Robert Dean (26 October 1927 – 4 February 2021) was a Canadian politician and trade unionist. He was one of the few Anglophone Quebecers to join 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 ...

, which advocates for the independence of Quebec from Canada.

Early life and career

Dean was 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 ...

on 26 October 1927. His father, Harry Wilson Dean, was employed at a hotel; his mother was Marie-Anne Grégoire. Dean completed his primary and secondary education in Montreal. He went on to study at

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène St ...

(an antecedent to

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 ...

), obtaining a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from that institution in 1963. Dean started his career working for

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

Saint-Henri Saint-Henri () is a neighbourhood in southwestern Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the Montreal borough, borough of Le Sud-Ouest. Saint-Henri is bounded to the east by Atwater Avenue, to the west by the town of Montreal West, Quebec, Montreal West, ...

from 1952 until 1959. He was involved in the creation of the

CLSC CLSCs (''centre local de services communautaires'', local community service centre) in Quebec are free clinics and hospitals run and maintained by the Quebec government. They are a form of community health centre. The service was launched in the ...

in Saint-Thérèse. He became a trade unionist in 1960, as part of the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; ) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well. CUPE is the largest union in Canada, ...

and

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

. He was instrumental in creating 24 bargaining units at

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...

, after the provincial government nationalized electric utility in 1962. He also participated in the strikes against

United Aircraft of Canada Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC or P&WC) is a Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, south of Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of RTX ...

from 1974 to 1975, one of the most violent periods in

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, ...

history. From 1969 to 1981, he served as vice president of the

Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ; Quebec Federation of Labour) is the largest labour federation in Quebec in terms of its membership. It has over 500,000 members, who account for 44% of the unionised workers in Q ...

. He also helped organize unions in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Political career

Dean became a member of the

(PQ) in 1969. He was one of the few Anglophone Quebecers to join the separatist party. However, he initially declined to run for politics, after

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, ...

requested that he stand in the

1976 Quebec general election The 1976 Quebec general election was held on November 15, 1976 to elect members to National Assembly of Quebec, National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled only b ...

. Dean subsequently ran for the PQ in the 1981 election and was elected to 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 ...

as member for the district of Prévost. He sponsored the Act creating the

Fonds de solidarité FTQ The largest development capital network in the province, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ was created on the initiative of the FTQ, Québec's largest central labour body. As of November 30, 2022, the Fonds held $17.8 billion in net assets and had m ...

in June 1983. On 5 March 1984, he joined the

Executive Council of Quebec The Executive Council of Quebec (, ) is the cabinet of the Government of Quebec. It comprises ministers of the provincial Crown, who are selected by the premier of Quebec and appointed by the lieutenant governor. Composition Typically mad ...

and served as Minister of Revenue. He later became the Minister of Employment and Consultation during a reshuffle on 20 December 1984. He retained that position when

Pierre-Marc Johnson Pierre Marc Johnson (born July 5, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer, physician and politician. He was the 24th premier of Quebec from October 3 to December 12, 1985, making him the province's shortest-serving premier, and the first Baby Boomer to hold ...

became

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 ...

on 3 October 1985. However, Dean lost his seat during the 1985 provincial election. He ran again in the election four years later in

Groulx Groulx is a provincial electoral district in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It notably includes the city of Boisbriand as well as a few other small cities. It was created for th ...

but was defeated. After his defeat in 1985, Dean rejoined the United Auto Workers and retired in 1989.

Later life

After retiring from politics, Dean became a human resources consultant. He was named a member of the Council for the Elderly on 27 June 2001. He joined the SPQ Libre, the left-wing faction of the PQ, when it formed in February 2004. Dean died on 4 February 2021 at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Robert 1927 births 2021 deaths Parti Québécois MNAs Anglophone Quebec people Politicians from Montreal Sir George Williams University alumni 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec