Francis Fox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also Sir Francis Fox (engineer).

Francis Fox, PC , QC , BA , LL.L , D.E.S.(D). , LL.M , MA (born December 2, 1939, Montreal, Quebec) is a member of the Senate of Canada. He is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and is the former Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office and thus was a senior aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

A lawyer by training, Fox was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1972 election as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Argenteuil—Deux-Montagnes, Quebec. He was re-elected in the 1974 election from the same constituency. In the 1979 and 1980 elections, he was returned as MP for Blainville—Deux-Montagnes before being defeated in that riding in the 1984 election.

Fox was appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1976 when he became Solicitor General of Canada. The flawlessly bilingual and attractive Fox was seen as an up-and-comer in the Liberal cabinet, and even a potential party leader. However, he was forced to resign on January 27, 1978, when it became known that he had forged the signature of his girlfriend's husband on a form granting permission for her to have an abortion.He is currently married to Vivian Case who is an artist.

He returned to Cabinet after the 1980 election when Trudeau appointed him to the position of Secretary of State for Canada and Minister of Communications. He then served as Minister of International Trade in 1984 in the short-lived government of Trudeau's successor, John Turner.

With the defeat of the Turner government and the loss of his own seat, Fox returned to the private sector. He became a member of Government Consultants International, a consulting firm, with Frank Moores, Gary Ouellet and Gerry Doucet. Subsequently he was a senior partner in the law firm of Martineau Walker, and later as an executive at Rogers AT&T Wireless.

In 2003, he became a senior member of Paul Martin's transition team as he prepared to succeed Jean Chrétien as prime minister. In 2004, Fox became Martin's principal secretary, but it was announced on August 18 that he would be leaving the position on October 1 in order to return to private life.

Fox was appointed to the Senate on Martin's recommendation on August 29, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Federal Political Biography from the Library of Parliament

Preceded by riding created	Member of Parliament for Argenteuil—Deux-Montagnes 1972-1976	Succeeded by riding abolished
Preceded by riding created	Member of Parliament for Blainville—Deux-Montagnes 1976-1984	Succeeded by Monique Landry, PC
Preceded by Warren Allmand	Solicitor General of Canada 1972-1976	Succeeded by Ron Basford
Preceded by Leo Kolber	Victoria senate division 2005-present	Succeeded by Incumbent