Robert Libman
Encyclopedia
Background
Born in MontrealMontreal
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...
, 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 is the son of David Libman and Goldie Aronovitch. He attended Herzliah High School, Vanier College
Vanier College
Vanier College is an English-language public college located in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1970 as the second English-language public college of Quebec's public college system...
, and received a Bachelor of architecture
Bachelor of Architecture
The Bachelor of Architecture is an undergraduate academic degree designed to satisfy the academic component of professional accreditation bodies, to be followed by a period of practical training prior to professional examination and registration. It is awarded for a course of study that lasts up...
from McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he practiced architecture.
Provincial politics
In 1988, he co-founded the Equality PartyEquality Party (Quebec)
The Equality Party was a political party in Quebec, Canada, that promoted the use of English in Quebec on an equal basis with French. Four Equality Party members were elected to Quebec's National Assembly in 1989, as part of an anglophone reaction to changes made by the governing Liberals to...
to protest against the Quebec Liberal Party government's decision to extend a ban on English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
commercial signs. In 1989
Quebec general election, 1989
The Quebec general election of 1989 was held on September 25, 1989, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada...
, he was elected as a Member of the National Assembly in the Montreal riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of D'Arcy-McGee, winning 57.85% of the valid ballots.
Due in part to the surprise victory of the Equality Party, the Quebec government later lessened restrictions on English signs. During his term in office, Libman made headlines by using his Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...
to reveal the details of confidential, money-losing contracts signed between Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
and some of Quebec's aluminum producers.
Libman left the Equality Party and sat as an independent shortly before the 1994 general election
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.....
. His supporters attempted to make him the Quebec Liberal Party candidate in his riding. However, new Quebec Liberal Party leader Daniel Johnson refused to sign his nomination papers. Libman ran as an independent and lost to the Quebec Liberal Party candidate Lawrence Bergman
Lawrence Bergman
Lawrence S. Bergman is a politician in Quebec, Canada. He is the current Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of D'Arcy-McGee in Montreal's West end and Chairperson of the Government Caucus in the parliamentary office of Quebec.He received a Bachelor of Arts from Sir George...
.
In 1997 Libman won a unanimous Supreme Court Judgement in "Libman v. Quebec (Attorney General)
Libman v. Quebec (Attorney General)
Libman v. Quebec [1997] 3 S.C.R. 569 is a Supreme Court of Canada ruling issued on October 9, 1997, which invalidated part of Quebec's referendum law dealing with the regulation of expenses by third parties during a referendum campaign....
" in which certain sections of the Quebec Referendum Law concerning restrictions on third party spending were struck down. The charges against federalist groups who participated in the large Pro-Canada Rally during the 1995 referendum campaign were cancelled as a result of this decision.
In 1995 Libman authored Riding the Rapids; The Whitewater Rise and Fall of Quebec's Anglo Protest published by Robert Davies Publishing.
Mayor of Côte Saint-Luc
In 1998, Libman was acclaimedAcclamation
An acclamation, in its most common sense, is a form of election that does not use a ballot. "Acclamation" or "acclamatio" can also signify a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval in certain social contexts in ancient Rome.-Voting:...
mayor of the city of Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec
Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec
Côte Saint-Luc is a mostly residential city in Quebec, Canada, located on the Island of Montreal. The English version of this toponym is "Saint Luke's Slope".-History:...
. In 2001, he was elected borough mayor of Côte Saint-Luc—Hampstead—Montreal West and was a member of the Montreal City Council
Montreal City Council
The Montreal City Council is the governing body of Montreal, Quebec. The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the City Council. The mayor is Gérald Tremblay, who is a member of the Union des citoyens et des citoyennes de l'Île de Montréal...
and its Executive Committee
Executive Committee
Executive Committee may refer to:* The Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland, a government body in the United Kingdom 1921–1972* The Northern Ireland Executive, a government body in the United Kingdom...
.
In 2004, Libman supported the continued merger of the borough of Côte Saint-Luc with the megacity
Megacity
A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. Some definitions also set a minimum level for population density . A megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge. The terms conurbation,...
of 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...
.
In 2005, he decided to quit politics, and not to run for mayor of the re-constituted city of Côte Saint-Luc
Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec
Côte Saint-Luc is a mostly residential city in Quebec, Canada, located on the Island of Montreal. The English version of this toponym is "Saint Luke's Slope".-History:...
following its demerger
Demerger
Demerger is a form of corporate restructuring in which the an entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components. It is the converse of a merger or acquisition....
from the megacity
Megacity
A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. Some definitions also set a minimum level for population density . A megacity can be a single metropolitan area or two or more metropolitan areas that converge. The terms conurbation,...
of Montreal. He returned to private life and opened his own architectural consulting firm, Libcorp Consultants Inc.