Jérôme Choquette (; January 25, 1928 – September 1, 2017) was a lawyer and politician in

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, ...

, Canada. Choquette ran a private law practice, representing various claimants in a wide range of cases from his office on ''Avenue du Parc'', downtown Montreal.

Early life

Choquette was born in

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 ...

, Quebec, and studied at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Academy and Collège Stanislas in Montreal, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

considered an elite institution in Quebec. He graduated from

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, ...

with a law degree in 1949, and was called to the

Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec () is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Canada (). History The begi ...

in the same year. In 1951, he obtained a doctorate in economics from the Paris Law School in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He also studied at the School of Business Administration at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He practised law in Montreal beginning in 1951 and was given the honorary title of Queen's Counsel in 1963.

Career

Member of the National Assembly

In the 1966 provincial election, he was elected to the provincial legislature of Quebec from the riding of

Outremont Outremont () is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by F ...

in Montreal as a member of 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 ...

. He was re-elected in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and

1973 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1973. Africa * 1973 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1973 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1973 Ethiopian general election * 1973 Gabonese general election * 1973 Republic of the Congo con ...

Cabinet member

In the Liberal government of

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...

, he served as Minister of Financial Institutions from May to October 1970,

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from May 1970 to July 1975, and

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from July to September 1975, when he resigned from the Liberal Party. Choquette was the

during the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

and one of the targets of the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Quebec separatist terrorist group which aimed to establish an independent and socialist Quebec. Founded sometime in the early 1960s, the FLQ conducted a number of attacks between 1963 and 1970,Reich, Walter. ''Origins of Terror ...

(FLQ)

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

who kidnapped and murdered

Pierre Laporte Pierre Laporte (; 25 February 1921 – 17 October 1970) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician. He was deputy premier of the province of Quebec when he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FL ...

, his fellow cabinet member and then- Deputy Premier. Seen as a decisive and strong Cabinet Minister, Choquette took the position during the Crisis that the government of Quebec could not give in to the FLQ demands without compromising its responsibility as the democratically elected government. Choquette openly carried a revolver during the crisis, he said, so that he could not be harassed. He also suggested that Bourassa name a minister of social peace. In a memorandum of John Starnes dated of October 29, 1970, he writes : "It appeared that the municipal authorities in Montreal had information which appeared to implicate the Quebec minister of Justice, Mr. Choquette, in the FLQ conspiracy." Following the resolution of the Crisis and expiration of the ''

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The Act was brough ...

'', Choquette brought in the services of the Quebec

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

and provided the vehicle by which anyone unjustly treated had their case reviewed and given proper compensation. During the October Crisis, Choquette reportedly reluctantly supported the suspension of civil liberties under the War Measures Act. Until he was removed from the portfolio, Choquette was deeply involved and interested in prosecuting

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician, and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

.Wright, Eleanor Pelrine. ''Morgentaler: The Doctor Who Couldn't Turn Away,'' p. 208. Choquette was the Cabinet Minister who helped create the

Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms The ''Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms'' (, ), also known as the "Quebec Charter", is a statutory bill of rights and human rights code passed by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 27, 1975. It received Royal Assent from Lieutenant Gove ...

, introduced it into the National Assembly in 1975 and established Quebec's legal aid system.

Parti National Populaire

In September 1975, Choquette resigned as Minister of Education over differences in language policy. He wanted stricter enforcement of the requirement that children whose parents were not educated in English be educated in French."Levine, Marc. ''The Reconquest Of Montreal: Language Policy and Social Change in a Bilingual City.''
A Polarized City
Pages 105-6. Temple University Press, Philadelphia. LCN 8920378. . He repeatedly refused the entreaties of

Maurice Bellemare Maurice Bellemare, (8 June 1912 – 15 June 1989) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He was known as ''Le Vieux Lion de la Politique Québécoise'' (The Old Lion of Quebec Politics) because of his colourful style and his many years of publi ...

that he take over the leadership of the Union Nationale party.''Montreal Gazette'', "PNP, UN to join forces", 4 August 1976, p.1 On December 14, 1975, he founded the

Parti National Populaire The Parti national populaire (; PNP; ) was a minor political party in Quebec, Canada that operated in the 1970s. The PNP was created by a split in the Ralliement créditiste du Québec after Fabien Roy was expelled from the party. Roy was one of ...

with

Fabien Roy Fabien Roy (; April 17, 1928 – October 31, 2023) was a Canadian politician who was active in Quebec in the 1970s. Roy was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec and the House of Commons of Canada, and advocated social credit theories o ...

, a member of the National Assembly who had been expelled from the

Ralliement créditiste du Québec The ''Ralliement créditiste du Québec'' () was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada, that operated from 1970 to 1978 (the party was also known as the ''Parti créditiste'' from September to December 1973, contesting the 1973 provincia ...

. Choquette was confirmed as leader of the party at a party congress on October 24, 1976. He was defeated in Outremont in the November 1976 Quebec election. Choquette resigned from the PNP on March 29, 1977, and rejoined the Liberal Party on January 16, 1978.

Municipal politics

Choquette restarted his law career in 1976. From 1983 to 1991, he served as mayor of the Montreal suburb of

. In 1993, he began a campaign for the leadership of the

Civic Party of Montreal The Civic Party of Montreal () was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1960 to 1994. Throughout its history, the Civic Party was dominated by the personality of its leader Jean Drapeau. Origins It was esta ...

, a municipal political party in Montreal, but later withdrew from the race and founded the

Parti des Montréalais The Parti des Montréalais (English: Montrealers' Party) was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It existed from 1993 to 1995 and won two council seats in the 1994 Montreal municipal election, 1994 municipal election. Origins F ...

(). As leader of that party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Montreal in 1994.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choquette, Jerome 1928 births 2017 deaths Columbia Business School alumni Ministers of justice of Quebec Lawyers from Montreal Politicians from Montreal Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Quebec political party leaders Canadian King's Counsel McGill University Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec