Marcel Masse, (May 27, 1936 – August 25, 2014) was 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. He served as a
Quebec MLA,
federal MP and
federal cabinet minister.
Biography
Background
Masse was educated at 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-de ...
and pursued graduate work in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. He worked as a high school teacher in
Joliette
Joliette is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of Greate ...
,
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 ...
from 1962 to 1966.
Provincial politics
In the
1966 Quebec provincial election, he was elected to the
Quebec legislative assembly in the riding of
Montcalm as a member of the
Union Nationale (UN), a conservative political party. He served as a minister in the governments of
Quebec premiers Daniel Johnson (1966–1968) and
Jean-Jacques Bertrand
Jean-Jacques Bertrand (; June 20, 1916 – February 22, 1973) was the 21st premier of Quebec, from October 2, 1968, to May 12, 1970. He led the Union Nationale party.
Member of the legislature
Bertrand served as Member of the Legislative Assemb ...
(1968–1970).
Masse was re-elected in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
. He was a leadership candidate at the
party convention of 1971, but lost by 21 votes. He left the Union Nationale to sit as an independent until his term expired in
1973. In 1974, Masse was hired by the engineering firm
Lavalin Lavalin was a Canadian civil engineering and construction firm based in Montreal, Quebec. After a major expansion program in the 1980s that led to financial difficulties, in 1991 Lavalin merged with its long-time competitor, Surveyer, Nenniger & Che ...
as an administrator.
Federal politics
He attempted to win a seat 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 ...
as a
Progressive Conservative candidate, but was defeated in the
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
and
1980 federal elections. He was elected as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Frontenac in the
1984 election that brought
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 ...
and the Tories to power.
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 ...
Mulroney appointed Masse to the position of
Minister of Communications. Masse resigned from the
Canadian Cabinet
The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the ...
on September 25, 1985, during an investigation by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
of alleged overspending during his election campaign. He returned to Cabinet on November 30 after being cleared of any wrongdoing.
As Communications Minister, Masse was responsible for Canada's cultural policy. He argued against measures that would undermine the country's cultural sovereignty during negotiations leading to the
Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement
The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), official name as the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States of America (french: links=no, Accord de libre-échange entre le Canada et les États-Unis d'Amérique), wa ...
. He was moved out of the Communications portfolio to that of
Minister of Energy in 1986 when it appeared to Mulroney that Masse might be an obstacle to the
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
negotiations. Masse was moved back to Communications following the
1988 election and the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement.
In 1991, Masse became
Minister of National Defence. He resigned from cabinet in January 1993 along with a number of other ministers who were not intending to run in the
1993 election.
Retirement
Since leaving federal politics Masse, a moderate
Quebec nationalist
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 thirteen p ...
, has served in a number of positions 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 ...
'' governments 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 ...
and
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician.
Minister for two years in the Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then led the emerging Bloc Québécois and became Leader of the Opposition in the House ...
. He was head of one of fourteen regional committees that held public hearings on
Quebec independence
The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...
in 1995 in the run up to the
1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty. He served as president of the ''Conseil de la langue française du Québec'' in 1995, and as Quebec's delegate-general in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
from 1996 to 1997. He has also served as chair of the ''Commission des biens culturels du Québec''.
In 1995, he was made an Officer of the
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...
. In 1989, he was made a Commander of the
Order of La Pléiade
The Order of La Pléiade (; ) is an honorary order of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. It recognizes people who particularly distinguished themselves in the service of its ideals of cooperation and friendship, promoting the rol ...
and an Officer of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
in 1999. He is also a Commander of the
Ordre des Palmes Académiques
A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...
.
Death
Masse died on August 25, 2014. Circumstances of his death were not immediately disclosed.
Archives
There are Marcel Masse
fonds
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...
at
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
and
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec ( 'National Library and Archives of Quebec') or BAnQ is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the Gr ...
.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masse, Marcel
1936 births
2014 deaths
Defence ministers of Canada
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Members of the 24th Canadian Ministry
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
Officers of the National Order of Quebec
Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
People from Lanaudière
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs
Union Nationale (Quebec) MNAs
Université de Montréal alumni