Jean-Jacques Blais, (born June 27, 1940) is a former

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 ...

politician, who represented the riding of Nipissing in 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 ...

from 1972 to 1984. He was a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

. Born in

Sturgeon Falls, Ontario West Nipissing is a municipality in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District. It was formed on January 1, 1999, with the amalgamation of seventeen and a half former town, villages, townships and unorganized communi ...

, Blais attended Ecole Sacré-Coeur and Sturgeon Falls High School before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1964 from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1966 and created a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1979. In 2001, he obtained a master's degree in International Law from the University of Ottawa. First elected to the House of Commons of Canada for Nipissing in the 1972 federal election, Blais served in several cabinet posts in the government of

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 ...

. He was parliamentary secretary to the

President of the Privy Council In the Canadian cabinet, the president of the King's Privy Council for Canada (french: président du Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada) is nominally in charge of the Privy Council Office. The president of the Privy Council also has the larg ...

from 1975 to 1976,

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

from 1976 to 1978, and Solicitor General from 1978 to 1979. Blais retained his seat when the Liberal Party was defeated by the Progressive Conservative government of

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

, and returned to cabinet when the Liberals regained power in 1980. He served as

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 ...

from 1980 to 1983, and Minister of National Defence from 1983 until the 1984 election, when he lost his seat to Moe Mantha in the Progressive Conservative sweep of

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is 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 studied political sci ...

. Blais subsequently returned to practicing law. In 1994, he was appointed chair of the

Pearson Peacekeeping Centre Established in 1994 by the Government of Canada as the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre (more commonly the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, or simply the Pearson Centre) was an independent, not-for-profit organizat ...

, holding that position until he retired in 2002. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute until 2012. In August 2012, with the help of lawyer Mark Power, he contested the nomination of Auditor General Michael Ferguson, named in November 2011, on the grounds that, as a unilingual Anglophone, his nomination was illegal and unconstitutional. The court action refers to article 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Official Languages Act.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blais, Jean-Jacques 1940 births Franco-Ontarian people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Lawyers in Ontario Canadian King's Counsel Postmasters General of Canada University of Ottawa alumni Living people People from West Nipissing Solicitors General of Canada Members of the 20th Canadian Ministry Members of the 22nd Canadian Ministry Members of the 23rd Canadian Ministry Defence ministers of Canada

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