Bernard Landry
Jean Bernard Landry, GOQ ( born March 9, 1937 in Saint -Jacques -de- Montcalm, Joliette region, Quebec ) is a Canadian politician.
Biography
After school he studied law at the University of Montreal as well as financial and economic science at the Institut d' études politiques de Paris. He then worked as a lawyer as a partner of the law firm " Lapointe Rosenstein " in Montreal.
Landry began his political career in 1970 as a member of the Parti Québécois ( PQ), his unsuccessful bid for a seat in the National Assembly of Quebec. In 1976, he succeeded in the election of the deputies of the National Assembly as a candidate in the constituency Fabre. The PQ was this election winner and presented with René Lévesque first time the prime minister. In the following year he rose within the governments formed by the PQ on quickly and was for some other ministerial positions finally in October 1985 Minister of Finance in the cabinet of Pierre Marc Johnson. However, he had held the office just two months to electoral defeat of the PQ held in December 1985 when the party lost by a landslide 57 of their 80 seats and was only represented by 23 deputies in the National Assembly.
When the PQ in 1994 with 77 seats in parliament strongest forces was, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Prime Minister Jacques Parizeau in September 1994. Under Parizeaus successor Lucien Bouchard, he remained from January 1996 continue to Deputy Prime Minister and again took over the post of Finance Minister, as well as other ministerial posts in his cabinet. During this time, he sought to strengthen the weakened due to the longstanding political uncertainties economy of the province as well as a restoration of a good foundation of public finances, thereby again to achieve a basis for the claims to statehood. His efforts were ultimately successful in 1999 when he for many years was able to present a balanced budget for the first time. How Parizeau he was a strong advocate of the sovereignty of Quebec and was thus in contrast to the slow approach of Bouchard in this question.
On 8 March 2001 he succeeded as Prime Minister Bouchard of Quebec. At the same time he succeeded Bouchard as leader of the PQ. Landry argued here that Quebec more than "individual society" within Canada, but rather a nation is that deserve to be considered as a state. However, he had to deal with the English-speaking residents and immigrants who opposed secession. Landry advocated another referendum so as to get the right to negotiate an independence after the last referendum in 1995 failed. He made it clear that another vote would only take place if the conditions were ripe for success. When the PQ had lost the parliamentary elections in April 2003 and only 45 of the 125 parliamentary seats, followed him on 29 April 2003, Jean Charest, leader of the Parti libéral du Québec.
In June 2005, he resigned as chairman of the PQ and also resigned his parliamentary seat.