Jean Pelletier

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Jean Pelletier (born February 21, 1935 in Chicoutimi, Quebec) is a Canadian political operative and former head of VIA Rail. An important member and a leading organizer of the Liberal Party of Canada.

He began his political career with the Union Nationale party, and was elected mayor of Quebec City in 1977, a position he held until 1988. With the demise of the Union Nationale, he joined the Liberal Party, and was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate in the 1993 election.

He has long been a close ally and a very close friend of Jean Chrétien. They have known each other for fifty years, having first met at boarding school while still youths. They attended law school together and earned similar reputations as aggressive fighters. When Chrétien became Prime Minister in 1993, Pelletier became the Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office.

He was known as the person who would aggressively fight for the prime minister's interests. He was nicknamed the "Silent Executioner" for the ease with which he could end problems, and sometimes others' political careers, without causing any fracas in the media. He was often considered the second most powerful man in Canada, after Chrétien. He was a leader in the unsuccessful battle to keep Paul Martin from taking over the party in 2003.

On May 4, 2001, Chrétien appointed Pelletier president of VIA Rail, a Crown corporation, replacing Marc LeFrançois.^[1] Pelletier was a life-long train aficionado, and the appointment was a reward for his years of service. Soon after, Chrétien promised an extra C$700 million to improve VIA's service. In 1985, Pelletier was made a Member of the Order of Canada and promoted to Officer in 2003. In 1990, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.

On March 1, 2004, Pelletier was fired from his VIA post by Prime Minister Martin after the Liberal Party was embroiled in the sponsorship scandal. VIA was accused of skipping mandated procedures in order to hand out contracts to Liberal-friendly firms and individuals, though Pelletier was not at VIA for most of these occurrences.

He was dismissed instead for remarks he made to Montreal's La Presse newspaper attacking Olympic athlete Myriam Bédard. Talking about Bédard, who had held a marketing position at VIA and had gone to the media with stories of corruption, Pelletier said "I don't want to be mean, but this is a poor girl who deserves pity, who doesn't have a spouse, as far as I know." He later reiterated that "She is struggling as a single mother with economic responsibilities. Deep down, I think she is pitiful." This caused an immediate media fracas and the remarks were widely condemned as sexist and out-of-touch by women's group representatives, sports group representatives and others.

On March 30, 2004, Pelletier sued VIA and the federal government for C$3 million, for defamation and illegal dismissal. A federal court ruled that dismissal did not follow due process and ordered him reinstated in November 2005. Although he was reinstated, the government appealed the court ruling and kept him off the payroll. On December 22, 2005, he was fired a second time, this time after the government ensured that due process was followed in the dismissal. Pelletier has filed suit in Quebec Superior Court alleging wrongful dismissal; Transport Minister Jean Lapierre issued a written statement noting that the recent dismissal is effective immediately and that Pelletier will not receive compensation due to his suit against the government.^[2]

Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board, did approve $40,000 to assist Pelletier with legal fees in a court challenge against the Gomery Commission. Representatives of other parties criticized this payment, saying that the government should only cover legal costs for working civil servants. Pelletier's lawyer argued that it followed a long-standing government policy for high-ranking functionaries in judicial proceedings.^[3]

Preceded by
Gilles Lamontagne

List of mayors of Quebec City