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