Jean Poirier (born January 17, 1950) is a former politician in
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 was 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 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 1984 to 1995 who represented the
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
area riding of
Prescott and Russell.
Background
Poirier was educated at the
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...
, receiving a B.E.S. degree in 1972. He served as a project coordinator for
Environment Canada
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...
from 1972 to 1977, and was a professional community development officer from 1979 to 1984.
Politics
Poirier ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of
Prescott and Russell On December 13, 1984, in a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
that was called when the previous member,
Don Boudria
Donald Boudria, (born August 30, 1949) is a former Canadian politician. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 2005 as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien.
M ...
, resigned to run for federal office. He defeated
Progressive Conservative candidate Gaston Patenaude by 1,824 votes.
Poirier was re-elected with a significantly increased majority in the
1985 provincial election.
The Liberals formed a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
after this election, and Poirier was appointed as a
parliamentary assistant
In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the U ...
to the Minister of the Environment. He was re-elected by a landslide in the
1987 provincial election, and he was appointed as Deputy
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
.
Poirier, a former translator, sponsored the ''Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario Act, 1989''.
The Liberals were upset by 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 ...
in the
1990 provincial election, although Poirier was re-elected by a significant margin.
He served as his party's critic for Correctional Services and Intergovernmental Affairs while in opposition.
In 1994, Poirier was one of only three Liberal MPPs, along with
Tim Murphy Timothy Murphy may refer to:
Politics
* Tim Murphy (American politician) (born 1952), American Republican Party politician from Pennsylvania
* Tim Murphy (Canadian politician) (born 1959), Canadian politician
* Timothy J. Murphy (1893–1949), I ...
and
Dianne Poole
Dianne Poole (born June 28, 1949) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1995.
Background
Poole has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Trent Univers ...
, to vote in favour of
Bill 167, a government bill which would have extended spousal benefits to same-sex couples. He did not run for re-election in the
1995 provincial election.
Poirier was a member of the ''Chargé de mission pour la région Amérique'' committee from 1989 to 1995, was the Ontario president of ''l'Assemblée internationale des parlementaires de langue française'' (AIPLF) from 1986 to 1995, and was a member of ''l'Association parlementaire Ontario-Québec'' from 1990 to 1995.
Later life
After leaving provincial politics, he worked for ''l'Assemblée Parlementaire de la
Francophonie
Francophonie is the quality of speaking French. The term designates the ensemble of people, organisations and governments that share the use of French on a daily basis and as administrative language, teaching language or chosen language. The ...
''. He served as regional president of the ''
Association des communautés franco-ontariennes'' in
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...
. He resigned in early 2004 to join the organization as its president. During his term, he was mostly known for his refusal to accept funding from Canadian Heritage as a protest from insufficient funding. He resigned in November 2005 to found l'Assemblée de la Francophonie en Ontario.
He now appears as a panelist on the
CPAC television program ''Revue Politique''. He is a leading proponent of official bilingualism in
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...
municipalities.
He was made an Officer of the
National Order of Merit by the French Government in May 2002.
See also
*
List of University of Waterloo people
The University of Waterloo, located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is a comprehensive public university that was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles. It has grown into an institution of more than 42,000 students, faculty, and ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poirier, Jean
1950 births
Franco-Ontarian people
Living people
Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
People from the United Counties of Prescott and Russell
Politicians from Ottawa
University of Waterloo alumni