Michel Létourneau (October 10, 1949 – October 1, 2019) was a Canadian politician in the province of

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, ...

. He 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 1994 to 2007 as a member of 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 ...

(PQ) and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government of

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 ...

Early life and career

Létourneau had 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 recreology from the

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières The (, ''University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières'', UQTR), also known as "l'université du peuple", established in 1969 and mainly located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, is a public university within the network. As of April 2016, the uni ...

(1982) and 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 public administration from the

École nationale d'administration publique The (; "National School of Public Administration"; abbr. ENAP) is a graduate school in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1969 by the Quebec provincial government as a means of encouraging people to study professional public adm ...

(1990). He was service director for recreation, culture, and tourism in the municipality of

Baie-James The Baie-James () was a List of former municipalities in Quebec, former municipality in northern Quebec, Canada, which existed from 1971 to 2012. Located to the east of James Bay, Baie-James covered of land, making it the largest incorporated ...

from 1979 to 1985; director general of the

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geogr ...

regional recreation council from 1985 to 1990; and director for the development society of Baie-James from 1990 to 1994. He also served as a municipal councillor in

Matagami Matagami (, ) is a small town in Quebec, Canada. It is located north of Amos, on Matagami Lake, at the northern terminus of Route 109 and the start of the James Bay Road (French: ''Route de la Baie James''). It is enclaved within the local ...

from 1981 to 1985.

Legislator

Létourneau was elected to the

in the 1994 provincial election, winning as a Parti Québécois candidate in the vast northern riding of Ungava. The PQ won a majority government in this campaign, and Létourneau entered the legislature as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

supporter of

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 ...

's administration. He served as

parliamentary assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

to the

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 ...

from September 27, 1995, until Parizeau's resignation on January 29, 1996. He held other parliamentary assistantships over the next three years before again serving as parliamentary assistant to the premier from January 28, 1999 to January 30, 2002. He was also regional secretary for the

Nord-du-Québec Nord-du-Québec (; ) is the largest, but the least populous, of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada. Spread over nearly 14 degrees of latitude, north of the 49th parallel, the region covers on the Labrador Peninsula, making ...

region from 1996 to 1998. During this period, he worked to improve the often fractious relations between the Quebec government and

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

communities in northern Quebec. He also took part in a government delegation to

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in 1998, to study political and economic developments in that country. Létourneau was appointed to Bernard Landry's cabinet on January 30, 2002, as the junior Minister Responsible for the Development of Northern Quebec (Nord-du-Québec), with responsibility for

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (Region 09) (, ; ) is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region of Quebec, on the Quebec-Labrador peninsula, Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, Canada. The region runs along the St. Lawrence River and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ...

. He received additional responsibility as the junior Minister of Aboriginal Affairs on February 13 of the same year. He took part in a major deal between the Quebec government and the province's

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

community in April 2002. In the same year, he successfully lobbied to have an inukshuk constructed on the grounds of the National Assembly. Létourneau was re-elected in the 2003 general election as the PQ lost power to the Liberals. He served as an opposition member for the next four years and was his party's critic for natural resources. He did not seek re-election in the 2007 election.

After politics

Létourneau pursued a

doctorate 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 '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the Sorbonne in the geopolitics of northern development. He died on October 1, 2019, just prior to his 70th birthday.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letourneau, Michel 1949 births Bloc Québécois candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Candidates in the 2011 Canadian federal election 2019 deaths Parti Québécois MNAs People from Nord-du-Québec Politicians from Montreal 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec