Pierre Marc Johnson (born July 5, 1946) is a Canadian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and politician. He was the 24th

premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following tha ...

from October 3 to December 12, 1985, making him the province's shortest-serving premier, and the first Baby Boomer to hold the office.

Early background

Born in

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 ...

, Quebec, on July 5, 1946, Johnson is of

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

and Irish descent and is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. He received a degree in law from 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 ...

in 1970 and a medical degree from the

Université de Sherbrooke The Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS; Quebec English, English: ''University of Sherbrooke'') is a French-language Public university, public research university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, with a second campus in Longueuil, a suburb on the Mont ...

in 1976. He is the son of Reine Gagné and Daniel Johnson Sr., who served as

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following tha ...

from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

to 1968. His brother, Daniel Johnson Jr., served as Premier for nine months in 1994. Each of the Johnsons led different political parties: * Daniel Sr. was leader of the conservative Union Nationale party, and had an ambiguous position on the question of independence for Quebec; * Pierre Marc joined the sovereigntist PQ in the aftermath of the 1970

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

; * Daniel Jr. backed the

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

Liberals by 1977.

Member of the Cabinet

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, Pierre Marc Johnson successfully ran as the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

candidate for the district of

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

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 ...

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...

appointed him to the cabinet in 1977 and he was re-elected in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

. Johnson served as Minister of Labour from 1977 to 1980, Minister to Consumers, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions from 1980 to

, Minister of Social Affairs from

to 1984 and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

from 1984 to 1985.

Premier of Quebec

In the leadership election of 1985, Johnson was chosen to succeed PQ founder

as leader of the party and consequently as Premier of Quebec. Johnson was generally considered to be soft on the sovereignty of Quebec issue. He put independence on the back burner, as Lévesque had begun to do under the "

beau risque In Quebec politics, ''le beau risque'' (, ''the noble risk'' or ''the good risk'') is a political catch phrase describing the "risk" the Parti Québécois (PQ or "''péquistes''") took in asking Quebecers to support federal Progressive Conservativ ...

" approach and eventually made that approach the official

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

policy of his party, calling it "National Affirmation". Johnson was described as somewhat on the right of the party.

Leader of the Official Opposition

He was re-elected to the legislature in

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 n ...

, but his party was defeated by the Liberals, led 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 ...

. His leadership was contested by more

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

PQ supporters, such as Gérald Godin. On November 10, 1987, he resigned as head of the party,

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

and member of 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 ...

. He was succeeded as head of the PQ by interim leader Guy Chevrette and later

Jacques Parizeau Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and economist who served as the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996. Early life and career Parizeau was born in Montreal, Quebec, the s ...

, who again made independence a primary goal.

Elections as party leader

Johnson lost in the December 1985 election after becoming leader in October. Johnson became as opposition leader and stepped down as party leader in 1987 (with next election in 1989).

Life after leaving politics

Both a lawyer and a physician, he is a former

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Law 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, ...

in Montreal and was Counsel at the firm of Heenan Blaikie LLP in Montreal, Quebec until 2014. He is now Counsel at the firm of Lavery, also in Montreal. In 2001 he was appointed as chief advisor and negotiator of the Quebec government in the Softwood Lumber dispute between Canada and the United States by then Premier

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader ...

. In October 2006, he was chosen by the Charest government to preside over a public inquiry into the collapse of a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

over Autoroute 19 in

Laval, Quebec Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Can ...

, leaving five dead and six injured. The choice of Johnson was criticized by both leaders in opposition

André Boisclair André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec. Between January 1996 and March 2003, Boisclair serv ...

(PQ) and

Mario Dumont Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 2 ...

(

Action démocratique du Québec The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...

) because of the possibility of

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

. As president, he was invested with the responsibility of investigating government administration while being a former Minister of the Quebec Government, a former Premier of Quebec, and, until shortly after this nomination, member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of Ciment Saint-Laurent, a

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

company. Johnson was appointed by the minority Conservative government to the Canadian delegation at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

' Bali Conference on climate change

Johnson was Quebec's negotiator for CETA (Canada-European-union Trade Agreement).

Attitude about sovereignty

Johnson refused to take a stance regarding the

1995 Quebec referendum The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should proclaim sovereignty and become an independent country, with the condition precedent of ...

on independence. In December 2005 he made waves in sovereigntist circles by supporting Liberal candidate and close, longtime friend

Raymond Bachand Raymond Bachand (born 22 October 1947, in Montreal, Quebec) is a former politician, a businessman and a lawyer in Quebec, Canada. He was the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Outremont, and a member of the Queb ...

in a provincial

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in the

Outremont Outremont () is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by F ...

riding.

Select publications

*Johnson, Pierre Marc & Karel Mayrand. "Beyond Trade: Broadening the Globalization Governance Agenda." Guiding Global Order: G8 Governance in the Twenty First Century. (Ashgate: Aldershot, 2000)
Link to item
*Johnson, Pierre Marc & Andre Beaulieu. "The Environment and NAFTA: Understanding and Implementing the New Continental Law." (Island Press, 1996)

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Pierre Marc 1946 births Living people Quebec people of Irish descent Canadian legal scholars Physicians from Montreal Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Ministers of justice of Quebec Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Parti Québécois MNAs Politicians from Montreal Premiers of Quebec Academics from Montreal Lawyers from Montreal Université de Montréal alumni Université de Sherbrooke alumni Leaders of the Parti Québécois Université de Montréal Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec