Jean-Pierre Charbonneau (born January 3, 1950 in

Saint-Eustache, Quebec Saint-Eustache () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in western Quebec, Canada, west of Montreal on the north shore of the Rivière des Mille Îles. It is located northwest of Montreal. History The city was founded in 1770 and was incorpo ...

) is a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and a former

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 ...

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 ...

. He was the Quebec MNA member under the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

for the provincial ridings of

Borduas Borduas is a provincial electoral district in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It notably includes the municipality of Beloeil, Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Otterburn Park. It was crea ...

and

Verchères Verchères is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in Montérégie, Quebec, located on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 5,692. History In the 17th century, the settlement at Verchères w ...

in the

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. ...

region.

Life and career

After studying at

Montreal 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 ...

Ahuntsic Ahuntsic (; French pronunciation ) is a district in the northern part of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Originally an independent village, Ahuntsic was first annexed by Montreal in 1910, then merged into the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville in 2002. ...

College in

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

s, Charbonneau attended the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

in criminology and obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1972. He later had a lengthy journalistic career in which he worked for several media outlets in the Montreal region including radio stations CKAC and CKVL,

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

s including ''

Le Devoir ''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. ''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...

'' and '' La Presse'' and various magazines and revues. He was mostly a journalist and specialist in crime news. He also published several books related to

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

which earned him an award. On May 1, 1973, Antonio Mucci, a

Montreal Mafia The Rizzuto crime family () is an organized crime family based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, whose criminal activity covers most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) considers the family a facti ...

member, fired three times at him in the offices of ''

''. One shot hit him in the arm. He was back at work two months later. Charbonneau first entered politics in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

when he was elected in Vercheres and the Parti Québécois, led by

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

defeated Robert Bourassa's Liberals during that election. He was a prominent figure in attracting supporters of sovereignty during the 1980 referendum which resulted in a victory for the No side. He was re-elected in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

before stepping down the first time in 1989 prior to a humanitarian trip to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

organized by the

and the criminology faculty. He was not named as a minister during his first 13 years but was the parliamentary secretary to Lévesque in 1983 and 1984 and headed several committees. He was also briefly an administration member of Oxfam-Quebec, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

concentrating in international development and aid. He also taught

Tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

in his area for five years and returned to co-host a radio show on CHKL. While being away from politics he participated in Belanger-Campeau Committee which was launched by the Bourassa government in the fallout of the failure of the

Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...

which would have accorded Quebec a distinct society mention. Charbonneau re-entered politics in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

where he was elected as an MNA for the riding of Borduas when the Parti Québécois under the leadership of

Jacques Parizeau Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and Québécois economist who was a noted Quebec sovereigntist and the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996. Early life and career Parize ...

, defeated the Liberals led by

Daniel Johnson, Jr. Daniel Johnson Jr. (born December 24, 1944) is a former Canadian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec and was the 25th premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994 until his party's defeat in the provincial general election. ...

He was re-elected successfully in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and 2003. He was the speaker of the provincial legislative assembly of Quebec for six years, from 1996 to 2002, before being named the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in the

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader o ...

cabinet, until the party's defeat to

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...

's Liberals in the 2003 elections. He served as critic of the

opposition party Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...

and

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

until his second retirement on November 15, 2006. At one time Charbonneau was the minister for reform of democratic institutions under the PQ government. He later became president of the Mouvement démocratie nouvelle, which advocates

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in Quebec.

References

External links

Biography of Jean-Pierre Charbonneau (English)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charbonneau, Jean-Pierre 1950 births Living people French Quebecers Journalists from Quebec Organized crime writers Parti Québécois MNAs Université de Montréal alumni People from Saint-Eustache, Quebec Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians