Daniel Turp

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Daniel Turp (born April 30, 1955 in Verdun, Quebec) is a Quebec-based politician. He is presently a Parti Québécois member of National Assembly of Quebec representing the Mercier riding in the Montreal sector of Plateau-Mont-Royal.

Born in Montreal, he studied law at the Université de Montréal and the University of Ottawa, and received his legal licence in Sherbrooke in 1977. He gained a Masters degree at the Université de Montréal in 1978. He has worked for the Canadian International Development Agency, and was called as an expert for the Bélanger-Campeau Commission on Quebec's constitutional future.

Turp also started teaching at the Université de Montréal since 1982. Since then, he has taught several law courses at the University of Paris X (1986-1996), The International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg(1988) and Harvard University(1996). He has also been a director of studies at the International law academy in Hague(1995).

After lengthy studies, he obtained a doctorate in law at the University of Paris II in 1990. He is also interested in international law and globalization and once worked as a specialist at Harvard University.

Turp joined the Bloc Québécois, becoming that party's Political Affairs Committee president during Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's first term in office. He was defeated in the Papineau-Saint-Michel electoral district in 1996 when he first attempted to become a federal Member of Parliament. He succeeded in 1997, becoming a member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Beauharnois—Salaberry district. He would leave federal politics in 2000 after completing his term in the 36th Canadian Parliament.

In 2003, he moved to provincial politics under the Parti Québécois and was elected in Mercier riding on 14 April and became party spokesman on international relations and sits at the Parliamentary Assembly of la Francophonie.

In 2005, he proposed a project for a Quebec constitution and he signed the manifeste pour un Québec solidaire (Manifesto for Quebec solidarity). He has published many articles on Quebec sovereignty and its constitutional implications.

Turp supported André Boisclair during the Parti Québécois' party leadership campaign in 2005.