Jean-Pierre Charbonneau
Encyclopedia
Jean-Pierre Charbonneau (born January 3, 1950 in Saint-Eustache, Quebec
Saint-Eustache, Quebec
Saint-Eustache is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in western Quebec, Canada, west of Montreal on the north shore of the Rivière des Mille-Îles....

) is a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and a former 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....

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was the Quebec MNA
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...

 member under 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...

 for the provincial ridings of Borduas and Verchères
Verchères (provincial electoral district)
Vercheres is a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Montérégie region, it was created in 1829. From 1936 to 1944 Vercheres was part of the riding of Richelieu-Vercheres...

 in the Montérégie
Montérégie
Montérégie is an administrative region in southwest Québec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Granby, Longueuil, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Hyacinthe, Sorel-Tracy, and Vaudreuil-Dorion....

 region.

Profile

After studying at 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...

's Ahuntsic
Ahuntsic
Ahuntsic is a district in the northern part of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Originally an independent village, Ahuntsic was annexed by Montreal in 1910. It is now part of the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville....

 College in social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

, Charbonneau attended 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...

 in criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...

 and obtained 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 1972. He later had a lengthy journalistic career in which he worked for several media outlets in the Montreal region including radio stations CKAC and CKVL
CINF (AM)
CINF was a French language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec.Owned and operated by Corus Quebec, it broadcasted on 690 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts as a clear channel station, using a slightly directional antenna solely for the purpose of improving reception in downtown...

, newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s including Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....

and La Presse and various magazines and revues. He was mostly a journalist and specialist in crime news. He also published several books related to organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

 which gave him an award.

On May 1, 1973, Antonio Mucci, a 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...

 Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 member, fired three times at him in the offices of Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....

. One shot hit him in the arm. He was back at work two months later.

Charbonneau first entered politics in 1976
Quebec general election, 1976
The Quebec general election of 1976 was held on November 15, 1976 to elect members to National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled only by the 1960 general election, and caused major repercussions in the rest of Canada...

 when he was elected in Vercheres and the Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque
René Lévesque
René Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec...

 defeated Robert Bourassa
Robert Bourassa
Jean-Robert Bourassa, was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 22nd Premier of Quebec in two different mandates, first from May 12, 1970, to November 25, 1976, and then from December 12, 1985, to January 11, 1994, serving a total of just under 15 years as Provincial Premier.-Early...

's Liberals during that election. He was a prominent figure in attracting supporters of sovereignty during the 1980 referendum which resulted in a victory for the No side.

He was re-elected in 1981
Quebec general election, 1981
The Quebec general election of 1981 was held on April 13, 1981, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Claude Ryan.The PQ won re-election despite...

 and 1985
Quebec general election, 1985
The Quebec general election of 1985 was held on December 2, 1985, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Quebec Liberal Party, led by former premier Robert Bourassa, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by premier Pierre-Marc Johnson.This election...

 before stepping down the first time in 1989 prior to an humanitarian trip to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 organized by 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...

 and the criminology faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...

. He was not named as a minister during his first 13 years but was the parliamentary secretary to Lévesque in 1983 and 1984 and headed several committees.

He was also briefly an administration member of Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...

-Quebec, an NGO concentrating in international development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...

 and aid. He also taught T'ai chi in his area for five years and returned to co-host a radio show on CHKL. While being away from politics he participated in Belanger-Campeau Committee
Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Quebec
The Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Quebec, also known as the Bélanger-Campeau Commission, was established by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, at the initiative of Premier Robert Bourassa, after the demise of the Meech Lake Accord...

 which was launched by the Bourassa government in the fallout of the failure of the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...

 which would have accorded Quebec a distinct society mention.

Charbonneau re-entered politics in 1994
Quebec general election, 1994
The Quebec general election of 1994 was held on September 12, 1994, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The Parti Québécois, led by Jacques Parizeau, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Daniel Johnson, Jr.....

 where he was elected as an MNA for the riding of Borduas when the Parti Québécois under the leadership of Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...

, defeated the Liberals led by Daniel Johnson, Jr.  He was re-elected successfully in 1998
Quebec general election, 1998
The Quebec general election of 1998 was held on November 30, 1998, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Lucien Bouchard, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Charest.After the narrow defeat of...

 and 2003
Quebec general election, 2003
The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:...

. He was the speaker of the provincial legislative assembly of Quebec for six years, from 1996 to 2002, before being named the Deputy Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

 of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry, is a Quebec lawyer, teacher, politician, who served as the 28th Premier of Quebec , leader of the Opposition and leader of the Parti Québécois .-Personal:...

 cabinet, until the party's defeat to 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 Liberals in the 2003 elections. He served as critic of the opposition party in public safety
Public Safety
Public safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage, such as crimes or disasters .-See also:* By nation...

 and health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 until his second retirement on November 15, 2006.

At one time Charbonneau was the minister for reform of democratic institutions under the PQ government. He later endorsed the Mouvement pour la démocratie nouvelle which advocates proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

in Quebec.

External links

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