Sam Hamad (born June 17, 1958) is a

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He is the former member of

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 rep ...

(MNA) for the riding of Louis-Hebert in the

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

region. Member of the Quebec Liberal Party, he was the Minister for Transports and he was also the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity, Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region

Biography

Early years and education

Born in Damascus, Syria, Hamad moved to Quebec City and studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

at Université Laval where he received both a bachelor's and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. He also studied at the

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) (''English: University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières''), also known as "l'université du peuple", established in 1969 and mainly located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, is a public universi ...

where he obtained a master's degree in

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

. His birth name was Samer Hamed-Allah but he changed it when he moved to Quebec, saying that Samer sounded too much like the French words "sa mère" (meaning "his mother").

Career

He was an administration member for the

Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec The Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ) is the self-regulatory body that governs Quebec's 65,000 professional engineers. In Quebec, the OIQ carefully monitors compliance with rules of this trade and with the professional integrity of its membe ...

for nine years, while he was also a lecturer at

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

and the

Université du Québec à Rimouski The Université du Québec à Rimouski (commonly referred to as UQAR) is a public university located in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada with a campus in Lévis. Since its establishment in 1969, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) has granted ...

and the President of the Quebec Board of Trade and Industry. He was also involved in the community, being the vice-president of

Centraide United Way Centraide Canada (french: Centraide United Way Canada) is the national organization for the 71 autonomous, volunteer-based United Ways and Centraides across Canada. The United Way Movement in Canada is a federated network of local Unite ...

-Quebec a board member of the Laval Hospital Foundation. He was also part of several associations promoting development in the region including the GATIQ which promoted advance technologies and innovations for the region. Before making his foray into politics, Hamad was Vice-President of Groupe Roche, an influential engineering firm, from 1998 to 2003.

Politics

Hamed entered politics in 2003, where he became the MNA for Louis-Hebert as the Liberals led 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 o ...

defeated the Parti Québécois. He would be named Minister of

Wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

Natural Resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

and Parks and the Minister responsible for the

Capitale-Nationale Capitale-Nationale (; en, National Capital region) is one of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec. It is anchored by the provincial capital, Quebec City, and is largely coextensive with that city's metropolitan area. It has a land area of 18,7 ...

(Quebec) region. He was removed from Cabinet in 2005 after he was criticized in regard to a project which would have added a new thermo plant in the Suroit region. Hamad was narrowly re-elected in 2007. Initially, it was thought that the Action démocratique du Québec won the seat but late ballots pushed Hamad to a late-victory and no recounts were made. As he was only one of two Liberal MNAs elected in the Quebec City region (the other being

Philippe Couillard Philippe Couillard (; born June 26, 1957) is a Canadian business advisor and former neurosurgeon, university professor and politician who served as 31st premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018. Between 2003 and 2008, he was Quebec's Minister of He ...

), Hamad was named the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity until where he was named Minister of Transports, swapping portfolios with Julie Boulet. Briefly in 2010, he also held the Labour portfolio after David Whissell resigned his position following conflict of interest allegations. He returned to the Labour portfolio on April 23, 2014. He announced his resignation as an MNA on April 27, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamad, Sam 1958 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Canadian people of Syrian descent Francophone Quebec people Politicians from Damascus Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Syrian emigrants to Canada Université Laval alumni Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian politicians of Syrian descent