Michel Bissonnet Explained

Michel Bissonnet
Cabinet:President of the National Assembly of Québec
Birth Date:28 March 1942
Birth Place:Montreal, Quebec
Profession:Attorney
Party:Quebec Liberal Party (provincial)
Union Montreal (2008-2013)
Independent (2013)
Ensemble Montréal (2013-)
Residence:Montreal, Quebec
Office4:MNA for Jeanne-Mance
Term Start4:1981
Term End4:2003
Predecessor4:Henri Laberge
Successor4:riding dissolved
Office5:Mayor City of Saint-Leonard
Term Start5:1978
Term End5:1981
Predecessor5:Jean Di Zazzo
Successor5:Antonio di Ciocco
Office3:President of the National Assembly of Quebec
Term Start3:June 4, 2003
Term End3:October 21, 2008
Predecessor3:Louise Harel
Successor3:François Gendron
Office2:MNA for Jeanne-Mance–Viger
Term Start2:2003
Term End2:2008
Predecessor2:first member
Successor2:Filomena Rotiroti
Office1:Borough mayor for Saint-Leonard and Montreal City Councillor
Term Start1:2008
Predecessor1:Frank Zampino

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.

Background

Bissonnet obtained a licence 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 for the city 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 the longest serving MNA of the 38th National Assembly, even though he had never been appointed to the Cabinet.

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.[1]

In the 2013 Montreal municipal elections, he was re-elected borough mayor of Saint-Léonard under Équipe Denis Coderre.

See also

Footnotes

  1. http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080922/CPACTUALITES/80921128/6737/CPACTUALITES Victoire écrasante de Michel Bissonnet, La Presse, Montreal, September 22, 2008