François Gendron (born November 3, 1944 in Val-Paradis, Quebec) is a politician and teacher in Quebec, Canada. 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 Abitibi-Ouest. He has represented the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereignist and social democracy, social democratic provincial list of political parties in Quebec, political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates Quebec sovereignty movement ...

from 1976 to 2018. Gendron went to the

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 Mont ...

and obtained diplomas in

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

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, administ ...

. He was then a teacher at Cité Étudiante Polyno in La Sarre, a coordinator at the Commission scolaire Lalonde, and an education School counsellor. He was a municipal councillor from 1973 to 1976 in La Sarre and was the founder of the Education Workers Union of Northwestern Quebec in 1967. Gendron is the longest active MNA serving, as he was elected for the first time in

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 Phil ...

when the Parti Québécois led by

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois people, Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Canad ...

was elected the government for the first time. He was named the Assistant

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

and then the Minister of Public Services. After his

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

re-election, he was named the Minister of Planning, Minister of Planning and Development and Minister of Education (1984–1985). After the Parti Québécois returned to the opposition benches after the

1985 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1985. Africa * 1985 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 1985 Gabonese legislative election * 1985 Ivorian parliamentary election * 1985 Ivorian presidential election * 1985 Lesotho general elect ...

, he was the Deputy Opposition

House Leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

from 1985 to 1987 and 1989 to 1994 and the Opposition House Leader from 1987 to 1989. He was also the critic after the 1989 elections for education, municipal and regional affairs. When the Parti Québécois returned to 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 Ma ...

with Jacques Parizeau as their leader, he was named Minister of

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 the Deputy Government House Leader. In 1996, he was named the Government Chair Caucus. He remained in that position after the

1998 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1998. Africa * 1998 Burkinabé presidential election * 1998 Central African parliamentary election * 1998 Gabonese presidential election * 1998 Guinean presidential election * 1998 Lesotho general elect ...

until 2002 where he was briefly the Minister of Forest Management and rurality and then the Minister of Natural Resources. Gendron was re-elected in the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

and 2007 general elections and was the National Assembly's Third Vice-President (Third Deputy Speaker of the House) from 2003 to 2007. On May 9, 2007, Gendron was elected acting leader of the Parti Québécois over

Marie Malavoy Marie Malavoy (born March 23, 1948, in Berlin, Germany) is a Canadian politician and teacher. She was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Taillon in the Montérégie region for the Parti Québécois. Following th ...

, following the resignation of

André Boisclair André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician and convicted sex offender in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec. Between January 1996 and Ma ...

. During his tenure as acting leader, he played a major role in the adoption of the 2007 budget tabled by Liberal Finance Minister Monique Jérôme-Forget, as it was during a Liberal minority government. The Parti Québécois had requested additional funding for health, education and the regions as well as a reduction of the income tax cuts that were planned by the Liberals to be $950 million. The Liberals accepted an increase total funding of $111 million without reducing the tax cut and have increased taxes for oil and bank companies. Gendron and the PQ mentioned that the funding was not sufficient to vote for the budget, but only Gendron, House Leader Diane Lemieux and Finance critic

François Legault François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since its founding in 2011. Legault sits as a member of the ...

took part of the vote in which the budget passed 46–44 on June 1, 2007. On August 20, 2007, an article from '' La Presse'' reported that Gendron would replace Diane Lemieux as the House Leader of the second opposition group when the National Assembly of Quebec resumed in October 2007. On October 21, 2008, Gendron was named the President of the National Assembly of Quebec, a position equivalent to

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

in other legislatures. Initially,

Maxime Arseneau Maxime Arseneau (born November 24, 1949) is a Canadian radio host and teacher and former Quebec politician. He was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Îles-de-la-Madeleine. He represents the Parti Québécois and was ...

was the PQ candidate for the position as well as Marc Picard for the

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

and

Yvon Vallières Yvon Vallières (born February 5, 1949 in Richmond, Quebec) is a Quebec politician and teacher. He was a Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Richmond in the Estrie region from 1973 to 1976 and from 1981 to 2012. Formerly ...

for the Liberals. After Picard and Arseneau dropped their candidacy, both opposition parties supported the nomination of Gendron. He is the first MNA from an opposition party to be named as President of the National Assembly since 1887. He would serve in that capacity until after the 2008 provincial election. He is currently the longest-serving member of the National Assembly, served for 42 years.

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gendron, Francois 1944 births French Quebecers Living people People from Abitibi-Témiscamingue Parti Québécois MNAs Université Laval alumni Leaders of the Parti Québécois Deputy premiers of Quebec Vice Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec

See also

Footnotes

External links