Michel Bissonnet, MNA (born March 28, 1942) is a Canadian politician who served as Liberal member and President (House Speaker) of the National Assembly of Quebec.
Michel Bissonnet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Borough mayor for Saint-Leonard and Montreal City Councillor | |
| Assumed office 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Zampino |
| MNA for Jeanne-Mance–Viger | |
| In office 2003–2008 | |
| Preceded by | first member |
| Succeeded by | Filomena Rotiroti |
| President of the National Assembly of Quebec | |
| In office June 4, 2003 – October 21, 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Louise Harel |
| Succeeded by | François Gendron |
| MNA for Jeanne-Mance | |
| In office 1981–2003 | |
| Preceded by | Henri Laberge |
| Succeeded by | riding dissolved |
| Mayor City of Saint-Leonard | |
| In office 1978–1981 | |
| Preceded by | Jean Di Zazzo |
| Succeeded by | Antonio di Ciocco |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 28, 1942 Montreal, Quebec |
| Political party | Quebec Liberal Party (provincial) Union Montreal (2008-2013) Independent (2013) Ensemble Montréal (2013-) |
| Residence(s) | Montreal, Quebec |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Cabinet | President of the National Assembly of Québec |
Background edit
Bissonnet obtained a license in law at Université de Montréal in 1976 and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec the following year. Prior to his years as a lawyer, he worked for the City of Montreal for 17 years in various positions including archivist and assistant office manager.
NDP candidate edit
Bissonnet was formerly involved in the federal New Democratic Party and its Quebec wing, the defunct Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec. He was a candidate in the 1967 federal by-election for that party in the district of Papineau. He finished third with 15% of the vote. Liberal candidate André Ouellet was elected.
City politics edit
He ran as an Action Laval candidate for the city council of Laval in 1969 and served as mayor for the city of Saint-Léonard from 1978 to 1981.
Member of the Provincial Legislature edit
Bissonnet successfully ran as the Liberal candidate in the district of Jeanne-Mance in the 1981 election. He was re-elected in the 1985, 1989, 1994 and 1998 elections. He also won re-election in the merged district of Jeanne-Mance–Viger in 2003 and 2007.
Speaker edit
He served as Vice-President of the National Assembly during his third term of office from 1989 to 1994, Assistant Whip of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and Third Vice-President of the National Assembly during his fifth term from 1999 to 2003. He became the President of the National Assembly (Speaker of the House) after the Liberal victory in 2003. In 2007, Bissonnet was reconfirmed as President of the National Assembly.
Borough Mayor edit
In July 2008, Bissonnet announced that he would leave provincial politics and run again for the mayoral position of Saint-Léonard, now a borough of Montreal following the 2002 amalgamation. He had become the longest serving MNA of the 38th National Assembly, even though he had never been appointed to the Cabinet.[1]
Bissonnet ran under Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's Union Montreal label. An election had been called to fill the position in the aftermath of the resignation of Frank Zampino. Bissonnet was elected with 94.3% of the vote in September 2008, against Livio DiCelmo of Projet Montréal.[2]
In the 2013 Montreal municipal elections, he was re-elected borough mayor of Saint-Léonard under Équipe Denis Coderre.
Electoral record (incomplete) edit
| 2007 Quebec general election: Jeanne-Mance–Viger | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Michel Bissonnet | 20,716 | 68.00 | |||||
| Action démocratique | Carole Giroux | 4,565 | 14.98 | |||||
| Parti Québécois | Kamal El Batal | 3,659 | 12.01 | |||||
| Green | Hamadou Abdel Kader Nikiema | 790 | 2.59 | |||||
| Québec solidaire | Ramon Villaruel | 635 | 2.08 | |||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Stéphane Chénier | 101 | 0.33 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 30,466 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 349 | |||||||
| Turnout | 30,815 | 63.26 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 48,710 | |||||||
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. | ||||||||
See also edit
Footnotes edit
External links edit
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.