Philippe Couillard (; born June 26, 1957) is a Canadian business advisor and former
neurosurgeon
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
, university professor and politician who served as 31st
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 ...
's Liberal government and was MNA for Mont-Royal until he resigned in 2008. In the 2014 election, Couillard moved to the riding of Roberval, where he resides. He was the leader of the
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 ...
from 1989 to 1992 and again at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...
from 1996 to 2003. From 1992 to 1996, he practised in
Dhahran
Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cit ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
.
Political career
In 2003, Couillard left the medical profession to run for the Montreal-area seat of
Mont-Royal
Mount Royal (french: Mont-Royal, officially Town of Mount Royal, french: Ville de Mont-Royal, abbreviated TMR, french: VMR) is an affluent on-island suburban town located on the northwest side of the eponymous Mount Royal, northwest of Downtown ...
in 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 ...
. He was elected in the 2003 election and was appointed Minister of Health and Social Services on April 29, 2003.
After taking office, he proved skillful in the handling of his department's public relations and was regarded by some as the most popular minister in the Charest government. His accomplishments during his tenure included a $4.2 billion increase in the Quebec health budget, the prohibition of smoking in public places, and a reduction in the number of union local accreditations in the health sector.
In 2007, Couillard ran in the riding of
Jean-Talon
Jean-Talon is a provincial electoral riding in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada. It consists of part of the Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge borough of Quebec City.
It was named after former French colonial administrator of New ...
Margaret Delisle
Margaret Fortier Delisle (born July 4, 1946) is a politician in Quebec, Canada. She was a member of the National Assembly (MNA) in the National Assembly of Quebec for the constituency of Jean-Talon. She was first elected in 1994,
and sat as a m ...
who did not seek re-election due to health reasons. Couillard won his seat in the 2007 election despite the
's (ADQ) strong performance in the region in which the party gained the majority of the seats.
Pierre Arcand
Pierre Arcand (born November 13, 1951) is a Canadian politician, businessman, announcer and journalist in Quebec, Canada. He was the elected Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the provincial riding of Mont-Royal–Outremont in ...
succeeded Couillard in the Mont-Royal riding. Couillard was reappointed as minister of health and social services, as well as minister responsible for the provincial
(Quebec) region.
On June 25, 2008, Couillard announced his resignation as minister and MNA. He was succeeded as minister and Jean-Talon MNA by locally-known
Yves Bolduc
Yves Bolduc (born March 6, 1957 in Alma, Quebec) is a Canadian doctor and politician in the province of Quebec. He was named the new Minister of Health and Social Services of Quebec on June 25, 2008 succeeding Philippe Couillard who resigned on ...
.
On June 23, 2010, Couillard was appointed to the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
.
On October 3, 2012, Couillard became the third person to enter the
leadership election
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
to succeed Jean Charest as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. When asked why he was re-entering politics, he said, "I feel the need to serve."
On March 17, 2013, Couillard became the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, beating ex-cabinet ministers
Raymond Bachand
Raymond Bachand (born October 22, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec) is a former politician, a businessman and a lawyer in Quebec, Canada. He was the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Outremont, and a member of the Que ...
and
Pierre Moreau
Pierre Moreau (born December 12, 1957 in Vercheres, Quebec) is a lawyer and a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec.
Pierre Moreau was the Liberal MNA for the riding of Marguerite-D'Youville in the National Assembly of Quebec from 20 ...
.
On December 9, 2013, he was elected MNA for the safe Liberal seat of
Outremont
Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by fran ...
after Bachand stood down from the seat in his favour.
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
Pierre Duchesne
Pierre Duchesne (born February 27, 1940) was the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and former secretary general of the National Assembly of Quebec. As lieutenant governor he was the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in ...
dropped the writs for a general election at the request of Premier
, describing it as "an unnecessary bill that succeeds only in dividing Quebecers".
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, the polls began to break heavily in the favour of Couillard and the Liberals as the PQ began to bleed support to all 3 major opposition parties. His second debate performance was not as strong as his first one, and he was criticized by both Pauline Marois and François Legault of the CAQ for suggesting that a factory worker in Quebec ought to be bilingual in the event that an Anglophone businessperson was to walk on the floor. While his comment was portrayed by his critics as proof that he was soft on the French language issue, his poll numbers continued to exceed those of his opponents.
On April 7, Couillard led the Quebec Liberals to a sweeping victory, winning 70 seats in the National Assembly and a return to government a mere 19 months after being ousted in one of their poorest election showings in the party's history. The Liberals even managed to unseat Marois in her own riding. On election night, Couillard stressed the importance of creating a better business climate in Quebec and doing away with some of the divisive policies that had characterized Marois' tenure as Premier. He also pledged to work cooperatively with other provinces and the federal government and to reassert Quebec's place as a leader in the Canadian federation.
Premier of Quebec
Returning the Liberal Party of Quebec back to a majority government, after an eighteen-month stint led by Pauline Marois and the Parti Quebecois, Couillard assumed office on April 23, 2014, naming 26 ministers to his cabinet.
Economic policy
After the Liberals were elected in April 2014, the
budget deficit
Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...
was nearly $6 billion. Couillard's government and his finance minister, Carlos Leitão, balanced the budget only one year later in 2015 through spending cuts and raising taxes. Couillard's government ran four consecutive balanced budgets during his tenure as premier. However, his cuts to education and healthcare spending caused his popularity to decline.
Environment
Couillard's government removed protection of several preserved areas while authorizing logging in caribou land. The government claimed that this decision would grow the economy and jobs.
In 2014, Couillard announced his opposition to the development of
shale gas
Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some a ...
, citing a report that raised environmental concerns.
Religious symbols
In October 2017, Couillard's government passed
Bill 62
Islamophobia in Canada refers to a set of discourses, behaviours and structures which express feelings of anxiety, fear, hostility and rejection towards Islam or Islam in Canada, Muslims in Canada. Members of the Sikh, Christian Arab, Jewish and ...
burqa
A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...
would have to remove their religious garments to uncover their face to access public services. Couillard supported the law, saying "We are in a free and democratic society. You speak to me, I should see your face, and you should see mine. It's as simple as that."
Quebec election, 2018
Couillard's government was ousted after only one term by the
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 ...
, Philippe Couillard
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, align="right", 41.96
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, -
, -
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* Increase is from UFP
Business career
In September 2022, Couillard was reported to be involved with the Canadian activities of a UK-based company Britishvolt, lobbying to build a gigafactory in Canada. However, by the end of November 2022, the company was reported to have abandoned its ambitions to build a factory in Canada; Couillard reportedly ceased working for Britishvolt in October 2022.