Jean Charest

John James "Jean" Charest (born 24 June 1958) is a French Canadian politician. He was Premier of Quebec from 2003 until 2012 under the Quebec Liberal Party.

The Honourable Jean Charest PC
29th Premier of Quebec
In office April 29, 2003 – September 19, 2012
Preceded by	Bernard Landry
Succeeded by	Pauline Marois
MNA for Sherbrooke
In office November 30, 1998 – September 17, 2012
Preceded by	Marie Malavoy
Succeeded by	Serge Cardin
Leader of the Opposition
In office April 30, 1998 – April 29, 2003
Preceded by	Monique Gagnon-Tremblay
Succeeded by	Bernard Landry
5th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
In office June 25, 1993 – November 4, 1993
Preceded by	Don Mazankowski
Succeeded by	Sheila Copps
MP for Sherbrooke
In office September 4, 1984 – November 30, 1998
Preceded by	Irénée Pelletier
Succeeded by	Serge Cardin
Minister of the Environment
In office April 21, 1991 – June 24, 1993
Preceded by	Robert de Cotret
Succeeded by	Pierre H. Vincent
Personal details
Born	John James Charest (1958-06-24) June 24, 1958 Sherbrooke, Quebec
Political party	Quebec Liberal Party (1998–present)
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (Before 1998)
Spouse(s)	Michèle Dionne
Residence	Montreal, Quebec (personal)
Alma mater	University of Sherbrooke

Early life

Charest was born and grew up in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Before politics, he worked as a lawyer. He received his diploma from the University of Sherbrooke in 1981, and was admitted to the Bar of Quebec the same year. After 3 years of working in court, Charest decided to join the Conservative Party of Canada in 1984. He was only 26 years old when he was elected as the representative of Sherbrooke.

Conservative Party of Canada

Jean Charest had joined the Conservative Party of Canada in 1984. In the same year, he was appointed as Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the House of Commons. On June 1986, he joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. He was the youngest person to serve in the Cabinet. He was given the job of Minister of State for Youth. Charest was re-elected in 1988, and served as Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport.

In 1984, the Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, promised that Quebec would sign the Canadian Constitution, which every other province had already signed two years before. Jean Charest was very involved in this project, but it did not succeed.

Referendum of 1995

In 1995, Quebec was governed by the Parti Québécois, who started a referendum about whether Quebec should stay as a part of Canada. In others words, the population had the choice of staying or leaving the country. Jean Charest was against the idea of Quebec leaving the union. The results were very close, but Quebec stayed as part of the country.

Liberal Party of Quebec

Régis Labeaume, Stephen Harper and Jean Charest at the Forum mondial de la langue française, July 2 2012.

During the 1990s, the sovereignty movement was at its height. Jean Charest, who was a big part of the No campaign in 1995, had won the support of many federalists from Quebec. This is why he joined the Liberal Party of Quebec in 1998, as the leader of the party. In 1998, Charest participated at his first election as a leader of a party. He received more votes than his opponent, but did not reach the majority. He stayed as official Leader of the Opposition until 29 April 2003.

Charest won the next election and became Premier of Quebec on the 29 April 2003 by receiving 45.99% of the votes from the electors. Mario Dumont from the Action Démocratique du Québec and Bernard Landry from the Parti Quebecois were his opponents. The Liberal Party won 76 out of 125 seats.

Premiership

During his government, there were crises with the housing industry and university funding. Charest was not able to lower taxes as he had promised during his campaign. In the 2008 election, the Liberal Party under Jean Charest got re-elected as the government, with 66 out of 125 seats and 42% of the votes from Quebec's electors. Charest himself was less popular in this election than the other one before. He gained 33.08% of the votes from the electors.

The popularity of Jean Charest dropped down very quickly. On 4 September 2012, Charest had been defeated and he decided to quit.

After his resignation, Jean Charest decided to give more time to his family and begin working again as lawyer. At least five law firms have shown interest in his services, especially one in Toronto.

2022 Conservative leadership race

In March 2022, Charest announced his candidacy in the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. He lost the election in September 2022 to Pierre Poilievre.

Family

Jean Charest with his wife Michèle Dionne

At the age of 18 years old, Jean Charest met Michèle Dionne who became his wife. They met while they were studying in Sherbrooke. Michèle Dionne had been considerate as a big part of his career, she has supported and has influenced many of his choices while he was in politics. Amélie, Antoine and Alexandra are their 3 children.

Jean Charest Media

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  Charest with United States Consul General Peter O'Donohue in November 2010

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  Jean Charest de face (Novembre 2010)

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  Jean Charest, Prime minister of Quebec

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  Former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell

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  Jean Charest, Prime minister of Quebec

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  MP Garth Turner listens attentively to Opposition leader Dion's response to a question from a member of the general public during a town hall meeting in Oakville, Ontario.