Josée Verner, (born December 30, 1959) is a

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 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 ...

. She represented the electoral district of

Louis-Saint-Laurent Louis-Saint-Laurent () is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. It was created in 2003 from parts of Portneuf (electoral district), P ...

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 2006 to 2011 as a member of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

. She also served as a minister in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

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 ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

serving as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister for La Francophonie. On May 18, 2011, it was announced that she would be appointed to 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 ...

following the loss of her Commons seat in the 2011 federal election. She was formally appointed on June 13, 2011.

Political career

More recently a member of the provincial

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

and the federal

, Verner had previously worked as a political staffer in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

in the

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just un ...

government. Verner has spent almost 20 years in the communications and public service fields. She was a candidate for the Conservatives in the 2004 federal election and finished second with 31% of the vote, the party's best Quebec showing, in a three-way race that was won by the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

Bernard Cleary Bernard Cleary (May 8, 1937 – July 27, 2020) was a Canadians, Canadian politician. Cleary was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2004 Canadian federal election. He was the ''Bloc Québécois'' member of parliament for the ...

. This was contrasted with her victory in a two-way race in 2006. Looking to boost the party's profile in Quebec, and hoping to make Verner a viable candidate in future elections, Conservative leader

took the unusual step of naming Verner to the opposition shadow cabinet even though she was not a Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. She served as critic for the

Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec The Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec () is the member of the Cabinet of Canada who also serves as the chief executive of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. Prior ...

and the Minister responsible for La Francophonie, both posts then held by fellow

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 ...

ker

Jacques Saada Jacques Saada, ( ar, جاك سعادة; born November 22, 1947) is a Canadians, Canadian politician and former Canadian Cabinet, cabinet minister. Saada is a teacher and linguist by profession and was Chief Executive Officer of a translation ...

. She was also appointed chair of the Quebec Conservative

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

which at the time was made up of herself and Conservative senators.

Cabinet

Running again in the 2006 election, she was elected with 57.68% of the vote in

, defeating

, and heading a wave of Conservative victories that swept the Quebec City area. On February 6, 2006, she was sworn into Prime Minister

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Minister of International Co-operation and Minister for

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

and the Official Languages Act. Her parliamentary secretary was Ted Menzies, who received some criticism for having La Francophonie as his portfolio while he does not speak French. It was subsequently specified that he was appointed parliamentary secretary to Josée Verner for his experience as opposition critic for International Co-operation rather than for La Francophonie.

Senate

After losing her seat in the House of Commons in the 2011 election, Verner was appointed by Prime Minister

to the Canadian Senate on May 18, 2011. On January 31, 2017, Verner announced that she would be resigning from the Conservative caucus to sit as a non-affiliated senator. In May 2017, there was speculation that Verner may be selected as the CAQ candidate for a by-election in the

electoral district of

Louis-Hébert Louis-Hébert could refer to: * Louis-Hébert (provincial electoral district) *Louis-Hébert (federal electoral district) Louis-Hébert () is a federal electoral district in the Canadian province of Quebec. Represented in the House of Commo ...

. Although Verner did not run, she did endorse CAQ candidate

Geneviève Guilbault Geneviève Guilbault (born November 4, 1982) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in a by-election held in the electoral district Louis-Hébert (provincial electoral district), Louis-Hébert on October 2, 20 ...

for the seat. Verner joined the

Independent Senators Group The Independent Senators Group (ISG; french: Groupe des sénateurs indépendants) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10, 2016, the Independent Senators Group (ISG) is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the ...

caucus in October 2017. On November 4, 2019, she joined the

Canadian Senators Group The Canadian Senators Group (french: Groupe des sénateurs canadiens) is a parliamentary group of senators in the Senate of Canada founded on November 4, 2019, by eight senators from the Independent Senators Group, two from the Conservative Pa ...

. At the same time, the CSG selected Senator Verner as its interim deputy leader. In January 2021, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' reported that Verner was vacationing in Florida contrary to public health advice to avoid non-essential international travel during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

References

External links

* *
Verner's Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verner, Josee 1959 births Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Quebec lieutenants Politicians from Gatineau Living people French Quebecers Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Women members of the Senate of Canada Independent Canadian senators Canadian Senators Group Canadian senators from Quebec Women in Quebec politics Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry Women government ministers of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians