Jean Marchand
 Jean Marchand    ( labor activist) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | December 20, 1918 Champlain, Quebec | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | August 28, 1988 (Age 69) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Canadian | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Université Laval | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion |  Catholic | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Interests |  Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Liberal Party of Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||
French-Canadian Catholic trade unionist and politician in Quebec, connected to Pierre Trudeau. Attended Bilderberg/1961.
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Jean Marchand was a French-Canadian trade union official and politician of the Liberal Party of Canada. Critical of the Quebec independence movement, he held a number of federal ministerial posts.[1] He attended the 1961 Bilderberg meeting.
Education
After attending the Académie Saint-Joseph in 1938, Marchand began studying at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Laval, which had been founded shortly before.
Trade union career
After completing his studies, he became Secretary General of the Confederation of Catholic Workers (Confédération des travailleurs catholiques du Canada) in 1947 and organized the Asbestos miner strike for them in 1949. During this time, he became acquainted with the then journalists and later politicians Pierre Trudeau and Gérard Pelletier. Marchand was president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux from 1961 to 1964. Between 1964 and 1965, he was a member of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, an enquiry commission to take into account the cultural and linguistic differences between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians.
Political career
In the general election on November 8, 1965, Marchand was elected to the House of Commons as a candidate of the Liberal Party. On December 18, 1965, Marchand was appointed by Prime Minister Lester Pearson as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in the 19th Government of Canada, and took over in the latter after a reshuffle of the departments on December 1. He was appointed Minister of Manpower and Immigration in October 1966, a post he held until the end of Pearson's term on 19 April 1968.
Pearson's successor as Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, subsequently appointed him Secretary of State for Canada in the 20th Cabinet of Canada on 20 April 1968. He held this position until July 5, 1968, and at the same time continued to hold his post as Minister of Manpower and Immigration. After a government reshuffle, he became Minister of Forestry and Rural Development and then Minister of Regional Economic Expansion from April 1, 1969 to November 26, 1972, before becoming Minister of Transport until September 25, 1975. Subsequently, Marchand was Minister without portfolio and finally, since a new government reshuffle on January 22, 1976, Minister of the Environment. He resigned from this ministerial post on 30 June 1976 in protest against the government's handling of the air traffic controllers' strike.
After leaving the House of Commons, he became a member of the Senate on December 9, 1976 at the suggestion of Prime Minister Trudeau and represented the Senate district De la Vallière in it until 1983. During this time, he was co-chairman of the Joint Special Committee of the Canadian Parliament for the National Capital Region between October 18, 1977 and October 10, 1978. During his Senate membership, he became Speaker of the Senate on March 4, 1980 and thus President of the Senate. He held the post of Speaker of the Senate until his retirement from the Senate on December 15, 1983.[2]
The reason for his resignation as a member of the Senate was his upcoming appointment as president of the Canadian Transport Commission. He held this position until his death on August 28, 1988.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1961 | 21 April 1961 | 23 April 1961 | Canada Quebec St-Castin | The 10th Bilderberg, the first in Canada and the 2nd outside Europe. |
