Michel Bissonnet

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
MNA for Jeanne-Mance
In office
1981–2003
Preceded byHenri Laberge
Succeeded byriding dissolved
MNA for Jeanne-Mance–Viger
In office
2003–2008
Preceded byfirst member
Succeeded byFilomena Rotiroti
Borough mayor for Saint-Leonard and Montreal City Councillor
Assumed office
2008
Preceded byFrank Zampino
Personal details
Born (1942-03-28) March 28, 1942
Montreal, Quebec
Political partyQuebec Liberal Party (provincial)
Union Montreal (2008-2013)
Independent (2013)
Ensemble Montréal (2013-)
ResidenceMontreal, Quebec
ProfessionAttorney
CabinetPresident of the National Assembly of Québec

Background

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

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

He ran as an Action Laval candidate for the city council of Laval in 1969 and served as mayor of Saint-Léonard from 1978 to 1981.

Member of the Provincial Legislature

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

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

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 of 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)

2007 Quebec general election: Jeanne-Mance–Viger
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMichel Bissonnet20,71668.00
Action démocratiqueCarole Giroux4,56514.98
Parti QuébécoisKamal El Batal3,65912.01
GreenHamadou Abdel Kader Nikiema7902.59
Québec solidaireRamon Villaruel6352.08
Marxist–LeninistStéphane Chénier1010.33
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

Footnotes

  • "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
National Assembly of Quebec
Preceded by
Louise Harel (PQ)
President of the National Assembly of Quebec
2003-2008
Succeeded by
François Gendron
Preceded by
Jean-Pierre Saintonge (Liberal)
Louise Bégin (Liberal)
Deputy President of the National Assembly of Quebec
with Lawrence Cannon (Liberal) (1989-1990),
Roger Lefebvre (Liberal) (1990-1994) and
Michel Tremblay (Liberal) (1994-1994)

1989-1994
Succeeded by
Pierre Bélanger (PQ)
Raymond Brouillet (PQ)
Preceded by
Raymond Brouillet (PQ)
Claude Pinard (PQ)
Deputy President of the National Assembly of Quebec
with Raymond Brouillet (PQ) (1999-2003),
Claude Pinard (PQ) (1999-2002) and
François Beaulne (PQ) (2002-2003)

1999-2003
Succeeded by
Christos Sirros (Liberal)
Diane Leblanc (Liberal)
François Gendron (PQ)
Political offices
Preceded by
Jean Di Zazzo
Mayor of Saint-Léonard, Montreal
1974-1978
Succeeded by
Antonio Di Ciocco
Preceded by
Frank Zampino (Union Montreal)
Mayor of the Borough of Saint-Léonard, Montreal
2008–Current
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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