Jacques Saada, ( ar, جاك سعادة; born November 22, 1947) 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 and former cabinet minister. Saada is a teacher and linguist by profession and was

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of a translation firm, a consultant and a lecturer in translation prior to entering politics. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) from the

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 ...

riding of

Brossard—La Prairie Brossard—La Prairie was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015. As of 2011, its population is 128,001. Geography The riding was located in the South Shore are ...

in the 1997 federal election. He served as Deputy Government Whip from 2001 to 2003. When

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

became

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

on December 12, 2003, he had Saada appointed as a privy councillor

(giving him the prenominal "The Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life) and to the Cabinet as Minister Responsible for Democratic Reform and

Government House Leader The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. De ...

. Following the 2004 election with the election of a Liberal minority government, Saada was transferred to the positions of

Minister for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec The Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec () is the member of the Cabinet of Canada who also serves as the chief executive of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. Prior ...

and

Minister responsible for La Francophonie The Minister responsible for La Francophonie is a member of the Canadian Cabinet who handles relations with the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, an international community of francophone nations considered the French equivalent of ...

. Saada was born in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, the main city of

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. In the 2004 election his campaign was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti, letters, and phone calls. Saada was defeated in the 2006 election, losing his seat in Brossard—La Prairie to Bloc Québécois candidate

Marcel Lussier Marcel Lussier (born June 30, 1944) is a Canadian politician and the former Member of Parliament for the riding of Brossard—La Prairie. Lussier was born in Saint-Damase, Quebec. Lussier was an unsuccessful candidate for the Parti Québécois ...

. His former constituency assistant,

Alexandra Mendès Alexandra Mendès (born November 3, 1963) is a Canadian Liberal politician, currently serving as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Brossard—Saint-Lambert since 2015. She previously served in the House of Commons from 2008 until 2011 ...

, defeated Lussier in the 2008 election. He was the Quebec Chair for the Rae campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party. In September 2007, Saada was named president and chief executive officer of the Quebec Aerospace Association (AQA). He resigned from that position in December 2011.

Electoral record (partial)

References

External links

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BackgroundStatement in the Canadian Parliament, April 9, 2002Quebec Aerospace Association
1947 births Canadian people of Tunisian-Jewish descent Jewish Canadian politicians Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Brossard People from Tunis Tunisian emigrants to Canada Tunisian Jews Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry {{Quebec-MP-stub