Stéphane Bédard (born 11 March 1968) 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 ...

lawyer and politician. Bédard was interim leader of 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 ...

from 2014 to 2015. He was 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 ...

for the provincial riding of

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

. He was chosen as interim parliamentary leader by the PQ caucus on April 10, 2014, following the PQ government's defeat in the 2014 general election and the resignation of

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ ...

and officially became Leader of the Opposition when the legislature resumed on April 23, 2014. He officially became acting leader of the party on June 7, 2014 when Marois' resignation took effect at Parti Québécois Council of Presidents. He held the position until Pierre Karl Péladeau was elected party leader in the Parti Québécois leadership election held on May 15, 2015. He resigned from the legislature and the

on October 22, 2015.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, Stéphane Bédard is the son of Marc-André Bédard. After studying

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

HEC Montréal HEC Montréal (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal) is a public Canadian business school located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1907, HEC Montréal is the graduate business school of the Université de Montréa ...

(1987-1988), he received 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 law at 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- ...

in 1991 and was admitted in 1992 at the Barreau du Québec. He was a lawyer from 1992 to 1998 in Chicoutimi. He was involved in politics during this period being the President of the Parti Québécois in Chicoutimi from 1994 to 1998 and was a member of the Yes Committee for the 1995 referendum. Bédard ran for MNA in Chicoutimi in 1998 and was elected. While he was not named in a Ministry position, he was the

Parliamentary assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to the Minister of State for Education and Youth from March 21, 2001 to December 5, 2001, Parliamentary assistant to the Minister of State for Education and Employment from December 5, 2001 to January 30, 2002 and Parliamentary assistant to the Minister of State for Administration and the Public Service and Chair of the Conseil du trésor from January 30, 2002 to April 29, 2003. He was Secretary of State for the Renewal of the Public Service from January 30, 2002 to April 29, 2003. Bédard was re-elected in 2003 but the Parti Québécois lost to the Quebec Liberal Party. He was named the Assistant Deputy Leader of the Opposition and after being re-elected for a third term in 2007, he was named the PQ's chief Whip. After the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he was named the House leader of the opposition while being replaced by

Pointe-aux-Trembles Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization. On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood a ...

MNA Nicole Léger as Chief Whip of the PQ. He was elected for a fifth term in the 2012 general election, as the Parti québécois regained power. On September 19, 2012 he became Minister responsible for Government Administration, Chair of the Conseil du trésor (Treasury Board),

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 ...

and Minister responsible for the Saguenay–Lac‑Saint-Jean region in the government of Premier

.Members of Cabinet
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Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedard, Stephane 1968 births French Quebecers Living people Parti Québécois MNAs Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Politicians from Saguenay, Quebec Lawyers in Quebec Université de Montréal alumni HEC Montréal alumni Leaders of the Parti Québécois 21st-century Canadian politicians Quebecor people