Dennis Dawson (born September 28, 1949) is a Canadian politician and administrator. Dawson is a retired

Canadian Senator The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the Bri ...

and former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. He was first elected as an MP in 1977 at the age 27, and was appointed to the Upper Chamber by Prime Minister

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

in 2005. Born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, Quebec, Dawson's first entry into politics was spending five years as a trustee on the

Commission des écoles catholiques de Québec Commission des écoles catholiques de Québec (C.É.C.Q. "Quebec Catholic School Commission") was a Roman Catholic school district which operated schools in Quebec City and Vanier, Quebec. It was first established in 1846. Despite being annexed in ...

. After that, Dawson represented the riding of

Louis-Hébert Louis-Hébert could refer to: * Louis-Hébert (provincial electoral district) *Louis-Hébert (federal electoral district) Louis-Hébert () is a federal electoral district in the Canadian province of Quebec. Represented in the House of Commo ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in the House of Commons from 1977 to 1984. He is a former Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

and former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Immigration. In 2004, he ran in the federal election as a "star" candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the riding of Beauport but was beaten by

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

candidate

Christian Simard Christian Simard (born December 22, 1954 in Chicoutimi, Quebec (now Saguenay, Quebec)) is a Canadian politician. He is the brother of MNA Sylvain Simard. A director general, political adviser and project coordinator, Simard was first elected to th ...

, losing by a ratio of nearly 2:1. On August 2, 2005, Dawson was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the recommendation of

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 ...

. He represented the Liberal Party of Canada in the Upper Chamber until Justin Trudeau's removal of Liberal Senators from the Canadian Liberal caucus in 2014. With the

Senate Liberal Caucus The Senate Liberal Caucus (french: Caucus libéral du Sénat), also known as the Senate Liberals (french: libéraux au Sénat), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were indi ...

facing losing official

parliamentary caucus A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

status in 2020 with a third of its caucus facing mandatory retirements on their turning age 75, Senator Joseph Day announced that the

had been dissolved and a new

Progressive Senate Group The Progressive Senate Group (french: Groupe progressiste du sénat) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the now-defunct Senate Liberal Caucus, which had been expected to lose official pa ...

formed in its wake, with the entire membership joining the new group, including this senator. With Day's mandatory retirement in January 2020, on December 12, 2019,

Jane Cordy Jane Marie Cordy (born July 2, 1950) is a Canadian Senator representing Nova Scotia and former teacher and administrator. Early life Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, she received a teaching certificate from the Nova Scotia Teachers College and a Bache ...

tweeted that her colleagues in the PSG had selected her as the new leader, ostensibly effective that same date. Additionally, she subsequently announced later that day

Terry Mercer Terry M. Mercer (born May 6, 1947) is a former Canadian Senator. A long-time fundraiser and organizer for the Liberal Party of Canada, Mercer was appointed to the Senate representing Nova Scotia by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in November 2003, ...

would be moving into the Whip/Caucus Chair role, that Dawson would be become the new Deputy Leader, and that the interim monikers were being removed at the same time. Quebec Senator Dennis Dawson retired from the Senate on Feb. 9, after 45 years in national public affairs. He has two daughters, Cindy and Kathryn-Anne, and a son named Julian.

References

External links

*
Liberal Senate Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Dennis 1949 births Anglophone Quebec people Canadian senators from Quebec Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Progressive Senate Group Senate Liberal Caucus Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Politicians from Quebec City 21st-century Canadian politicians Quebec school board members