Yvon Vallières (born February 5, 1949 in Richmond, Quebec) is a

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 ...

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 ...

and teacher. He was a Member of

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 ...

for the riding of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the

Estrie Estrie () is an administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 per cent francophone. Angl ...

region from 1973 to 1976 and from 1981 to 2012. Formerly the Minister of

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, Fisheries and Food from 2003 to 2007, he is the current Chair of the Government Caucus. He was a member of the Quebec Liberal Party.

Education

Vallières went to 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 i ...

and obtained 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 ...

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and would teach at several schools from 1970 to 1972 and from 1976 to 1981 while being a councilor at the Commission Scolaire de Taillon in 1972. He also obtained a certificate in psychology

human relations The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...

Professional and political career

Vallières would become the MNA for Richmond in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

when Robert Bourassa won a second majority term. Vaillieres was however defeated by 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 ...

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 ...

when they gain power for the first time ever under the leadership of

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 ...

. After returning to his teaching duties from 1976 to 1981, Vallières was a candidate again in Richmond for the 1981 elections and was re-elected. He was then named the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Parliamentary Commission. He was re-elected again 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 ...

as the Liberals returned to power when Robert Bourassa returned to politics and became once again the party leader. Vallières would be named the Chief Whip of the government for the full mandate. During his next mandate from

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

to 1994, he was the Minister responsible or the delegate minister for several portfolios. He was named the Delegate Minister of

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

in 1989 and Delegate Minister of

Regional development Regional development is a broad term but can be seen as a general effort to reduce regional disparities by supporting (employ) economin regions. In the past, regional development policy tended to try to achieve these objectives by means developmen ...

, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from 1990 to 1992. He was also the Minister responsible of Fisheries from 1990 to 1994. When Daniel Johnson, Jr. replaced Bourassa during the final months of the Liberal Mandate, Vallieres was named once again the chief Whip of the government. While the Liberals lost power in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, Vallières was re-elected for a fifth mandate and was named the opposition's critic in agriculture and regional development and was for the second time the President of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Parliamentary Commission. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, he was re-elected for a sixth mandate and was again the opposition critic in agriculture until 2000. He was also the President of the Territorial Planning Parliamentary Commission. When the Liberals regained power in 2003, Vallières, who won a seventh mandate was named for the third time the Chief Government Whip. After a Cabinet shuffle in 2005, he was named the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food until the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

. However, during his mandate, health issues forced him to take some time off and

Laurent Lessard Laurent Lessard (born October 28, 1962 in Thetford Mines, Quebec) is a politician and notary in Quebec, Canada. He was the Member of the National Assembly for the provincial ridings of Frontenac and Lotbinière-Frontenac from 2003 to 2018 in Ce ...

took over temporarily his duties. He was also briefly the Minister responsible of the Centre-du-Québec region after a minor Cabinet shuffle in 2006. Vallières won an eighth mandate but was removed from the Cabinet and named the Chair of the government Caucus. On January 13, 2009 to April 2011, he was the

President of the National Assembly of Quebec The President of the National Assembly of Quebec (French; ''Le Président de l'Assemblée nationale'') is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, which is modeled after the Westminster parliamentary system. In other Angloph ...

Electoral record (incomplete)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallieres, Yvon Living people Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec Quebec Liberal Party MNAs 1949 births Université Laval alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians French Quebecers