Jean-Claude St-André (born September 27, 1962) is a Quebec provincial politician and was the Member of the

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 ...

representing

L'Assomption L'Assomption () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the L'Assomption River. It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the Montreal urban area. ...

for 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 earned his Bachelor of Arts in social sciences from 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 ...

in 1984 and subsequently studied business administration at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

. After working for several years in business he became involved in politics joining the staff of the MNA for Anjou in 1992 and then serving in the office of the

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following tha ...

Jacques Parizeau Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and economist who served as the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996. Early life and career Parizeau was born in Montreal, Quebec, the s ...

from 1994 to 1996. As a youth he had campaigned for the "Yes" side in the

1980 Quebec referendum The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government ...

sovereignty-association The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

and was also active with the PQ on the Anjou riding executive and as a campaign manager throughout the 1980s and 1990s. On June 10, 1996, he was elected MNA for L'Assomption in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

and was re-elected in the

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 ...

and 2003 provincial elections. Since May 2003 he has been spokesman of the

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

on birthrate and demography. On August 25, 2005, St-André officially became a candidate in the 2005 Parti Québécois leadership election. He won 951 votes or 0.9% of ballots cast when the vote results were announced on November 15, 2005. In the 2007 Quebec elections, St-André was defeated by the ADQ's Eric Laporte by over 2,000 votes. On November 8, 2008, members of the Parti Québécois put his name forward for the MNA for L'Assomption riding in the 2008 provincial election; however, Parti Québécois leader

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 (Quebec), member of the National Assembly in various ridings ...

ruled his candidacy out, on the basis that the riding owes the party money, and St-André would not rally to the party line of placing a separatist referendum on the back burner.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:St-Andre, Jean-Claude 1962 births Living people Parti Québécois MNAs Politicians from Montreal Université de Montréal alumni Université du Québec à Montréal alumni 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec