Pierre-Marc Johnson

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Pierre-Marc Johnson (born July 5, 1946) is a Quebec lawyer, physician and politician. He was the Parti Québécois (PQ) Premier of Quebec, Canada from October 3 to December 12, 1985.

[edit] Biography

Born in Montreal, Quebec, his father, Daniel Johnson, Sr, served as Union Nationale premier of Quebec from 1966 to 1968. His brother, Daniel Johnson, Jr, served as Quebec Liberal Party premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994. Pierre-Marc received a degree in law from the Université de Montréal in 1970 and a medical degree from the Université de Sherbrooke in 1976. Each of the Johnsons led different political parties: Daniel Sr was leader of the conservative Union Nationale party, and had an ambiguous position on the question of independence for Quebec; Pierre-Marc was leader of the sovereigntist PQ; and Daniel Jr was leader of the federalist Liberal Party of Quebec.

In the leadership election of 1985, Johnson was chosen, following PQ founder René Lévesque as leader of the party and, consequently, as Quebec Premier, but was defeated by the Liberals, led by Robert Bourassa, in the Quebec election of that year. His leadership adopted the policy of "National affirmation", putting independence on the back burner, as Lévesque has begun to do under the so-called "Beau risque" approach. His leadership was contested because of this policy and, in December 1987, he resigned as head of the party and Leader of the Opposition. He was succeded by Jacques Parizeau as head of the PQ, who again made independence a primary goal. Johnson refused to pronounce himself regarding the 1995 Quebec referendum on independence.

Both a lawyer and a physician, he is a former Professor of Law at McGill University in Montreal and is currently Counsel at the firm of Heenan Blaikie LLP in Montreal, Quebec. In 2001 he was appointed as chief advisor and negotiator of the Québec government in the Softwood Lumber dispute between Canada and the United States by then Premier Bernard Landry. In December 2005 he made waves in sovereigntist circles by supporting Liberal candidate and close, longtime friend Raymond Bachand in a provincial by-election in the Outremont riding. In October 2006, he was chosen by the Charest government to preside a public inquiry over the collapse of a viaduct over Highway 19 in Laval, Quebec, which caused five deaths and six wounded. The choice of Johnson was criticized by both leaders in opposition André Boisclair (PQ) and Mario Dumont (Action démocratique du Québec) because of the possibility of conflict of interest. As president, he was invested with the responsibility of investigating government administration while being a former Minister of the Quebec Government, a former Premier of Quebec, and, until shortly after this nomination, member of the board of directors of Ciment Saint-Laurent, a cement company.

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[edit] Elections as party leader

He lost the 1985 election.

[edit] See also

• Parti Québécois leadership election, 1985
• Politics of Quebec
• List of Quebec general elections
• Timeline of Quebec history

[edit] External links

• National Assembly biography (in French)