Stéphane Dion

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Hon. Stéphane Maurice Dion

Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Riding	Saint-Laurent–Cartierville
In office since	March 25, 1996
Preceded by	Shirley Maheu
Born	September 28, 1955 (age 51) Quebec City, Quebec
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada
Profession(s)	Author, professor of political science
Religion	Roman Catholic (Lapsed) [1]
Spouse	Janine Krieber

Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP, BA, MA, Ph.D., (born September 28, 1955 in Quebec City, Quebec) is the current leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons. Since 1996, he has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal.

Dion is a former academic who served as a cabinet minister under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. Like all former Cabinet ministers, he is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and has the right to the style "The Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life.^[1]

Contents 1 Life before politics 2 Early political life 3 Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (January 1996 - December 2003) 3.1 Views on federalism 3.2 Clarity Act 3.3 Gomery Inquiry 3.4 2004 election 4 Minister of the Environment (July 2004 - February 2006) 5 Liberal Leadership candidate (April 2006-December 2006) 6 As Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (December 2006- ) 6.1 Dual citizenship 7 Miscellanea 8 Notes and references 9 External links

Life before politics

Stéphane Dion is the second of five children born to Quebec academic Léon Dion, a noted federalist, and to Denyse Dion, a real-estate agent born in Paris, France. Dion was raised in a modest home on Liegeois Boulevard in the Sillery district of Quebec City. While growing up, he remembers being taunted for his family's secularism in a society which was then predominantly Catholic.^[2]

He studied political science at Laval University in the department co-founded by his father.^[3], and this was also where he met his future wife, Janine Krieber, a fellow-student in the same program. He obtained BA and MA degrees in 1977 and 1979 respectively (his master's thesis presented an analysis of the evolution of Parti Québécois electoral strategies^[4]), after which he and Janine departed together for France.

Dion was involved with the sovereignty movement, first as a teenager attending a Jesuit college in Quebec City,^[5], and later as a university student campaigning for Parti Québécois candidate Louise Beaudoin in the 1976 election.^[6] Mr. Dion described his experience as follows:

"Because the party was there... I wanted to challenge my dad... the way to become an adult sometimes is to say the contrary to your father. Each evening, I would try out a new argument I had heard on the separatist network and my father was demolishing it... My father very quietly and very respectfully was refuting me, without insulting me."^[5]

Dion has said that his involvement as "an activist for the separatist cause" ended during a five-hour, rum-and-coke fueled discussion with a federalist household while he was going door-to-door for the PQ, but he did not openly commit to federalism until much later. At the time of the 1980 referendum, his sentiments were neutral. In his own words, the 'no' victory left him "neither moved nor outraged. To tell the truth, I sensed no particular feeling." ("Moi, je ne me sentais ni ému ni révolté. À vrai dire, je n'éprouvais aucun sentiment particulier.")^[7]

Dion spent four years in Paris, living with Janine in the Montmartre district and studying public administration under the tutelage of noted sociologist Michel Crozier. Professor Denis St. Martin, a former colleague at the Université de Montréal, later remarked: "... his vision of Canada was very influenced by his views on the politics and society of France - very Cartesian, very much about clarity...." .^[8], After receiving a doctorate (doctorat d'état) in sociology from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (commonly known as Sciences Po), Dr. Dion worked briefly as a teaching assistant at the Université de Moncton in 1984 before moving on to the Université de Montréal to assume an assistant professor position. Dion taught at the Université de Montréal from 1984 to January 1996, specializing in the study of public administration and organizational analysis and theory, and was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. during a 1990-91 sabbatical leave.^[9]

After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord in 1990, Dion directed his intellectual inquiry towards an analysis of Quebec nationalism. His decisive conversion to federalism, as he later recounted to journalist Michel Vastel, occurred as he was preparing for a presentation in Washington:

"I was seated before my computer at 11 o'clock, and, at noon, I had a text that was so interesting that the Americans wanted to publish it. It was that day that I realized I was truly a federalist." («Je me suis assis devant mon ordinateur à 11 h et, à midi, j'avais un texte tellement intéressant que les Américains ont voulu le publier. C'est ce jour-là que je me suis rendu compte que j'étais vraiment fédéraliste.»)^[7]

In this period, the sovereignty movement had begun to promote the idea that federalism was inefficient for Québec due to the duplication and overlap between the two levels of government. An expert in public administration, Dion emerged as a key figure in publicly criticizing this line of argument. His appearances on Le Point, a Télévision de Radio-Canada current affairs program in Quebec, brought him to the attention of Aline Chrétien, who in the days following the close referendum defeat urged her husband, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, to recruit him.^[5]

Between 1987 and 1995, Dion published a number of books and articles on political science, public administration and management.^[10]. A collection of Dion's speeches and writings on Canadian unity was published under the title Straight Talk (Le pari de la franchise) in 1999.^[11]) Dion was also a guest scholar at the Laboratoire d'économie publique de Paris from 1994 to 1995, a Co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Political Science from 1990 to 1993, and a research fellow at the Canadian Centre for Management Development (now part of the Canada School of Public Service) from 1990 to 1991.^[9]

In April 1986, Stephane Dion married Janine Krieber, and later the same year, they adopted their only child, Jeanne.^[8] Janine Krieber, an "expert in strategic studies and counterterrorism issues,"^[2] now teaches political science and sociology at Royal Military College's ASU Saint-Jean campus in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

Early political life

In anticipation of by-elections in early 1996, Jean Chrétien appointed two new "star candidates" from Quebec – Stephane Dion and Pierre Pettigrew – to Cabinet. On January 25, 1996, Dion was named Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Pettigrew was named Minister for International Cooperation, and both were sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Chrétien felt safe in appointing Dion to Cabinet because Dion was slated to run in Saint-Laurent–Cartierville, the second-safest Liberal riding in Quebec. In the March 25 by-election, he was easily elected. This was not without precedent; in 1941, Mackenzie King had appointed Louis St. Laurent to Cabinet after nominating him to run in a safe Quebec riding. Dion won a full term in the general election of 1997, and was reelected again in the 2000, 2004, and 2006 elections.

Dion continued to serve as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs until the end of Jean Chrétien's ministry on December 12, 2003.

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (January 1996 - December 2003)

Stéphane Dion had a significant role in events leading up to the Supreme Court ruling on the unilateral secession of Quebec, handed down on August 20, 1998 which adjudged that there is no right, under international law or under the Constitution of Canada, for the National Assembly to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally. He also played an important role in the creation of the Clarity Act of March 15, 2000.

Views on federalism

Dion has contested the political concentration on the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments, arguing that:

"... [I]dentity, rather than the division of powers, that is at the source of our unity problem. Francophone Quebecers want the assurance that their language and culture can flourish with the support of other Canadians. They want to feel that their language and culture are seen by other Canadians as an important asset, rather than a burden. They want the assurance that they can be both Quebecers and Canadians, and that they don't have to choose between Quebec and Canada."^[12]

Dion has often been described as a Trudeau centralist due to his strong defence of Canadian federalism, most particularly in his open letters (see below). However, his position on federalism is far more nuanced. It would be most accurate to describe him as a federal autonomist. While Dion supports cooperation, flexibility, and interdependence in the Canadian federation, he unequivocally argues against jurisdictional intrusion by stating that "the Constitution must be respected. We must do away with the all-too-convenient excuse that a given governmental initiative responds to a need that is too urgent to be stymied by issues of 'jurisdiction.' Infringement of jurisdiction creates confusion which damages the quality of public policy." Dion's position on provincial rights is not only the result of respect for the Constitution of Canada, but also a strategy to prevent the "joint decision trap" in which the capacity of a government's ability to act is restricted by the need for approval from the other constituent governments.

Clarity Act

In his responsibilities as Intergovernmental Affairs minister in the Jean Chrétien government, Dion was tasked with challenging the arguments of the Quebec sovereignty movement much more vigorously than in the pre-referendum period. Following Lucien Bouchard's open letter to the premier of New Brunswick Frank McKenna in 1997 defending the legality of a unilateral secession, Dion wrote the first of three open letters to leaders in the sovereignty movement. In the three open letters, Dion maintained the position that in the event of another referendum on sovereignty initiated by the Government of Quebec, the federal government would have a role in determining the legitimacy of the question and the level of support required for it to pass; secession could only be achieved through negotiation rather than a unilateral declaration of independence; and the terms of negotiation could not be decided solely by the Government of Quebec.^{[13] [14] [15]} This position became the cornerstone of the Clarity Act.

Dion's image suffered immensely in Quebec under the perception that he had sought to undermine fundamental democratic rights to self-determination. Serge Chapleau, the celebrated caricaturist for La Presse, began portraying Dion as a rat, while Bernard Landry called Dion "the most hated politician in the history of Quebec" ("le politicien le plus détesté de l'histoire du Québec"). ^[16]

Gomery Inquiry

Dion had a prominent role within the Chrétien administration at the time of the sponsorship scandal, and his position as "National Unity" minister (an unofficial term for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs) made him a figure of particular interest to the subsequent Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities (the Gomery Commission). He stated before the Gomery Commission that although in mid-2001 he was aware of the disproportionately large percentage of sponsorship funds going to Quebec, he was never directly involved in the administration of the program.^[17] Along with most of the other ministers in the Chrétien cabinet, Dion was exonerated of all responsibility in the affair in the Phase I report of the Gomery Commission:

"On the evidence there is no basis for attributing blame or responsibility to any other Minister of the Chrétien Cabinet [excepting Jean Chrétien and Alfonso Gagliano], since they, like all members of Parliament, were not informed of the initiatives being authorized by Mr. [Jean] Pelletier and their funding from the Unity Reserve."^[18]

In early 2007, after winning the Liberal Party leadership, Dion suggested that Marc-Yvan Côté's lifetime ban against rejoining the party may have been an excessive punishment for Côté's involvement in the scandal. He later clarified his remarks, saying that he would not take any steps to reinstate Côté's party membership and that such reinstatement would probably not occur. Dion has also defended Jean Pelletier, saying that the former Mayor of Quebec City had "served the country well for decades."^[19][20]

2004 election

After Paul Martin's assumption of the office of Prime Minister, Dion was dropped from Cabinet as part of a general effort to dissociate the new Liberal government from the outgoing Chrétien administration. He was also criticized by Jean Lapierre, Martin's new Quebec Lieutenant. Lapierre was a Quebec nationalist and founder of the Bloc Québécois and his views on intergovernmental relations differed significantly from Dion's. At one stage in the buildup to the 2004 election, Lapierre described Dion's Clarity Act as "useless", and although Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said the legislation was "extremely popular" in Western Canada, Martin defended Lapierre by saying that the Act would make little difference under his administration. An unconfirmed CTV report in 2004 claimed that Martin's organizers were planning a nomination challenge in Dion's riding.^[21]

At the time of the June 2004 federal election, Liberal support had dropped significantly, especially in Quebec where various members of the party had been implicated in the Sponsorship scandal. The Liberal campaign rebounded somewhat in its final days, but the Liberals were still reduced to a minority government due in part to their defeat in Quebec at the hands of the Bloc Québécois.^[21].

With Quebec MPs in short supply, Paul Martin brought Dion in from the cold, returning him to the front benches on July 20, 2004 as Minister of the Environment.^[22]

Minister of the Environment (July 2004 - February 2006)

Shortly after his appointment, a Globe and Mail article described Dion as being "bent on transforming the environment dossier from the traditional tree-hugger's last stand into a forward-thinking economic portfolio."^[23] Dion championed a "new industrial revolution" focussed on "environmentally-sustainable technologies and products"^[24], and he sought to nurture a collaborative relationship with big business rather than a confrontational one.^[25] His maiden speech before the Calgary Chamber of Commerce illustrates just how accommodating he was ready to be: "Calgary is one of Canada's most impressive economic engines.... Alberta could soon be the second-largest oil-exporting jurisdiction on Earth, behind Saudi Arabia. This is tremendous blessing for Canada."^[24] In October 2005, Dion nominated oil and gas executive Allan Amey to head up the government's $1-billion Clean Fund, the largest single element in Dion's Kyoto implementation strategy.^[26]

Dion's ministry declined to protect Sakinaw and Cultus sockeye salmon under the Species At Risk Act because it "could cost the sockeye fishing industry $125 million in lost revenue by 2008,"^[27]. This led to some criticism from environmentalists.^[28]

Dion earned high praise for his work chairing the U.N. Climate Change summit (COP 11/MOP 1) in Montreal in 2005. ^[29] Later, when Dion's record as environment minister was under scrutiny in the closing days of the Liberal leadership campaign, former Sierra Club of Canada director and current leader of the Green Party of Canada Elizabeth May came to his defence, calling him a "very very good environment minister."^[30]

The government did not make significant progress towards reducing Canada's greenhouse gas emissions during Dion's brief tenure in office.^[31] In April 2005, Dion unveiled his "Project Green" to combat climate change, but the program was immediately criticized by some environmental groups for being too timid and for lacking in meaningful regulations. ^[32] Johanne Gélinas, Canada's environment commissioner, criticized the government's stewardship of marine areas and national parks, as well as its efforts to ensure the safety of drinking water. ^{[33][34][35][36]}

In July 2006, after the Liberals had been defeated and the Conservatives had taken over the reins of government, Dion said that Canada would very likely not be able to reach its Kyoto targets. Nevertheless, he argued that this was missing the point:

"Everyone is saying target, target. But ... it is to be more than to reach a target. It's to change the economy. It's to have resource productivity, energy efficiency when we know that energy will be the next crisis for the economy of the world.... All my ministries will be green. Maybe I'll make one department of industry and the environment -- a department of sustainability. That's not a commitment, but if you want to change the mind, you have to change structure...."^[37]

Liberal Leadership candidate (April 2006-December 2006)

See also: Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention, 2006

See also: 2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion

Stéphane Dion announced his candidacy on April 7, the day of the official beginning of the Liberal leadership race.^[38] His leadership campaign was referred to as the three-pillar approach. This approach focused on social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability, and a claim that a combination of these pillars would bring Canada into the 21st century.^[39]He said that his campaign would focus on sustainable development of the economy and creating a "hyper-educated" Canadian workforce in order to compete with China.^[40]

Dion was a lower-key figure during most of the leadership race, with much of the media and political attention being centered on the race's two most high-profile candidates, Michael Ignatieff and former Ontario New Democratic Party premier Bob Rae. Federal NDP leader Jack Layton described Dion as "A man of principle and conviction and therefore almost certain not to be elected leader of the Liberal party." ^[41] For much of the campaign, front-runner Ignatieff had the strongest support in Dion's home province of Quebec. Dion's level of support was similar to that of former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy, both candidates being in a distant third/fourth place, though still significantly higher than the other four leadership contestants.

Nevertheless, some analysts argued that Dion had several advantages over other candidates. Dion was able to draw support from the two factions of the party. The Chrétien wing of the party was represented by Chrétien-era Cabinet member Don Boudria, while former John Manley Campaign Chair Herb Metcalfe also signed on to Dion's campaign. The Martin wing of the party was represented by former Martin BC Campaign Chair Mark Marissen and two-time losing Liberal candidate in Burnaby—Douglas, Bill Cunningham. Others predicted that Dion had an edge as the only French Canadian in the race, as the Liberal Party has a famous tradition of rotating its leadership between francophones and anglophones, and it was arguably a francophone's "turn." Some analysts also felt Dion had an advantage because, unlike Ignatieff and Rae, he had served in Martin's Cabinet. Since 1948, every Liberal leader has been a minister under his predecessor.

On December 2, 2006 at the Liberal Party leadership convention, Dion finished third after the first ballot, garnering 17.8% of the delegates. After the second ballot, Gerard Kennedy threw his support behind Dion. Earlier, the two leadership contenders had allegedly struck a pact in which the first off the ballot would throw his support to the other. Pundits said that this surprise move had caught the Ignatieff and Rae strategists off guard.[2] When the totals of the third ballot were released, Dion held a narrow lead with 37%, followed closely by Michael Ignatieff with 34.5%. Bob Rae, with only 28.5%, freed his delegates, many of whom backed Dion, as did former leadership candidates Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe. On the fourth ballot, Dion captured 54.7% of votes cast and was declared the 11th leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

As Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (December 2006- )

After Stéphane Dion was elected as the leader, the Liberal Party experienced a sudden surge in their poll numbers as they moved up to 37%,^[42] 6 points ahead of the Tories, something that had not happened since late 2005 (see: Opinion polling in the Canadian federal election, 2006). The Liberal tide soon ebbed, however, and by the following month, the Conservatives had regained the upper hand (see table at the end of this section for a sampling of poll results). An Ipsos Reid poll conducted from February 15-19 on who would make the best Prime Minister had Dion (25%) in third place, behind Prime Minister Harper (46%) and NDP leader Jack Layton (29%) .[3][4] A Decima poll suggested that Dion's "honeymoon has dissipated very significantly" as the Liberals trail the Conservatives 27% to 36%.[5]

As rumours circulated of a possible election in early 2007, Dion bolstered the image of a Liberal Party renewed and healed of its internal divisions by appointing many of his former leadership rivals to key campaign positions. Michael Ignatieff was named deputy leader, Bob Rae and Scott Brison became platform development co-chairs, Gerard Kennedy was named special adviser for election readiness and renewal, Martha Hall Findlay was charged with platform outreach, and Ken Dryden, who received special acknowledgement from Dion for being "the heart of our party," was tasked "to be everywhere."^[43]

On January 5, 2007, Dion's caucus was reduced by the defection of Wajid Khan to the Conservatives. Khan was serving as a special advisor to Prime Minister Harper, which was agreed upon by Dion's predecessor Bill Graham, but Dion said he would not permit the arrangement to continue. Hours before Khan's defection, Dion had told the CBC that he assumed Khan was a "very committed Liberal", and had "no indication" that this was not the case. He also repeated his position that it was inappropriate for MPs to accept mandates from the Prime Minister while in opposition.^[44] After Khan's defection, Dion said, "Mr. Khan, was in fact a Conservative ... I don't feel like I lost a Liberal."^[45]

Jean Lapierre, the former Liberal lieutenant for Quebec, also announced his intention to resign his seat at the end of January. Dion indicated that Lapierre's departure had been expected by the party for several months and was not a surprise.^[46] Shortly thereafter, independent (and former Conservative) MP Garth Turner joined the Liberal caucus.

On January 18, 2007, Dion unveiled the remainder of the Liberal opposition's shadow cabinet (see Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (Canada) for a complete list of appointments). ^[47]

Almost immediately after Parliament reconvened in January 2007, the environment took centre stage as the issue of primary concern. Attention was fuelled by a growing number of reports about polar melting and extreme weather events around the globe, and especially by a comprehensive United Nations climate change report which stated that global warming was an "unequivocal" reality that would have serious consequences.

On February 1, Dion tabled a motion challenging the Conservatives to reaffirm Canada's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.^[48] Tory environment minister John Baird responded by blaming the Liberals for what he described as a "shameful record over 13 years of inaction on the environment,"^[48] while Stephen Harper said that his government would "stabilize emissions."^[49] Dion's non-binding motion passed on February 5.^[50]

On February 27, Stéphane Dion's Liberals, together with Bloc Québecois and NDP members of Parliament, voted down a Harper government proposal to extend two highly controversial provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act for another three years. Dion argued that the measures – which allowed police to arrest and detain terror suspects for three days without a warrant and which allowed judges to force witnesses to testify in terror cases – "have done nothing to fight against terrorism" and "have not been helpful and have continued to create some risk for civil liberties." ^[51]

Facing criticism over policy "flip-flops" (regarding Afghanistan, carbon taxes, and anti-terror measures),^[52][53] diminished Liberal support in polls, and an apparent waning of enthusiasm for his leadership,^[54] Dion initiated a 2 1/2 week cross-country tour on March 2, starting off with a speech delivered in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The tour sought to refocus public attention on the broader "three pillars" (economic growth, social justice, environmental sustainability) of his political programme,^[55] and included a series of speeches highlighting Liberal platform positions on social programs, finance, crime prevention, and First Nations' issues. It culminated in the unveiling of a new environmental policy endorsing the implementation of "hard caps" on greenhouse gas emissions by 2008.^[56]

Dion led the Liberal Party in its rejection the 2007 Conservative budget, arguing that it failed Canadians on economic prosperity, social justice and environmental sustainability.^[57] Liberal MP Joe Comuzzi (Thunder Bay-Superior North) announced that he would support the budget because it provided funding for a molecular medicine research centre in his riding. This was seen to be a breach of caucus solidarity, and Dion responded by expelling Comuzzi from the Liberal Party, explaining that it was an "unavoidable consequence" of Comuzzi's decision.^[58]

A Sampling of Poll Results

Polling Firm	Release Date	Link	Liberal	Conservative	NDP	BQ	Green
Election 2006	January 23, 2006	HTML	30.2	36.3	17.5	10.5	4.5
Strategic Counsel	December 3, 2006	PDF	37	31	14	11	7
Ipsos Reid	December 16, 2006	HTML	36	34	13	10	5
Decima Research	January 3, 2007	PDF	31	34	15	10	8
Leger Marketing	February 8, 2007	PDF	31	38	14	8	7
Strategic Counsel	February 19, 2007	HTML	29	34	14	11	12
Decima Research	March 1, 2007	HTML	27	36	13	13	8
Strategic Counsel	March 16, 2007	HTML	31	36	15	9	10
Ipsos Reid	March 23, 2007	HTML	29	40	14	9	7

Dual citizenship

Soon after Dion's selection as Liberal Party leader, the Conservatives and the NDP (but not the Bloc) began to criticize his dual citizenship as posing a possible conflict of interest. Dion has dual citizenship through his mother, who was born in France. ^[59] A Dion aide reportedly said that his French citizenship was conferred honorarily at birth^[60], but Calgary Sun columnist Ezra Levant claimed that Dion "sought out his citizenship based on his legal entitlement." ^[61] However, critics were quick to point out that Conservative Minister Tony Clement and Conservative MP Myron Thompson and NDP caucus members Libby Davies and Olivia Chow also hold dual citizenships. Dion responded to this issue by stating that "Multiple identities should be seen as an asset, not a threat. There is nothing wrong with multiple identities. The hearts of people are big enough to accept different identities." ^[62]. He maintained, nevertheless, that his loyalty is "100 per cent to Canada first."^[59]

In a December 7, 2006 interview on CBC's The National, Dion pointed out that Prime Minister John Turner had dual citizenship and questioned why it would be an issue now if it was not an issue in the 1980s. However he promised that "[i]f it's a problem for a significant number of Canadians and if it's a liability that may keep Mr. Harper in power and prevent us [from bringing] together more than any other country in the world: economic prosperity, social justice, environmental sustainability, then I will do this sad thing then, to renounce my French citizenship that I received from my mother."^[63]

Miscellanea

• Dion's family has a husky named "Kyoto" which they purchased "to cheer themselves up after the Liberals lost the last [2006] election."^[64] However, Dion was not the first environment minister or Liberal to have a dog by that name. David Anderson also has a schnauzer named Kyoto which he purchased one week after Canada's ratification of the Kyoto Accord. ^[65]

• In May 1999, Dion was the object of a pie-in-the-face gag orchestrated by the Montreal group, les Entartistes (see photo). The group's stated focus is to "deflate" influential political figures, and they have successfully pied several Canadian federal and provincial politicians, with past targets including Jean Chrétien and Ralph Klein. Dion was not amused and pressed charges, resulting in convictions of assault against two members of the pie-throwing group.^[66] They were given suspended sentences.

Notes and references

External links

• Stephane Dion's Campaign Site
• How'd They Vote?: Stéphane Dion's voting history and quotes
• Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
• Stéphane Dion Interview

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Shirley Maheu, Liberal	Member of Parliament from Saint-Laurent—Cartierville 1996 – present	Incumbent
27th Ministry - Government of Paul Martin
Cabinet Post
Predecessor	Office	Successor
David Anderson	Minister of the Environment (2004–2006)	Rona Ambrose
26th Ministry - Government of Jean Chrétien
Cabinet Posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Marcel Massé	Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (1996–2003)	Pierre Pettigrew
Marcel Massé	President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (1996–2003)	Denis Coderre
Political offices
Preceded by Bill Graham	Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons 2006 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Bill Graham Interim	Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada 2006 – present	Incumbent

	Leaders of the Liberal Party of Canada:
Mackenzie | Blake | Laurier | King | St. Laurent | Pearson | Trudeau | Turner | Chrétien | Martin | Dion