Michel Gratton (born February 1, 1939) is a Canadian civil engineer and former member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

. The son of Aurèle Gratton and Germaine Trépanier, he was born in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...

(now

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

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 ...

). Gratton received his

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

ing at Laverdure and Larocque schools in Hull and attended

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

at 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 continued his education at the University of Ottawa and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

. Gratton pursued post-graduate studies in natural gas technology at the

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

and in public relations and general management at the

American Management Association The American Management Association (AMA) is an American non-profit educational membership organization for the promotion of management, based in New York City. Besides its headquarters there, it has local head offices throughout the world. It o ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. From 1960 to 1962, Gratton worked for Consumer Gas in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

as assistant to the vice-president. From 1962 to 1964, he was director of distribution for Ottawa Gas and the Société gazifère de Hull. From 1964 to 1967, he was assistant to the president of J.G. Bisson Construction in Hull. From 1967 to 1970, he was director general and then secretary-treasurer for Distribuco. Gratton was also president of the Hull Chamber of Commerce in 1971 and 1972. In 1970, he was founding president for the Liberal Association in the Gatineau riding; he was regional president for the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

in 1971 and 1972. In 1970, Gratton ran unsuccessfully for the position of mayor of Hull. He was elected to the Quebec assembly for the

electoral district in a 1972 by-election and was reelected in 1973, 1976, 1981 and 1985. From October 1982 to March 1984, he was deputy leader of the official opposition in the assembly; he was leader of the official opposition from March 1984 to June 1985. From December 1985 to August 1989, he was

Government House Leader The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Canadian cabinet, Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Com ...

for the assembly. Gratton served in the Quebec cabinet as Minister of Revenue from December 1985 to June 1987 and as

Minister of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

from June 1987 to October 1989; he was Minister responsible for Electoral Reform from December 1985 to October 1989. He did not run for reelection in 1989. After leaving politics, he served as director general and then president for the Asbestos Institute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gratton, Michel 1939 births Living people Canadian civil engineers McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Politicians from Gatineau Quebec Liberal Party MNAs University of Ottawa alumni French Quebecers