Michelle Courchesne (born May 6, 1953 in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, Quebec) is a former

Deputy Premier of Quebec The deputy premiers of Quebec ( French: ''Vice-premier ministres du Québec'' (masculine) or ''Vice-première ministres du Québec'' (feminine)), is the deputy head of government in Quebec. There was no deputy premier until July 1960. In the 1960 ...

. A member of 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 ...

, she was the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

Member for the riding of

Fabre Fabre or Fabré is a surname of Occitan French origin, and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * André Fabre (born 1945), French thoroughbred horse racing trainer * Cándido Fabré, Cuban musician, songwriter and singer * Cath ...

Laval, Quebec Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in C ...

. She is also the former President of the Treasury Board, Minister responsible for the Laval region, Minister of Education and Deputy Premier of Quebec. She is a former Minister of Family, Immigration, Employment and

Social Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

. Courchesne attended

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf , motto_translation = I chose the path of truth , established = , type = Private secondary school and Collegiate , religious_affiliation = Non-denominational, formerly Jesuit , endowment = , dean ...

before going to 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 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 ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and a master's degree in

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

. She would become an

urbanist Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and m ...

from 1976 to 1981 before being elected to the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Laval. She would also work at the Ministry of Culture and Communications as a Deputy Minister before being a member of the administration council of the

National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada (french: Banque Nationale du Canada) is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the ...

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, the National Theater School of Canada and the Quebec Mental Health Foundation. She was then the director of the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

and a vice-president for Marketel and Cognicase. Courchesne entered politics in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, where she was elected as the MNA for Fabre while the Liberals regained power after nine years of governing by 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 ...

. She was named by

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 of ...

in the Cabinet as the Minister responsible for the relations with the Citizens and Immigration and was then promoted to Employment and Social Solidarity following a

Cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

in 2005 where she took the position occupied by

Claude Béchard Claude Béchard (June 29, 1969 – September 7, 2010) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Quebec Liberal Party Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Kamouraska-Témiscouata in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region; as ...

. Following the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

, she was re-elected in a Liberal

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 ...

, and named the Minister of Education, Leisure and Sports as well Minister of Family. Following the 2008 election, she kept most of the portfolios but gave up the Ministry of Family to

LaFontaine LaFontaine is a provincial electoral district in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It consists of the neighbourhood of Rivière-des-Prairies in the borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Tr ...

MNA

Tony Tomassi Tony Tomassi (born January 15, 1971 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec politician. He is the former Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of LaFontaine in Montreal. He formerly represented the Quebec Liberal Party and was the Min ...

. Courchesne lost the Education portfolio to former Environment Minister

Line Beauchamp Line Beauchamp (born February 24, 1963) is a Canadian politician. She served as the Liberal Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the Sauvé riding, and for Bourassa-Sauvé at the Quebec National Assembly from November 30, 1998 to May 14, 201 ...

in a 2010 cabinet shuffle and became President of the Treasury Board. She regained the Education Minister position, as well as becoming Deputy Premier of Quebec, on May 14, 2012 following Beauchamp's resignation during the ongoing student protests over tuition hikes. She retired at the 2012 election.

Electoral record

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Courchesne, Michelle 1951 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Politicians from Laval, Quebec People from Trois-Rivières Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Université de Montréal alumni Women MNAs in Quebec Deputy premiers of Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada National Bank of Canada people