André Ouellet

André Ouellet PC QC (* 6. April 1939 in Saint-Pascal , Quebec ) is a Canadian lawyer , business leaders and politicians , who more than 28 years of a Member of the House of Commons , multiple ministers and between 1996 and 2004 President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from Canada Post .

Life

Member of the House of Commons and first government offices

After attending school, Ouellet completed a course of study, which he completed with a Bachelor of Arts (BA). He then completed a postgraduate degree in law with a Licenciate of Laws (LL.L.) and then took up a position as a lawyer.

On May 29, 1967, Ouellet was elected as a candidate of the Liberal Party for the first time as a member of the lower house in a by- election and initially represented the constituency of Papineau and most recently since the general election of November 21, 1988 until he resigned on January 25, 1996 the constituency of Papineau- Saint-Michel . In total, he was a member of the House of Commons for more than 28 years. Between September 1968 and October 1969, Ouellet was vice-chairman of the House Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

In October 1970 he took over his first government office as Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Minister and was then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Health and Welfare between August 1971 and September 1972.

Minister and Group Chairman

On November 27, 1972 Ouellet was appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as Postmaster General for the first time in the 20th Canadian Cabinet .

He then became Minister for Consumer and Corporate Affairs on August 8, 1972 after a cabinet reshuffle, but resigned from this office on March 15, 1976. The reason for his resignation was his comments on the acquittal by a court chaired by Judge Mackay against the sugar companies accused of forming cartels and mergers. Judge Mackay then accused him of contempt of court. In a subsequent proceeding he was found guilty on this point by Assistant Supreme Judge Hugessen. He then immediately appealed this judgment and resigned from his ministerial office so that the hearing in the appeal proceedings would not take place in an atmosphere of political partiality.

On November 3, 1976, he returned to the cabinet as Minister of State for Urban Affairs and held this position until March 31, 1979. At the same time, he was Executive Minister of Labor from September 8 to November 23, 1978 and from November 24, 1978 to Trudeau's term of office ended on June 3, 1979 Minister for Public Works.

After the Liberal Party's victory in the general election on February 18, 1980 , he was appointed by Trudeau to the 22nd government of Canada on March 3, 1980 , initially as Minister for Consumer and Corporate Affairs until August 11, 1983, and at the same time from March 3, 1980 to October 15, 1981 again as Minister of Post. He became Minister of Labor on August 12, 1983 and held that office until the end of Trudeau's tenure on June 29, 1984.

On June 30, 1984, Ouellet was appointed by Trudeau's successor, John Turner , to the 23rd Canadian cabinet , which was only in office until September 16, 1984 . During this time he was President of the Canadian Privy Council and continued to serve as Minister of Labor and, until September 1, 1984, Minister of State for Economic and Regional Development. In addition, he was from June 30 to July 9, 1984 as chairman of the parliamentary group of the Liberal Party and leader of the government in the House of Commons ( Leader of the Government in the House of Commons ).

Years of opposition, Secretary of State and President of Canada Post

During the following period of the Liberals in the opposition , he was initially the transport policy spokesman from October 1984 to December 1988 and then from January 1988 to September 1990 foreign policy spokesman, before being spokesman for the Liberal parliamentary group for relations between the federal government and the provinces from September 1990 to 1993 was. In addition, he was from November 1984 to August 1986 vice-chairman of the special committee for reform of the lower house. Most recently, he was opposition spokesman for constitutional issues in 1993.

After the Liberal Party regained a majority in the general election on October 25, 1993 after losing government for nine years and was able to provide Jean Chrétien as Prime Minister again, Ouellet was appointed Foreign Minister on November 4, 1993 and retained this position until his resignation on January 24, 1996. At the same time he was Minister for Francophonie and also Regional Minister for Québec in the Cabinet.

After retiring from the government and the House of Commons, he became President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Canada Post on January 25, 1996. During his tenure in 2003, the 91 percent takeover of the former private mail delivery company Purolator Courier fell . When it became known that Canada Post was involved in the longstanding sponsorship scandal , he was suspended by then Prime Minister Paul Martin on February 24, 2004, before he finally resigned as President and CEO of Canada Post in August 2004. In the wake of the sponsorship scandal, the Chrétien government had signed contracts with various advertising agencies to increase the confidence of the French-speaking population in the federal authorities. But many of the agencies commissioned had close ties to the Liberal Party, and around 100 million of the approved $ 250 million had disappeared without a trace.

Web links

• Entry on Parliament's homepage