Pierre Marc Johnson (born July 5, 1946) is a Canadian

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 ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and politician. He was the 24th

premier of Quebec 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 ...

from October 3 to December 12, 1985, making him the province's shortest-serving premier, and the first Baby Boomer to hold the office.

Early background

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, on July 5, 1946, Johnson is of

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

and

Irish descent The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...

and is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. He received a degree in law from 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 ...

in 1970 and a medical degree from the

Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke ( French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It ...

in 1976. He is the son of Reine Gagné and

Daniel Johnson Sr. Francis Daniel Johnson Sr. (April 9, 1915 – September 26, 1968) was a Canadian politician and the 20th premier of Quebec from 1966 to his death in 1968. Background Johnson was born in Danville, Quebec, Canada. He was the son of Francis Johns ...

, who served as

Premier of Quebec 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 ...

from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

to 1968. His brother,

Daniel Johnson Jr. Daniel Johnson Jr. (born December 24, 1944) is a former Canadian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec and was the 25th premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994 until his party's defeat in the provincial general election. ...

, served as Premier for nine months in 1994. Each of the Johnsons led different political parties: * Daniel Sr. was leader of the conservative Union Nationale party, and had an ambiguous position on the question of independence for Quebec; * Pierre Marc joined the sovereigntist PQ in the aftermath of the 1970

October Crisis The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James C ...

; * Daniel Jr. backed the

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

Liberals by 1977.

Member of the Cabinet

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, Pierre Marc Johnson successfully ran as 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 ...

candidate for the district of

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

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 ...

appointed him to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

in 1977 and he was re-elected in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Johnson served as Minister of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

from 1977 to 1980, Minister to Consumers, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions from 1980 to

, Minister of Social Affairs from

to 1984 and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 1984 to 1985.

Premier of Quebec

In the leadership election of 1985, Johnson was chosen to succeed PQ founder

as leader of the party and consequently as Premier of Quebec. Johnson was generally considered to be soft on the sovereignty of Quebec issue. He put independence on the back burner, as Lévesque had begun to do under the "

beau risque In Quebec politics, ''le beau risque'' (, ''the noble risk'' or ''the good risk'') is a political catch phrase describing the "risk" the Parti Québécois (PQ or "''péquistes''") took in asking Quebecers to support federal Progressive Conservativ ...

" approach and eventually made that approach the official

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

policy of his party, calling it "National Affirmation". Johnson was described as somewhat on the right of the party.

Leader of the Official Opposition

He was re-elected to the legislature in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, but his party was defeated by the Liberals, led by

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just un ...

. His leadership was contested by more

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

PQ supporters, such as

Gérald Godin Gérald Godin (November 13, 1938 – October 12, 1994) was a Quebec poet and politician. Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, he worked as a journalist at '' La Presse'' and other newspapers and magazines. His most important poetry collection, '' ...

. On November 10, 1987, he resigned as head of the party,

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and member of 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 succeeded as head of the PQ by interim leader

Guy Chevrette Guy Chevrette (born January 10, 1940 in Saint-Come, Quebec) served as Parti Québécois leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, from 1987 to 1989. He was the MNA for the riding of Joliette-Montcalm from 1976 to 1981 ...

and later

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 ...

, who again made independence a primary goal.

Elections as party leader

Johnson lost in the December 1985 election after becoming leader in October. Johnson became as opposition leader and stepped down as party leader in 1987 (with next election in 1989).

Life after leaving politics

Both a lawyer and a physician, he is a former

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Law at

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 ...

in Montreal and was Counsel at the firm of Heenan Blaikie LLP in Montreal, Quebec until 2014. He is now Counsel at the firm of Lavery, also in Montrea

In 2001 he was appointed as chief advisor and negotiator of the Quebec government in the Softwood Lumber dispute between Canada and the United States by then Premier

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader o ...

. In October 2006, he was chosen by the Charest government to preside over a

public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

into the collapse of a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

over Autoroute 19 in

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 ...

, leaving five dead and six injured. The choice of Johnson was criticized by both leaders in opposition

André Boisclair André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician and convicted sex offender in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec. Between January 1996 and M ...

(PQ) and

Mario Dumont Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 20 ...

(

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

) because of the possibility of

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

. As president, he was invested with the responsibility of investigating government administration while being a former Minister of the

Quebec Government 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 ...

, a former Premier of Quebec, and, until shortly after this nomination, member of the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of Ciment Saint-Laurent, a

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

company. Johnson was appointed by the minority Conservative government to the Canadian delegation at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

' Bali Conference on climate change

Johnson was Quebec's negotiator for CETA (Canada-European-union Trade Agreement).

Attitude about sovereignty

Johnson refused to take a stance regarding the 1995 Quebec referendum on independence. In December 2005 he made waves in sovereigntist circles by supporting Liberal candidate and close, longtime friend

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 ...

in a provincial

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in the

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 ...

riding.

Select publications

*Johnson, Pierre Marc & Karel Mayrand. "Beyond Trade: Broadening the Globalization Governance Agenda." Guiding Global Order: G8 Governance in the Twenty First Century. (Ashgate: Aldershot, 2000)
Link to item
*Johnson, Pierre Marc & Andre Beaulieu. "The Environment and NAFTA: Understanding and Implementing the New Continental Law." (Island Press, 1996)

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Pierre Marc 1946 births Living people Quebec people of Irish descent Canadian legal scholars Physicians from Montreal Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Justice ministers of Quebec Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Parti Québécois MNAs Politicians from Montreal Premiers of Quebec Academics from Montreal Lawyers from Montreal Université de Montréal alumni Université de Sherbrooke alumni Leaders of the Parti Québécois Université de Montréal Faculty of Law alumni