Pierre-Ferdinand Côté, (July 16, 1927 – June 17, 2013) was a Canadian

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. Côté served as the first

Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

from 1978 until 1997. The Chief Electoral Officer is the official responsible for the administration of the electoral and

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

system in the province of

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 ...

. Côté began his career as a

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 ...

lawyer. He first entered politics as the

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

when Lévesque served as the provincial Minister of Natural Resources within the government of

Quebec Premier The premier of Quebec ( French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the ...

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; 10 June 1912 – 12 December 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960 to 16 June 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is o ...

during the 1960s. He was appointed as the first

in 1978. He oversaw the administration of Quebec's elections and referendums for nearly twenty years, including the

Charlottetown Accord The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...

and the Quebec independence referendum held on October 30, 1995. During the run-up to the 1995 referendum, Côté accused attendees of a pro-Canadian unity rally of violating provincial spending laws, prompting criticism from Québécois federalists. The large pro-union rally was held in Montreal on October 27, 1995, just three days before the sovereignty referendum. Côté formally charged a number of pro-union rally participants, individuals and businesses, all from outside Quebec, with violating the province's spending laws by transporting people to Montreal for the rally. The move was heavily criticized by federalists within Quebec and across Canada. Federalists accused Côté of minimizing the unusually high number of spoiled ballots from pro-federalist ridings. A later investigation of Côté and the referendum found no evidence to support accusations of wrongdoing. In 1998, Côté was named 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 ...

. Côté died on June 17, 2013, at the age of 85.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cote, Pierre Chief Electoral Officers of Quebec 20th-century Canadian civil servants Canadian lawyers Lawyers in Quebec Officers of the National Order of Quebec People from Quebec City 1927 births 2013 deaths Quebec civil servants