Marc-André Bédard (15 August 1935 – 25 November 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. Born in

Lac-à-la-Croix, Quebec Lac-à-la-Croix () is an unorganized territory in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the La Mitis Regional County Municipality La Mitis is a regional county municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region in eastern Quebec, Canada on th ...

, Bédard served in 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 ...

from 1973 to 1985 and was Minister of Justice and Deputy Premier. Bédard was the father of politician

Stéphane Bédard Stéphane Bédard (born 11 March 1968) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. Bédard was interim leader of the Parti Québécois from 2014 to 2015. He was the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the provincial riding of Chicoutimi. H ...

Member of the legislature

Bédard unsuccessfully ran as 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 ...

candidate to 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 ...

in the district of

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

, finishing a close third with 30% of the vote. He was elected in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

and was re-elected in

1976 Events January * January 2 – 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 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Cabinet member

, Bédard was appointed 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 ...

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

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. He was Quebec's longest-serving Minister of Justice from 26 November 1976 to 5 March 1984. From 1984 to

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

he served as

Deputy Premier of Quebec The deputy premier of Quebec ( French: ''Vice-premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''Vice-première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)), is the deputy head of government in Quebec. There was no deputy premier until July 1960. In the 1960s ...

, and also as his party's House Leader. He did not run for re-election in

. As Minister of Justice, in 1981 Bédard ordered the inquest into the 1964 death of John Watkins, the Canadian Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Separatist legacy

Bédard was instrumental in recruiting

Lucien Bouchard Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician. A minister for two years in the 24th Canadian Ministry, Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then founded and led the Bloc Québécois and became Leader ...

to the separatist cause when he convinced the future Pequiste premier to abandon the Liberal party and become his personal communications director in 1973. As Justice Minister, Bédard appointed Bouchard to several high-profile commissions such as the Cliche Commission, from which Bouchard gained enormous fame. Bédard tried to get Bouchard to succeed him as Pequiste candidate for Chicoutimi, but Bouchard refused, instead joining the Federal PC Party under the rising star of

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

in 1988 as his

Quebec lieutenant In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant () is a Quebec politician who is selected by the party leader to be the main advisor or spokesperson on issues specific to Quebec. This is particularly the case when the leader is an anglophone, though se ...

. With the failure of the

Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord () was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial Premier (Canada), premiers. It was intended to ...

in 1990, Bédard joined with

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader ...

in lobbying the Quebec caucus of the PC party in Ottawa to bolt and establish their own political movement. Bouchard and several others answered the call and founded the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

Retirement

Bédard was instrumental in having a statue of

on the grounds of the

Parliament of Quebec In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. T ...

. His son

Stéphane Stéphane is a French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. The word derives from the Greek word "''στεφάνι''" (stefáni) n (plural στεφάνια), meaning wreath, garland (of flowers), and the verb "στέφω" (stéfo), meaning "t ...

was Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the provincial riding of Chicoutimi from 1998 to 2015. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec was part of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported the hi ...

, he died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 25 November 2020, in the Saguenay borough of

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedard, Marc-Andre 1935 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada Parti Québécois MNAs People from Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Ministers of justice of Quebec Deputy premiers of Quebec 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec