Stéphane Dion
Canadian politician / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Stéphane Maurice Dion PC (French pronunciation: [stefan moʁis djɔ̃]; born 28 September 1955) is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the European Union since 2017. Dion was Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2008. He served in cabinets as intergovernmental affairs minister (1996–2003), environment minister (2003–2006), and foreign affairs minister (2015–2017).
Stéphane Dion | |
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Canadian Ambassador to France and Monaco | |
Assumed office 1 June 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
Preceded by | Isabelle Hudon |
Special Envoy of Canada to the European Union | |
Assumed office 1 May 2017 | |
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
Preceded by | Position established |
Canadian Ambassador to Germany | |
In office 1 May 2017 – 1 June 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
Preceded by | Marie Gervais-Vidricaire |
Succeeded by | Isabelle Poupart (acting) |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 4 November 2015 – 10 January 2017 | |
Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
Preceded by | Rob Nicholson |
Succeeded by | Chrystia Freeland |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office 2 December 2006 – 10 December 2008 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Prime Minister | Stephen Harper |
Preceded by | Bill Graham |
Succeeded by | Michael Ignatieff |
Leader of the Liberal Party | |
In office 2 December 2006 – 10 December 2008 | |
Deputy | Michael Ignatieff |
Preceded by | Bill Graham (interim) |
Succeeded by | Michael Ignatieff |
Minister of the Environment | |
In office 20 July 2004 – 6 February 2006 | |
Prime Minister | Paul Martin |
Preceded by | David Anderson |
Succeeded by | Rona Ambrose |
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs | |
In office 25 January 1996 – 11 December 2003 | |
Prime Minister | Jean Chrétien |
Preceded by | Marcel Massé |
Succeeded by | Pierre Pettigrew |
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada | |
In office 25 January 1996 – 11 December 2003 | |
Prime Minister | Jean Chrétien |
Preceded by | Marcel Massé |
Succeeded by | Denis Coderre |
Member of Parliament for Saint-Laurent (Saint-Laurent—Cartierville; 1996–2015) | |
In office 25 March 1996 – 6 February 2017 | |
Preceded by | Shirley Maheu |
Succeeded by | Emmanuella Lambropoulos |
Personal details | |
Born | Stéphane Maurice Dion (1955-09-28) 28 September 1955 (age 68) Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
Citizenship |
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Political party | Liberal |
Spouse | |
Children | 1 |
Alma mater | Laval University (BA, MA) Sciences Po (PhD) |
Signature | |
Before entering politics, Dion was a professor of political science at the Université de Montréal. His research focused on Canadian federalism and public administration. Throughout his tenure in government, Dion held a number of portfolios. He was first named Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs by Prime Minister Chrétien in 1996, following the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum. His reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada, produced Reference Re Secession of Quebec and his Clarity Act, which provided guidelines for subsequent referendums. He returned to the backbench in 2003 when Paul Martin became the prime minister and dropped a number of ministers in an effort to disassociate himself from the former Chrétien government. After the 2004 election however, he returned to Cabinet as Minister of Environment, where he was in charge of implementing the Kyoto Protocol and chaired COP 11/CMP 1 when Montreal hosted the UN climate conference in 2005.
The Liberal government lost the 2006 election and Martin resigned as leader. Dion campaigned to replace him and subsequently won the party leadership election. Dion ran on an environmental platform in the 2008 federal election, but was defeated by the Conservatives led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in one of the Liberals' worst electoral showings. After a subsequent parliamentary dispute, he was replaced as leader by Michael Ignatieff. Dion continued to sit as the member of Parliament for Saint-Laurent. In 2015, the Liberal Party returned to power and Dion was named Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, serving until 2017, when he left politics and assumed his current diplomatic postings.