Michel Bissonnet, MNA (born March 28, 1942) is a Canadian politician who served as Liberal member and

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

(House Speaker) of 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 ...

Background

Bissonnet obtained a

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in law at

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) 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- ...

in 1976 and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec the following year. Prior to his years as a lawyer, he worked for the City of

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- ...

for 17 years in various positions including

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and assistant office manager.

NDP candidate

Bissonnet was formerly involved in the federal

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

and its Quebec wing, the defunct Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec. He was a candidate in the 1967 federal by-election for that party in the district of Papineau. He finished third with 15% of the vote. Liberal candidate André Ouellet was elected.

City politics

He ran as an ''Action Laval'' candidate for the city council of Laval in 1969 and served as mayor for the city of Saint-Léonard from 1978 to 1981.

Member of the Provincial Legislature

Bissonnet successfully ran as the Liberal candidate in the district of

Jeanne-Mance Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Plateau-Mont-Royal takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mont-Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, across ...

in the 1981 election. He was re-elected in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

and

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 frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

elections. He also won re-election in the merged district of Jeanne-Mance–Viger in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

Speaker

He served as Vice-President of the National Assembly during his third term of office from 1989 to 1994, Assistant

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and Third Vice-President of the National Assembly during his fifth term from 1999 to 2003. He became the President of the National Assembly (Speaker of the House) after the Liberal victory in 2003. In 2007, Bissonnet was reconfirmed as President of the National Assembly.

Borough Mayor

In July 2008, Bissonnet announced that he would leave provincial politics and run again for the mayoral position of Saint-Léonard, now a borough of Montreal following the 2002 amalgamation. He had become the longest serving MNA of the 38th National Assembly, even though he had never been appointed to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. Bissonnet ran under Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's Union Montreal label. An election had been called to fill the position in the aftermath of the resignation of

Frank Zampino Frank Zampino is a former Montreal politician and is a chartered accountant. He served as the Chairman of the executive committee of the Ville de Montréal and was the city's second-ranking official. Early life In 1976, Zampino graduated from L ...

. Bissonnet was elected with 94.3% of the vote in September 2008, against Livio DiCelmo of Projet Montréal.Victoire écrasante de Michel Bissonnet, La Presse, Montreal, September 22, 2008
/ref> In the 2013 Montreal municipal elections, he was re-elected borough mayor of Saint-Léonard under

Équipe Denis Coderre Equipe or Équipe may refer to: ''Équipe'' Équipe may refer to: * team, in French language * ''L'Équipe'', a French newspaper devoted to sports * ''L'Équipe'' (TV series), a television series broadcast in many versions and in many countries ...

Electoral record (incomplete)

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bissonnet, Michel 1942 births French Quebecers Living people Mayors of places in Quebec Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec Lawyers in Quebec Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Université de Montréal alumni Montreal city councillors People from Saint-Leonard, Quebec New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Vice Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians