Joseph Mario Jacques Olivier, PC (born April 14, 1944) is a Canadian politician, businessman and labour leader. He was mayor of

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

, Quebec, from 2001 until 2005 and is a former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Background and early career

A hospital worker in his youth, Olivier was elected president of the trade union local at Charles-LeMoyne Hospital and treasurer of Quebec's National Federation of Hospital Employees. In 1970, Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

appointed Olivier as an aide to the

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the Ca ...

on labour relations.

Election to Federal Parliament and Federal political role

In the 1972 election, Olivier was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament for the riding of Longueuil. He served as parliamentary secretary to the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

from 1976 to 1978. Following the 1980 election, Olivier was elected chair of the Liberal Party's Quebec

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

. In January 1984, Trudeau appointed Olivier to the Cabinet as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

for fitness and amateur sport. Olivier was dropped from Cabinet in June when

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

became the new prime minister. He was defeated in the subsequent 1984 election.

Business associations

Following his defeat, Olivier established a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

dealership in

Saint-Hubert, Quebec Saint-Hubert ( , , ) is a Boroughs of Longueuil, borough in the city of Longueuil, Quebec, Longueuil, located in the Montérégie, Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada. It had been a separate city prior to January 1, 2002, when it along with sev ...

, and soon joined the board of directors of the ''Corporation des concessionnaires automobiles du Grand Montréal et du Québec''.

Longueuil municipal politics

In 1987, he ran to be mayor of Longueuil, but was defeated. He was elected mayor of the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

suburb in 2001, and serves as vice-chairman of the executive committee of the

Montreal Metropolitan Community Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as with a ...

. During the Quebec municipal restructuring of 2002, Olivier became Mayor of the new Mega-city of Longueuil which merged the former cities of Longueuil, Boucherville, Brossard and Saint-Lambert; towns of Greenfield Park, LeMoyne, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville and Saint-Hubert. This merger was partially reversed after municipal referendums and was seen by many to be a failure on Olivier's part to sell the new Mega-City. Olivier led his own municipal political party, ''équipe Olivier'', which held a large majority on Longueuil's

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. Olivier did not run in the 2005 municipal election and was succeeded as mayor by

Claude Gladu Claude Gladu (born January 13, 1942) is the former mayor of the city of Longueuil, Quebec. He served as mayor from 1994 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2009. Gladu started his career as a firefighter for Ville Jacques-Cartier in the 1960s. He first ser ...

Electoral record (incomplete)

External links

*
Olivier Ford (official website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivier, Jacques 1944 births French Quebecers Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Olivier, Joseph Mario Jacques Olivier Mayors of Longueuil Politicians from Gatineau mg:Jacques Olivier