brings together 90 countries dedicated to the development of

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

. During his presidency, the National Assembly of Quebec concluded new bilateral relations agreements with Newfoundland, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Morocco, the province of Shandong (China) as well as the prefecture of Kyoto (Japan). These were in addition to the others that have been concluded since 1964. On June 15, 2018, he announced his retirement from political life after 33 years of service as a Member of Parliament.

Honours

* 2011 : Grand Cross of the Order of the Pleiade * Commander of the Order of the Pleiade * Officer of the Legion of Honor (France), 2015. * Merit Pierre Boucher (highest distinction awarded by the city of Boucherville to one of these citizens).

Electoral record (partial)

References

External links