Michelle Courchesne
Canadian politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 President of the Treasury Board, Minister responsible for the Laval region, Minister of Education and Deputy Premier of Quebec. She is a former Minister of Family, Immigration, Employment and Social Solidarity.
Michelle Courchesne | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Premier of Quebec | |
| In office May 14, 2012 – September 19, 2012 | |
| Premier | Jean Charest |
| Preceded by | Line Beauchamp |
| Succeeded by | François Gendron |
| Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Fabre | |
| In office April 14, 2003 – September 4, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Facal |
| Succeeded by | Gilles Ouimet |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 6, 1953 Trois-Rivières, Quebec |
| Political party | Quebec Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Normand Filiatreault |
Courchesne attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf before going to the Université de Montréal and obtained a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in urban development. She would become an urbanist from 1976 to 1981 before being elected to the City Council of Laval. She would also work at the Ministry of Culture and Communications as a Deputy Minister before being a member of the administration council of the National Bank of Canada, Radio-Canada, the National Theater School of Canada and the Quebec Mental Health Foundation. She was then the director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and a vice-president for Marketel and Cognicase.
Courchesne entered politics in 2003, where she was elected as the MNA for Fabre while the Liberals regained power after nine years of governing by the Parti Québécois. She was named by Jean Charest in the Cabinet as the Minister responsible for the relations with the Citizens and Immigration and was then promoted to Employment and Social Solidarity following a Cabinet shuffle in 2005 where she took the position occupied by Claude Béchard.
Following the 2007 elections, she was re-elected in a Liberal minority government, and named the Minister of Education, Leisure and Sports as well Minister of Family.
Following the 2008 election, she kept most of the portfolios but gave up the Ministry of Family to LaFontaine MNA Tony Tomassi. Courchesne lost the Education portfolio to former Environment Minister Line Beauchamp in a 2010 cabinet shuffle and became President of the Treasury Board. She regained the Education Minister position, as well as becoming Deputy Premier of Quebec, on May 14, 2012, following Beauchamp's resignation during the ongoing student protests over tuition hikes.
She retired at the 2012 election.
| 2008 Quebec general election: Fabre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Michelle Courchesne | 15,349 | 45.50 | |||||
| Parti Québécois | François-Gycelain Rocque | 12,425 | 36.83 | |||||
| Action démocratique | Tom Pentefountas | 4,024 | 11.93 | |||||
| Green | Erika Alvarez | 1,021 | 3.03 | – | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Pierre Brien | 918 | 2.72 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 33,737 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 517 | |||||||
| Turnout | 34,254 | 57.08 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 60,010 | |||||||
| Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec | ||||||||
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
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