John James "Jean" Charest (b. 24 June 1958) is a Canadian politician who briefly served as the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993 and, thereafter, as 29th premier of Quebec, from 2003 to 2012; the leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998; and the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1998 to 2012.[1]
After being elected to the House of Commons in 1984, Charest served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, being appointed as Minister of State for Youth in 1986, and as Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport in 1988.[2] In 1990 he resigned from cabinet following a scandal resulting from a phone call to a judge, but returned to cabinet in 1991 as Minister of the Environment.[3] Following Mulroney's resignation in 1993, Charest ran against Kim Campbell for the leadership of the party.[4] Though he lost the race to Campbell,[3] Charest was one of the two Progressive Conservatives remaining in the House following the 1993 election. He thereafter became leader of the party,[5] and the party's first francophone leader.[6]
Charest faced pressure to leave federal politics and take the reins of the Quebec Liberals,[7] and opted to take the place of Premier Daniel Johnson in 1998.[8] Charest was ultimately succeeded as PC leader by former Prime Minister Joe Clark.[9] In the 2012 election, Charest's Liberals were defeated at the hands of Pauline Marois's PQ,[10] prompting him to resign from politics.[11] Charest was succeeded as leader by his former health minister, Philippe Couillard.[12]
Charest declined to run in the 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race, which was ultimately won by Erin O'Toole. After much speculation that he would do so,[13][14][15][16] he announced his campaign for the 2022 leadership election on 10 March.[17][18][19][20] He was ultimately defeated by Pierre Poilievre, who won on the first ballot.[21][22]
Popular Culture[]
Appearances[]
Variants[]
The following list is of explicit appearances of Jean Charest.
| Year | Name | Appearance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Links[]
- Jean Charest on Wikipedia
- Jean J. Charest on the Canadian Encyclopedia
- Jean Charest on Encyclopædia Britannica
- Jean Charest - Built to Win
References[]
- ↑ Former Quebec premier Jean Charest considering run for Conservative leadership - 18 December 2019 - CBC News - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Jean Charest's life in politics - 5 September 2012 - CBC News - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jean Charest's political baggage - Peter C. Newman - 16 March 1998 - Maclean's - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Closing the Gap -7 June 1993 - Maclean's - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ The Lonely Guy - Warren Carragata - 18 April 1994 - Maclean's - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Former Quebec premier Jean Charest courted by Conservative MP as possible leadership candidate - Steve Rukavina - 7 February 2022 - CBC News - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Charest still in the spotlight - 3 September 1998 - CBC News - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ The Power 25 - 27 October 2005 - The Globe and Mail - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Sheila Copps has her Joe Clark moment - Tim Powers - 8 September 2011 - The Globe and Mail - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ PQ regains Quebec from the Liberals - 5 September 2012 - Nunatsiaq News - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ With 'no regrets,' Quebec's Jean Charest to leave politics after defeat - Les Perreaux - 5 September 2012 - The Globe and Mail - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Quebec Liberals choose Philippe Couillard as leader - 17 March 2013 - CBC News - Retrieved 8 February 2022
- ↑ Jean Charest to announce Conservative leadership bid on Thursday, gets support from Kheiriddin - Catherine Lévesque - 7 March 2022 - The Montreal Gazette - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Don Martin: A nasty fracturing surfaces as the Conservative leadership race kicks off - Don Martin - 8 March 2022 - CTV News - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Who's in, who's out and who else may enter Conservative party leadership race - Stephanie Taylor - 9 March 2022 - CTV News - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Jean Charest doesn’t stand a chance - Max Fawcett - 9 March 2022 - Canada's National Observer - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Let’s be proud to be ambitious. Let’s be proud to be united. Let’s be proud to be conservative. If you agree - join the team that’s #BuiltToWin. - Jean Charest @JeanCharest_ - 10 March 2022 - Twitter - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Jean Charest to launch Conservative leadership bid in Calgary - Kevin Gallagher - 10 March 2022 - CTV News - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Jean Charest says Conservatives are ‘divided,’ must unite to provide ‘national vision’ - Alex Boutilier - 10 March 2022 - Global News - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Jean Charest entering the Conservative leadership race: 'I will make this party win' - Catherine Lévesque - 10 March 2022 - The National Post - Retrieved 10 March 2022
- ↑ Charest returning to the private sector after Poilievre's crushing victory - John Paul Tasker - 11 September 2022 - CBC News - Retrieved 12 September 2022
- ↑ Charest says Conservatives need to unify, but he's returning to private sector - 11 September 2022 - CTV News - Retrieved 12 September 2022