Francis Fox (born December 2, 1939) is a former member of the

Senate of Canada 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 B ...

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the Ca ...

minister, and

Principal Secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries. * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...

in the Prime Minister's Office, and thus was a senior aide to

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 ...

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 ...

. He also worked as a

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

in the 1980s.

Life and career

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

, Fox is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

by training. He 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 1972 election as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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) for the riding of Argenteuil—Deux-Montagnes, Quebec. He was re-elected in the 1974 election from the same constituency. In the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1980 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1980. Africa * 1980 Angolan legislative election * 1980 Cameroonian presidential election * 1980 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 1980 Gabonese legislative election * 1980 Guinean legislative ...

, he was returned as MP for

Blainville—Deux-Montagnes Blainville—Deux-Montagnes (formerly known as Deux-Montagnes) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1997. The riding was created as "Deux-Montagnes" in 1976 from ...

before being defeated in that riding in the 1984 election. Fox was appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

in 1976 when he became

Solicitor General of Canada The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice. It was n ...

. Bilingual, Fox was seen as an up-and-comer in the Liberal cabinet, and even a potential party leader. However, he was forced to resign on January 27, 1978, when it became known that he had forged the signature of his then-girlfriend's husband on a form granting permission for her to have an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. Although he was married at the time of the scandal, he subsequently divorced his wife (m. 1965),

Joan Pennefather Joan Pennefather is a Canadian film and cultural executive. She was the first woman to be the Commissioner of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Early life Pennefather was born in Montreal, Quebec, and studied history and communications a ...

. He later married a subsequent girlfriend, Vivian Case (b. 1950). He is currently married (~1979) to Case, who is an artist, and has three children. Fox returned to Cabinet after the 1980 election when Trudeau appointed him to the position of

Secretary of State for Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Scot ...

and Minister of Communications. He then served as

Minister of International Trade The Minister of International Trade Diversification () was a minister of the Crown position in the Canadian Cabinet who was responsible for the federal government's international trade portfolio. Along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and t ...

in 1984 in the short-lived government of Trudeau's successor,

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 ...

. With the defeat of the Turner government and the loss of his own seat, Fox returned to the private sector. He became a lobbyist, and a member of Government Consultants International, a consulting firm, with

Frank Moores Frank Duff Moores (February 18, 1933 – July 10, 2005) served as the second premier of Newfoundland. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservatives from 1972 until his retirement in 1979. Moores was also a successful businessman in bo ...

Gary Ouellet Gary Ouellet (January 9, 1945 – June 8, 2002) was a French-Canadian television producer and magician who lived and worked in the United States. He may be best known as the driving force behind a number of network television specials that helped s ...

, and

Gerald Doucet Gerald Joseph Doucet, QC (May 4, 1937 – November 23, 2017) was a Canadian politician and lobbyist. He represented the electoral district of Richmond in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1963 to 1974, as a Progressive Conservative. Born ...

. Subsequently, he was a senior partner in the law firm of Martineau Walker, and later as an executive at Rogers AT&T Wireless. In 2003, Fox became a senior member of Paul Martin's transition team as he prepared to succeed

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

as prime minister. In 2004, Fox became Martin's

principal secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries. * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...

, but it was announced on August 18 that he would be leaving the position on October 1 in order to return to private life. In private life, Fox served as the president of former minister

Liza Frulla Liza Frulla (born March 30, 1949, in Montreal, Quebec), formerly known as Liza Frulla-Hébert, is a former Canadian politician. She was a Liberal Member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1989 to 1998, a Liberal Member of Parliament from 20 ...

's riding. He was an early prominent supporter of former Liberal leader

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...

. Fox was appointed to the Senate on Martin's recommendation on August 29, 2005, and announced his resignation on November 30, 2011, effective December 2.

References

External links

*
Liberal Senate Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Francis 1939 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian lawyers Canadian lobbyists Canadian King's Counsel Canadian senators from Quebec Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Montreal Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Members of the 20th Canadian Ministry Members of the 22nd Canadian Ministry Members of the 23rd Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Montreal Solicitors General of Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians