Monique Gagnon-Tremblay (born May 26, 1940 in Plessisville,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, Canada. She was the MNA for the riding of Saint-François in the

Estrie Estrie () is an administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 per cent francophone. Angl ...

region from 1985 to 2012. She served as

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 ...

leader of the Opposition in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

from May 1998 to December 1998 and

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

in 1994 and from 2003 to 2005.

Education and early career

Gagnon-Tremblay attended the Quirion Business School where she obtained a degree and added a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

and a degree in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and notarial law at the

Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke ( French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It ...

. She became a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

Ascot Corner Ascot Corner ( 2021 population 3,368) is a municipality in Le Haut-Saint-François Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the ...

and a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

at the Université de Sherbrooke in law. She was also a municipal

councilor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

in Ascot Corner.

Political career

Bourassa government

She was a Liberal candidate in Saint-François in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

but lost. She ran again in

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 ...

and won. She was named the Delegate Minister for the Status of Women and later the Minister of Cultural Communities and Immigration. After being re-elected in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, she was renamed the Minister of Cultural Communities. At the end of the mandate, when Daniel Johnson, Jr. replaced

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 un ...

as Quebec

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 governm ...

in 1993, she was named the Minister of Finances, the Deputy Premier and the

President of the Treasury Board The president of the Treasury Board () is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The president is the chair of the Treasury Board of Canada (a committee of Cabinet in the Privy Council) and is the minister responsible for the Treasury B ...

until the Liberals lost to 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 establishin ...

in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

elections. She was then the Caucus chair for the PLQ from 1994 to 1996

Interim leader and opposition party

When former Liberal

and then leader of the Opposition

Daniel Johnson, Jr. Daniel Johnson Jr. (born December 24, 1944) is a former Canadian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec and was the 25th premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994 until his party's defeat in the provincial general election. ...

decided to quit politics in March 1998,

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House of ...

resigned as leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party to replace Johnson as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. (The Quebec Liberal Party is not affiliated with the federal

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

). Gagnon-Tremblay became leader of the Opposition, since Charest did not yet have a seat in the National Assembly. In the 1998 election, Charest won a seat and replaced Gagnon-Tremblay as leader of the Opposition. She was re-elected for fourth term and named the assistant to Charest.

Charest government

After the Liberals won the 2003 election, Gagnon-Tremblay became deputy premier from May 2003 to February 2005 in the Charest government, and has held various cabinet posts including minister of international relations as well as minister responsible for la francophonie. Re-elected in the 2007 election, she was renamed the Minister of International Relations, La Francophonie and for the Estrie Region as well as the Vice-Chair of the Treasury Board. Following her 2008 re-election, Gagnon-Tremblay gave up for portfolio of International Relations to

Pierre Arcand Pierre Arcand (born November 13, 1951) is a Canadian politician, businessman, announcer and journalist in Quebec, Canada. He was the elected Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the provincial riding of Mont-Royal–Outremont in ...

but was given the position of President of the Treasury Board previously occupied by Monique Jerome-Forget who was also responsible for the portfolio of finances. She was given Jerome-Forget's government administration portfolio duties until 2010. Following Jerome-Forget's retirement, Gagnon-Tremblay was given the portfolio of Infrastructures

After a 2010 Cabinet shuffle, she returned as Minister of International Relations giving the Treasury Board position to former education Minister

Michelle Courchesne Michelle Courchesne (born May 6, 1953 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec) is a former Deputy Premier of Quebec. A member of the Quebec Liberal Party, she was the National Assembly Member for the riding of Fabre in Laval, Quebec. She is also the former P ...

Electoral District

, - ,

, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay , align="right", 13,327 , align="right", 46.96 , align="right", +9.10 ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, François Mailly , align="right", 210 , align="right", 0.74 , align="right", , - ,

, Monique Gagnon-Tremblay , align="right", 12,528 , align="right", 37.86 , align="right",

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gagnon-Tremblay, Monique 1940 births Living people Women government ministers of Canada Deputy premiers of Quebec Finance ministers of Quebec French Quebecers Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Quebec notaries Université de Sherbrooke alumni Université Laval alumni Female finance ministers Women MNAs in Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians