President of the National Assembly of Quebec

The President of the National Assembly of Quebec (French; Le Président de l'Assemblée nationale) is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, which is modeled after the Westminster parliamentary system. In other parliaments and legislatures the equivalent position is often called the "Speaker", which is why from 1867 to 1968, the presiding officer of the Assembly was known in French as "orateur," a translation of the English term "speaker".

Description

The President of the National Assembly is fifth in the Quebec order of precedence, after the Queen of Canada, the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Premier, and the Deputy Premier. He or she is elected by his colleagues at the beginning of a legislature, for the length of the legislature. The President is assisted by the Vice Presidents of the Assembly, who can also replace him or her in his or her absence. Parti Québécois Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Louise Harel made history by being appointed as the first female President on March 12, 2002. The current President of the Assembly is the Liberal MNA Jacques Chagnon.

Roles

The function of the President holds three major roles.

List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec

  1. Joseph-Godric Blanchet - December 27, 1867 - Conservative
  2. Pierre Fortin - November 4, 1875 - Conservative
  3. Louis Beaubien - November 10, 1876 - Conservative
  4. Arthur Turcotte - June 4, 1878 - Conservative independent
  5. Louis-Olivier Taillon - March 8, 1882 - Conservative
  6. Jonathan Saxton Campbell Würtele - March 27, 1884 - Conservative
  7. Félix-Gabriel Marchand - January 27, 1887 - Liberal
  8. Pierre-Évariste Leblanc - April 26, 1892 - Conservative
  9. Jules Tessier, November 23, 1897 - Liberal
  10. Henri-Benjamin Rainville - February 14, 1901 - Liberal
  11. Auguste Tessier - March 2, 1905 - Liberal
  12. William Alexander Weir - April 25, 1905 - Liberal
  13. Philippe-Honoré Roy - January 15, 1907 - Liberal
  14. Jean-Marie-Joseph-Pantaléon Pelletier - March 2, 1909 - Liberal
  15. Cyrille-Fraser Delâge - January 9, 1912 - Liberal
  16. Antonin Galipeault - November 7, 1916 - Liberal
  17. Joseph-Napoléon Francoeur - December 10, 1919 - Liberal
  18. Hector Laferté - January 10, 1928 - Liberal
  19. Télesphore-Damien Bouchard - January 7, 1930 - Liberal
  20. Lucien Dugas - March 24, 1936 - Liberal
  21. Joseph-Mignault-Paul Sauvé - October 7, 1936 - Union Nationale
  22. Bernard Bissonnette - February 20, 1940 - Liberal
  23. Valmore Bienvenue - May 12, 1942 - Liberal
  24. Cyrille Dumaine - February 23, 1943 - Liberal
  25. Alexandre Taché - February 7, 1945 - Union Nationale
  26. Maurice Tellier - December 15, 1955 - Union Nationale
  27. Lucien Cliche - September 20, 1960 - Liberal
  28. John Richard Hyde - January 9, 1962 - Liberal
  29. Guy Lechasseur - October 22, 1965 - Liberal
  30. Rémi Paul - December 1, 1966 - Union Nationale
  31. Gérard Lebel - October 22, 1968 - Union Nationale
  32. Raynald Fréchette - February 24, 1970 - Union Nationale
  33. Jean-Noël Lavoie - June 9, 1970 - Liberal
  34. Clément Richard - December 14, 1976 - Parti Québécois
  35. Claude Vaillancourt - November 11, 1980 - Parti Québécois
  36. Richard Guay - March 23, 1983 - Parti Québécois
  37. Pierre Lorrain - December 16, 1985 - Liberal
  38. Jean-Pierre Saintonge - November 28, 1989 - Liberal
  39. Roger Bertrand - November 29, 1994 - Parti Québécois
  40. Jean-Pierre Charbonneau - March 12, 1996 - Parti Québécois
  41. Louise Harel - March 12, 2002 - Parti Québécois
  42. Michel Bissonnet - June 4, 2003 - Liberal
  43. François Gendron - October 21, 2008 - Parti Québécois
  44. Yvon Vallières - January 13, 2009 - Liberal
  45. Jacques Chagnon - April 5, 2011 - Liberal

All but one speaker was born in the province (Valmore Bienvenue was born in United States to Québécois parents). Henri-Benjamin Rainville died in the US and Cyrille Dumaine died in Ottawa.

External links