Henri-François Gautrin (born July 30, 1943 in

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a town in northern France, Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department. Geography Béthune is located in the Provinces of Fran ...

, France) is a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

politician, professor and physicist. He was the Member of

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

for the riding of

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

in the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

region. He represented the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

and was the former Minister of Governmental Services from February 2006 to February 2007. Gautrin went to Collège Stanislas before going to the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) 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-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

where he obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in sciences. He later obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

in sciences at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

before heading to the Université de Dijon in France in 1971 where he received a State

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''Licentiate (degree), licentia docendi' ...

. He also studied economics and public finance in Paris. He was a professor in the mathematics department at the Université de Montréal since 1969. In addition to his teaching duties at that university, he was also an administration staff member and a member of the executive committee. He was also active in politics as the leader of the

New Democratic Party of Quebec New Democratic Party of Quebec or Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec may refer to: * New Democratic Party of Quebec (1963), a Canadian provincial political party which served as the Quebec section of the federal New Democratic Party before disa ...

from 1973 to 1979 and was the president of the NO committee in the

Taillon Taillon () is a provincial electoral district in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It comprises part of the borough of Le Vieux-Longueuil of the city of Longueuil. It was created ...

riding in the 1980 referendum. He was then a candidate for the Liberals in the 1981 elections in the riding of Dorion, where he was defeated. Gautrin was elected in

in the 1989 elections where he was named the

Caucus chair A caucus chair is a person who chairs the meetings of a caucus. Often, the caucus chair is assigned other duties as well. Canada In Canada, the elected members of each party in Parliament, including senators, or a provincial legislature, ele ...

of the MNAs in Western Montreal and was briefly the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Education before the Liberals were 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 establishi ...

. He was re-elected for two other terms as an MNA for the opposition party in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. When the Liberals returned to power in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, Gautrin was named the Parliamentary secretary to

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

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. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding se ...

from 2003 to 2005. In 2005, he was named the Online Government Minister and in 2006 the Minister of Governmental Services. After being re-elected in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he was named the Assistant House Leader of the Government and parliamentary assistant to the Premier. He was re-elected in the 2008 Quebec general election.

Electoral record (partial)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gautrin, Henri-Francois 1943 births Living people French emigrants to Quebec McGill University alumni Members of the Executive Council of Quebec New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons New Democratic Party of Quebec candidates in Quebec provincial elections People from Béthune Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Leaders of the Quebec CCF/NDP Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Université de Montréal alumni People from Verdun, Quebec 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec Canadian physicists