Gilles Pouliot (born May 25, 1942) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1985 to 1999, representing the

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

riding of

Lake Nipigon Lake Nipigon (; french: lac Nipigon; oj, Animbiigoo-zaaga'igan) is part of the Great Lakes drainage basin. It is the largest lake entirely within the boundaries of the Canadian province of Ontario. Etymology In the Jesuit Relations the lake is ...

for the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

Background

Pouliot was born in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

. He served as reeve for the Township of

Manitouwadge Manitouwadge is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the Thunder Bay District, at the north end of Highway 614, east of Thunder Bay and north-west of Sault Ste. Marie. History Manitouwadge (''Manidoowaazh'' in O ...

for six years. He also worked as a flotation operator for Noranda Mines. He lived in

during his time in office.

Politics

He was elected in the 1985 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Jim Files by over 1,200 votes. He was re-elected by greater margins in the provincial elections of

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. He supported

Dave Barrett David Barrett (October 2, 1930 – February 2, 2018) was a politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada. He was the 26th premier of British Columbia from 1972 to 1975. Early life and career Barrett was born in Vancouver, Britis ...

for the leadership of the federal

in 1989.

Government

The NDP won a majority government in the 1990 election, and Pouliot was named as Minister of Mines and Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs in

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

's government on October 1, 1990. In early 1991, he introduced legislation forcing mining companies to renew their claims or risk losing them. He retained responsibility for Francophone Affairs throughout the Rae government. On July 31, 1991, he was transferred from Mines to the

Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

. On October 21, 1994, near the end of the Rae government's time in office, he was shifted back to Northern Development and Mines.

Cabinet positions

Opposition

The NDP were defeated in the 1995 election, although Pouliot retained the Lake Nipigon riding without too much difficulty. In 1996, he supported

Howard Hampton Howard George Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, from 1987 to 1999 in the electoral district of Rainy Ri ...

's successful campaign to replace Rae as party leader. Pouliot's riding was eliminated by redistribution in 1996. He rarely spoke in the legislature thereafter, and he chose not to run again in the 1999 election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouliot, Gilles 1942 births Franco-Ontarian people Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs People from Thunder Bay District Politicians from Montreal