Charles Lapointe, (born July 17, 1944) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

businessman and former politician and public servant. Lapointe was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 1974 federal election as a

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for

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

. He served as Canadian delegate to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in 1976, and parliamentary secretary to the Transport minister from 1977 to 1979. He was re-elected in the 1979 federal election that defeated the Liberal government. When the Liberals returned to power in the 1980 election, Lapointe was appointed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Trudeau to the

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for Small Businesses and Tourism. In 1982, he became Minister of State for External Relations and, in 1983, he was promoted to

Minister of Supply and Services Minister of Supply and Services was an office in the Cabinet of Canada from 1969 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, office of the Minister of Supply and Services and the office of the Minister of Public Works were abolished and replaced with the office of ...

and

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. When

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

succeeded Trudeau as Liberal leader and prime minister in June 1984, he retained Lapointe as Minister of Supply and Services while giving him the additional portfolio of

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

. The added responsibility was short-lived, however, as both the Liberal government and Lapointe were defeated in the subsequent fall federal election. Returning to private life, Lapointe became president of International Aeroplane Company, and then vice-president of business development for

Lavalin Lavalin was a Canadian civil engineering and construction firm based in Montreal, Quebec. After a major expansion program in the 1980s that led to financial difficulties, in 1991 Lavalin merged with its long-time competitor, Surveyer, Nenniger & Che ...

. In 1989, he became president and

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of the Greater Montreal Convention and Tourism Bureau (Tourisme Montréal), retaining the position until his retirement in 2013."Monsieur Montréal"
''

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'', June 28, 2013. In 2002, he also became chairman of the

Canadian Tourism Commission Destination Canada, formerly the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC; french: Commission canadienne du tourisme (CCT)), was created in 1995 to promote tourism in Canada. It is a Crown corporation, wholly owned by the Government of Canada, which ...

. In January 2007, as head of Tourism Montreal, he said the city was filthy and more should be done to make it tidy for visitors, leading Mayor

Gérald Tremblay Gérald Tremblay (born September 20, 1942) is a former Canadian politician and businessman who served as mayor of Montreal from 2002 until his resignation in 2012. He also served as president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. Before b ...

to ask for his resignation. Supported by many, Lapointe did not resign and continued in his current position. Lapointe was openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

among his caucus colleagues, but never publicly spoke about his sexuality to the media, during his time in Parliament. With Tourisme Montréal, however, beginning in 1994 he created a then-innovative campaign to increase the city's visibility as a

gay tourism LGBT tourism (or gay tourism) is a form of tourism marketed to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. People might be open about their sexual orientation and gender identity at times, but less so in areas known for violence agai ...

destination, building civic partnerships with LGBT community events such as

Divers/Cité Divers/Cité was an LGBT multidisciplinary arts and music festival taking place each year in the heart of Montreal, since 1993. A week-long avant-garde event in the heart of downtown Montreal and in Montreal's Gay Village area held usually on the e ...

and the

Black and Blue Festival The Black & Blue Festival is a gay-benefit dance festival held in Montreal, Canada, every Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, which raises money for HIV/ AIDS and the gay community. It is organized annually by the Bad Boy Club Montréal. The various ...

, and culminating in the city's hosting of the

World Outgames The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged a ...

in 2006. In 2013 he received the Hanns Ebensten Hall of Fame Award from the

International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (abbreviated IGLTA, and formerly named the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association) is an association of tourism businesses that welcome the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2016, the association had membe ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapointe, Charles 1944 births Living people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Canadian LGBT Members of Parliament Gay politicians People from Côte-Nord Members of the 23rd Canadian Ministry 21st-century LGBT people