Suzanne Blais-Grenier (March 2, 1936 – June 13, 2017) was 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. Blais-Grenier was elected to 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 ...

in the 1984 federal election 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. She represented the riding of

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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, ...

. She was appointed to the

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Mulroney's first

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. She faced mounting criticism from

environmentalists Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologi ...

following cuts to various programs, her lackluster performance over several months when being targeted by the

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in the House of Commons during

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and her spending on foreign travel. Blais-Grenier was demoted in 1985 to the position of

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 Transport. Following the demotion, Blais-Grenier became increasingly critical of the Mulroney government. At the end of 1985, she resigned from Cabinet to protest the government's refusal to prevent the closure of an oil refinery 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 September 20, 1988, she was expelled from the Progressive Conservative

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for refusing to withdraw allegations of kickbacks involving the

wing of the party. She ran as an independent candidate in the November 1988 general election, but was defeated by Progressive Conservative

Benoît Tremblay Benoît Tremblay (; born 16 March 1948) was a Canadian politician and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. Background Tremblay was born on 16 March 1948 in Val-Brillant, Quebec. He had a career in Economics and Admin ...

, and came in fourth place with 2,060 votes.

Electoral record (partial)

External links

* 1936 births 2017 deaths Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Women in Quebec politics Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry 20th-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Ministers of the environment of Canada 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Quebec-MP-stub