PAULINE MAROIS

'Pauline Marois' (born March 29, 1949 in Quebec City) is the current leader of the Parti Québécois in Quebec as of June 27, 2007. In a political career spanning some 30 years, she has held a total of 15 ministerial titles in Quebec politics.
She is married to Claude Blanchet, former head of Quebec's Société générale de financement, and is the mother of four children (Catherine, Félix, François-Christophe and Jean-Sébastien). A millionaire, she currently resides in Ile-Bizard on Montreal's West Island.[1]

Contents

Education and early political career

First leadership race

Second leadership race

Third leadership race

By-Election

Reference

See also

Education and early political career

Marois holds a bachelor's degree in social work from Université Laval, as well as a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from HEC Montréal. During the 1970s she gained experience with several community organizations, before working as press attachée for then-finance minister Jacques Parizeau. She also served as chief of staff for Lise Payette, minister responsible for the condition of women, and taught for some time at Université du Québec en Outaouais.
Marois was first elected to the Quebec National Assembly in the 1981 election as the Parti Québécois Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for La Peltrie. She immediately joined the government of René Lévesque as Minister for the Status of Women. In 1983, she was promoted to Minister of Labour and Income Security and Minister responsible for the Outaouais region.

First leadership race

When Lévesque resigned as party leader and Premier of Quebec, Marois joined the race to succeed him, placing second in the 1985 PQ leadership election behind Pierre-Marc Johnson. The PQ lost the 1985 election, Marois also lost her seat. From 1988 to 1989, she served as vice-president of the party and chair of the PQ's national executive.
In the 1989 election, Marois was returned as the member for Taillon. She continued serving on the opposition bench, variously, as critic for industry and trade, public administration and the environment.
When the PQ returned to power following the 1994 election, Marois was appointed to the cabinet of Jacques Parizeau as Minister for Administration and the Public Service and, for the last few months of Parizeau's tenure, as Minister of Finance and Minister of Revenue. Once Lucien Bouchard succeeded Parizeau as Premier, he made Marois his Minister of Education. She became Minister of Health and Social Services following the 1998 election.
The ascension of Bernard Landry as PQ leader and premier resulted in Marois returning again to the position of Minister of Finance. With the defeat of the PQ government in the 2003 election, Marois became the PQ opposition's education critic.

Second leadership race

She quickly started to organize her leadership bid following the PQ electoral defeat. Her close supporters founded Groupe Reflexion Quebec, which served as a think tank. Her key organizors were Danielle Rioux, Nicole Léger, Nicolas Girard, Nicole Stafford, Joseph Facal and Pierre Langlois.
Marois announced her candidacy in the election for the leadership of the PQ following the sudden resignation of Landry in June 2005. She won 30.6% of the vote placing second to André Boisclair.
Marois retired from the National Assembly in March of 2006, stating that after 25 years in elected politics it was time for her to pursue other interests. She vowed to remain active in the PQ, and reaffirmed her confidence in Boisclair's leadership. She was succeeded as MNA for Taillon by Marie Malavoy.

Third leadership race

In the March 26, 2007 Quebec provincial election, the Parti Québécois was reduced to third place in the National Assembly of Quebec, behind both the governing Quebec Liberal Party and the opposition Action démocratique du Québec. Following this disappointing result, PQ leader André Boisclair announced his resignation as leader on May 8, 2007. Marois was considered a leading candidate to replace Boisclair, especially following federal Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe's withdrawal from the race.^[1]
On May 11, 2007, she officially announced that she would run again for leader of the PQ for the third time.^[2]
No other candidate steped forward to contest the election, and Marois was acclaimed leader on June 27, 2007. She currently leads the party from outside the National Assembly.
:''See Parti Québécois leadership election, 2007''

By-Election

On August 13, 2007 Marois announced her candidacy for the riding of Charlevoix after the incumbent Rosaire Bertrand retired from politics after 13 years as the MNA.^[3] The by-election will be held on September 24, 2007. She will not compete against a candidate from the minority governing Liberal Party of Quebec, which has chosen not to present an opposing candidate.^[4] She will face an Action démocratique du Québec candidate, Conrad Harvey, who previously was candidate in the same riding against Bertrand in the 2007 general elections.^[5]
Canadian tradition holds that in a by-election, a party leader without a seat runs unopposed by other major parties. Also, opposing party leaders traditionally do not campaign in the riding. Marois herself, however, campaigned for a PQ candidate in a by-election against Liberal party leader Robert Bourassa in 1985, as did PQ leader René Lévesque.[7][8]

Reference

1. [2]
2. [3]
3. [4]
4. [5]
5. [6]


★ Biography at National Assembly of Quebec

See also

★ Parti Québécois leadership election, 1985

★ Parti Québécois leadership election, 2005

★ Parti Québécois leadership election, 2007

★ Politics of Quebec

★ Quebec sovereignty movement