Jean-Martin Aussant
Encyclopedia
Jean-Martin Aussant is a politician in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. He has represented Nicolet-Yamaska
Nicolet-Yamaska (provincial electoral district)
Nicolet-Yamaska is a provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The riding was created in 1988 from Nicolet...

 in the National Assembly of Quebec
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...

 since 2008, first as a member of the Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...

 and currently as leader of his own party, Option nationale
Option nationale
Option nationale is a political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 2011 by Jean-Martin Aussant, a member of the National Assembly who had quit the Parti Québécois earlier that year after being elected in 2008...

.

Early life and career

Aussant was born in Nicolet, Quebec
Nicolet, Quebec
Nicolet, Quebec is the county seat of Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 7,827...

. He has a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in Business Administration from the Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 (1993) and a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in Economic Analysis from the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...

 (1995). He started Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 work at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, but left in 1997 to work as a consultant for Barra
Barra
The island of Barra is a predominantly Gaelic-speaking island, and apart from the adjacent island of Vatersay, to which it is connected by a causeway, is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.-Geography:The 2001 census showed that the resident population was 1,078...

 International.

Aussant was a research director and portfolio manager at Addenda Capital from 1999 to 2003 and the vice-president of Morgan Stanley Capital International
Morgan Stanley Capital International
MSCI Inc. is a provider of investment decision support tools to investment institutions. Products include indices, portfolio risk and performance analytics - for use in managing equity, fixed income and multi-asset class portfolios - and governance tools....

/Barra in London, UK from 2003 to 2005. Returning to Quebec in 2005, he was a manager for Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board
Public Sector Pension Investment Board
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is a Canadian crown corporation established by an act of parliament in September 1999. Its mandate is "to manage employer and employee contributions made after April 1, 2000 to the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian...

 for two years before starting a private consulting practice. He was also a founding director of the Montreal divisions of both the Global Association of Risk Professionals
Global Association of Risk Professionals
The Global Association of Risk Professionals is an international not-for-profit organization founded in 1996 by Marc Lore and Lev Borodovsky...

 and the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association.

Legislator

Parti Québécois member
Aussant was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2008 general election, defeating his Liberal opponent by only 141 votes. This was the second closest result in the province. The Liberals won a majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

 across the province under Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

's leadership, and the Parti Québécois formed the official opposition. Aussant was appointed as his party's critic for financial institutions and international commerce and became an opposition representative on the legislative committee on public finances.

He criticized the Charest government's appointment of Michael Sabia
Michael Sabia
Michael John Sabia, is a Canadian businessman. He is the current CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Sabia formerly served as CEO of Bell Canada from 2002 through 2008.-Personal life:...

 as head of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec manages public pension plans in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly...

 in May 2009, arguing that Sabia had previously tried to move BCE Inc.
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...

's upper management and operations from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 and could not be trusted to represent Quebec's interests. The following year, Aussant accused Sabia of having cost Quebecers six billion dollars as the result of a poor risk management strategy.

When Quebec investment advisor Earl Jones
Earl Jones (investment advisor)
Bertram Earl Jones, commonly known as Earl Jones, is a Canadian non-practicing investment adviser who pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme which CBC News has reported cost his victims "a conservative estimate of about C$51.3 million taken between 1982 and 2009"...

 was accused of stealing money from his clients in 2009, Aussant called for new legislation requiring financial advisors to register with the province's financial markets authority. He also called for the Charest government to create a parliamentary commission on economic crime.

In 2010, Aussant argued that Quebec could save about $840 million by removing Revenue Canada from tax collection in Quebec. He later criticized a proposed merger of the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 with the TMX Group, arguing that it would be "a further loss of ground for Quebec." (The TMX Group took over the Montreal Stock Exchange in 2008, through a deal which gave Quebec's Autorité des marchés financiers
Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec)
The Autorité des marchés financiers is the body mandated by the government of Québec to regulate the province's financial markets and provide assistance to consumers of financial products and services....

 a say over future changes in the company.)

Aussant was a member of the PQ's hardline indépendantiste wing. Before leaving the party, he took part in a video touring series with three other PQ MNAs to promote the benefits of an independent Quebec.
Independent
On June 7, 2011, Aussant followed caucus-mates Louise Beaudoin
Louise Beaudoin
Louise Beaudoin is a Canadian politician, who represents the electoral district of Rosemont in the National Assembly of Quebec, initially as a member of the Parti Québécois , and since June 6, 2011, as an independent...

, Pierre Curzi
Pierre Curzi
Pierre Curzi is an actor, screenwriter and politician in Quebec, Canada. He is the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie region south of Montreal...

, and Lisette Lapointe
Lisette Lapointe
Lisette Lapointe is a Quebec politician, journalist and teacher, currently sitting as an independent. She is the wife of Jacques Parizeau, former Premier of Quebec, Canada...

 in resigning from the Parti Québécois caucus. All four legislators criticized PQ leader Pauline Marois
Pauline Marois
Pauline Marois is the current leader of the Parti Québécois in the province of Quebec, since June 27, 2007 and current Leader of the Official Opposition of the National Assembly of Quebec, representing the riding of Charlevoix...

 for supporting a bill that endorsed a controversial agreement between Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 and Quebecor
Quebecor
Quebecor Inc. is a communications company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded by Pierre Péladeau, and remains run by his family. Quebecor Inc. owns 55% of Quebecor Media Inc...

 Inc. on the construction of a new arena. Aussant also criticized Marois for downplaying Quebec sovereignty and called on her to resign as party leader.

Aussant sat in the legislature as an independent. He dismissed suggestions that he could join a new political movement led by former PQ minister François Legault
François Legault
François Legault is a politician in Quebec, Canada, and former member of the National Assembly of Quebec. A member of the Parti Québécois , he was first elected in the 1998 Quebec election in the riding of Rousseau in the Lanaudière region.-Life and career:Legault was born in...

, saying that he and Legault are on opposite sides of the sovereignty issue and describing Legault's movement as "populism of the worst kind."

Option nationale
Following his departure from the PQ, Aussant created his own political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

, Option nationale
Option nationale
Option nationale is a political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 2011 by Jean-Martin Aussant, a member of the National Assembly who had quit the Parti Québécois earlier that year after being elected in 2008...

, which officially became registered on October 31, 2011. The party proposes to be more committed to Quebec sovereignty
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...

 than the Parti Québécois, and would pursue sovereignty without holding a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

.

Electoral record

External links

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