Stéphane Dion

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Stéphane Dion

Stéphane Maurice Dion , PC (born September 28, 1955 in Québec ) is a Canadian politician , sociologist and author . After an academic career, Dion went into politics. From 1996 to 2017 he represented the constituency of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, since 2015 only Saint-Laurent, in the city of Montreal as a member of the lower house . Under Liberal Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin , he was Minister for Relations with Provincial Governments and Environment Minister. From 2006 to 2008 he was chairman of the Liberal Party and opposition leader; however, he did not succeed in replacing the conservative minority government. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Dion served as Canada's Foreign Minister from 2015 to 2017 .

Stéphane Dion has been Canada's Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany since February 2017 .

Study and academic career

Dion is the second oldest of five children of political scientist Léon Dion and French- born real estate agent Denyse, née Kormann. Stéphane Dion grew up in the city of Québec . He studied political science at Laval University , at the faculty that his father co-founded. In 1977 and 1979, respectively, he received BA and MA degrees . His dissertation was an analysis of the election campaign strategies of the Parti Québécois . As a student he had supported this separatist movement.

Dion then lived in Paris for four years with his future wife Jeanine Krieber . There he studied sociology at the Académie des sciences morales et politiques and at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris . After a brief activity as an assistant at the Université de Moncton , he was appointed assistant professor at the University of Montreal in 1984 . He taught there until January 1996, specializing in organizational analysis and theory of state administration. In 1990/1991 he was visiting professor at the Brookings Institution .

In April 1986 he married Janine Krieber; in the same year the couple traveled to Peru , where they adopted their daughter Jeanne. Between 1987 and 1995 Dion published several books and articles on political issues, public administration and management. Dion was visiting professor at the Laboratoire d'économie publique de Paris in 1994/95 and editor of the Canadian Journal of Political Science from 1990 to 1993 .

MP and Minister

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was looking for high profile candidates for his cabinet in view of the upcoming by-elections . On January 25, 1996, he appointed Dion Minister for Relations between Federal and Provincial Governments. Exactly a month later, Dion was easily elected in the constituency of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville. He was re-elected in the 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006 general election.

Dion remained in office until Chrétien resigned on December 12, 2003. When Paul Martin took over the government, he fired Dion because Chrétien's cabinet had fallen into disrepute due to a corruption scandal and he wanted to distance himself from the previous ministers. The Liberal Party suffered losses in the 2004 general election, especially in Québec, and was only able to form a minority government. To ensure that this province remained represented in the government despite everything, Dion was appointed Minister of the Environment on July 20, 2004.

Political career: party leader, opposition leader, diplomacy

After the Liberals lost the 2006 election and government responsibility passed to the Conservatives, Dion had to resign as minister on February 12, 2006. Paul Martin gave up the chairmanship and Dion presented himself as a candidate for his successor. At the party conference on December 6, 2006, he only achieved the third-best result in the first and second ballots. However, he was able to leave Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff behind and was ultimately elected rather surprisingly in the fourth ballot.

In the early elections in October 2008 , the Liberals failed to replace Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party as the strongest party. The stalemate remained; the Liberals again lost seats, while the Conservatives failed again to gain a majority. Dion then announced that he would step down as party chairman as soon as the delegates' meeting had appointed a successor; the date was set for May 2009.

Harper continued his minority rule, but after just a few weeks, faced with the financial crisis, he was exposed to massive criticism of his economic policy. The opposition parties announced a vote of no confidence in Harper on December 8, 2008 . If the outcome was successful, the Liberals and the New Democrats would have formed a coalition government with the tolerance of the Bloc Québécois , with Dion as interim prime minister. Harper then asked Governor General Michaëlle Jean to suspend parliamentary work until the end of January 2009, and four days before the planned vote of no confidence, she accepted Harper's motion. On December 10, 2008, Dion resigned, much earlier than planned; the parliamentary group appointed Michael Ignatieff as interim chairman.

After over nine years in the opposition, Dion returned to government in 2015. He served as Foreign Minister in Justin Trudeau's cabinet from November 4, 2015 to January 10, 2017.

Then he was appointed Ambassador of Canada to the FRG; associated with this is the assignment as "special ambassador for the EU and Europe".

interview

  • Multilateralism, environmental protection, equality and immigration. Dion explains Canada's position. Interview with Paul von Streit, German-Canadian Society , in "360 ° Canada. The all- round perspective", 4, autumn 2019, 360-degree media, Mettmann ISSN  1869-8328 pp. 62 - 64 (photos) Slightly shortened; complete version

See also

Web links

Commons : Stéphane Dion  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Homepage of the Canadian Embassy in Berlin , accessed on May 13, 2018.
  2. ^ Antoine Robitaille: Dion contre Dion ; in Le Devoir , December 9, 2006.
  3. ^ Prime Minister announces new Ministry , Privy Council Office, January 25, 1996
  4. ↑ Jeff Heinrich: Stéphane Dion, unmasked ( Memento of March 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) , Montreal Gazette , December 18, 2006
  5. ^ List of publications by Stéphane Dion , Canadian Parliamentary Library, 2019
  6. ↑ Harper defends himself against overthrow - Canada's prime minister sends parliament on compulsory leave , Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 5, 2008.
  7. ↑ CBC-News: Intellect and stubbornness sustained and limited Stéphane Dion's political career
personal data
SURNAME Dion, Stéphane
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dion, Stéphane Maurice (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician and scientist
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Quebec