Roch Cholette (born May 16, 1963 in
Lachine, Quebec
Lachine () is a borough (''arrondissement'') within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was an autonomous city until the municipal mergers in 2002.
History
Lachine, apparently from the French term ' ...
) is a Canadian public
accountant and a former municipal and provincial politician in
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 ...
, Canada.
Early life and education
Cholette studied at the
Université du Québec en Outaouais
The Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) is a constituent university of the Université du Québec system located in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. As of September 2010, combined enrolment at UQO's Gatineau and Saint-Jérôme campuses was 6,017 ...
(Université du Québec à Hull at that time) and completed 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 ...
in
business administration in 1987.
He served as the 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 ...
(MNA) for the provincial riding of
Hull from 1998 until 2008, as a member of the
Quebec Liberal Party caucus.
He was a member of the Ordre des comptables generaux licenciés du Québec (Certified General Accountants of Quebec) for over 10 years and also worked at the Office of the
Auditor-General of Canada.
Political career
Cholette started his political career in 1992 when he was elected as a
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
for the former city of
Hull. He remained at that position until the
1998 provincial election when he ran as a candidate in the riding of Hull. He was elected in 1998 and the opposition critic in immigration then in municipal affairs. During his first mandate, the Liberals were the opposition party and 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 ...
(PQ) under
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician.
Minister for two years in the Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then led the emerging Bloc Québécois and became Leader of the Opposition in the Ho ...
and later
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 ...
were in power. Cholette was the Liberal Party's municipal affairs critic and had heavily criticized the party's municipal reorganization project, known as Bill 170.
After being re-elected and the Liberals won a
majority government in the
2003 election, Cholette remained a backbencher MNA, and was named the Parliamentary Secretary of Premier
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 o ...
in 2005.
In the
2007 elections, Cholette defeated PQ candidate and well-known teacher
Marcel Painchaud and social activist
Bill Clennett from
Québec Solidaire
Québec solidaire (QS; ) is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada. The party and media outlets in Canada usually use the name "Québec solidaire" in both French and English, but the party's name is sometimes ...
. However, Cholette's majority was reduced significantly during the 2007 election because of the strong performance of the
Action démocratique du Québec's candidate Francois Lizotte and the
Green Party's Melanie Perrault. He was later named the Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of Finances and
President of the Treasury Board
The president of the Treasury Board () is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The president is the chair of the Treasury Board of Canada (a committee of Cabinet in the Privy Council) and is the minister responsible for the Treasury ...
, portfolios that are occupied by
Monique Jérôme-Forget.
On April 9, 2008, Cholette announced his resignation as Hull MNA and was replaced by his constituency assistant
Maryse Gaudreault in the resulting
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 ...
.
Cholette has shown interest in running for mayor of the city of Gatineau in the 2009 municipal elections.
Electoral record (partial)
References
External links
Roch Cholette's Bio*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cholette, Roch
1963 births
Living people
People from Lachine, Quebec
Politicians from Gatineau
Politicians from Montreal
Quebec Liberal Party MNAs
Université du Québec en Outaouais alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians