Pierre Pettigrew
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Pierre Stewart Pettigrew, PC, (born in Quebec City on April 18, 1951) is a Canadian politician. He served in the Liberal cabinet of Jean Chrétien in various capacities and in the government of Paul Martin as Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the 2006 federal election he was defeated as the Member of Parliament for the Montreal-area electoral district of Papineau.
Pettigrew has a BA in Philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (1972) and an M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University (1976).
Pettigrew was director of the Political Committee, NATO Assembly, in Brussels, from 1976 to 1978, executive assistant to the Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1978 to 1981 and Foreign Policy Advisor to Pierre E. Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada) from 1981 to 1984.
Prior to politics, Pettigrew was Vice-President of Samson Bélair Deloitte Touche International (Montreal) from 1985 to 1995 where he acted as a business consultant to companies with dealings in international markets.
Following the 1995 Quebec referendum Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was committed to bringing in more star candidates from Quebec to his cabinet. He thus appointed Pettigrew and Stéphane Dion to cabinet, even before they were in the house.
André Ouellet was made head of Canada Post, opening the riding of Papineau—Saint-Michel. Pettigrew was elected to Parliament in a March 25, 1996 by-election. He was re-elected in 1997 and 2000, representing the new riding of Papineau—Saint-Denis. In 1996 he became Minister for International Cooperation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie.
From 1996 to 1999, he also served as Minister of Human Resources Development. In that time, the Department of Human Resources Development represented more than half of the Canadian federal budget. Minister Pettigrew negociated with the provinces and the territories the National Child Benefit, the most important social program since Canada Pension Plan (1966), a 10 billions program by now. He implemented the new Employment Insurance Program which became balanced after years of deficit despite lowering the premiums. Under his watch, however, ineffective accounting practices at HRDC allegedly left millions of dollars unaccounted for. Pettigrew was fortunate to have been shuffled to the portfolio of International Trade. His successor Jane Stewart took the brunt of the "billion-dollar boondoggle" scandal.
As Minister for International Trade, he was a tireless promoter of free trade and always characterized NAFTA as "a tremendous success" and a model to expand upon. He was a key participant in the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade talks, claiming that Canada's main goal of lowering agricultural subsidies would be of great benefit to the world's poorer nations. At the 2003 WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Pettigrew played an aggressive role as chair of the working group on the Singapore issues, controversial sectors of proposed liberalization which were bitterly opposed by some developing nation delegates, not to mention masses of protesters outside of the gates where the meetings were held. He also championed the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and in the period leading up to the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001, he spearheaded a campaign to allay growing public suspicion of the deal by promising the eventual release of the draft negotiating texts. After a delay due to translating the texts into the Portuguese language, the texts were made publicly available July 3, 2001. Throughout his mandate at International Trade, he was heavily embroiled in the US - Canada softwood lumber dispute.
On December 12, 2003, he was appointed Minister of Health and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs by newly-appointed Prime Minister Paul Martin. On July 20, 2004, he moved to his long-desired portfolio of Foreign Affairs minister, displacing Bill Graham.
On April 26, 2005, the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir reported that the trilingual Pettigrew, who speaks English, French and Spanish, would leave Canadian politics to serve as the Secretary General of the Organization of American States [1]. The newspaper suggested that Pettigrew had sufficient support among OAS members to win the job, although officially Canada supported the election of Luis Ernesto Derbez of Mexico. See OAS Secretary General election, 2005.
Pettigrew has long been rumoured to be a possible leadership candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada or as a leader of the provincial Quebec Parti libéral du Québec.
In 1999, Pettigrew wrote Pour une politique de la confiance, its English translation The New Politics of Confidence, a book on globalization and the art of governing. It reviewed poorly, but does contain insights into Pettigrew's belief that the Canadian federal model benefits Quebec and is an example for the world.
Pettigrew has been criticized for taking his chauffeur to Europe and South America in 2001 and 2002 at a cost to taxpayers of about $10,000, even though the driver did not transport the minister during the international visits [2].
On June 17, 2005, an incident occurred at a conference in Montreal regarding the subject of Haiti, at one point during the conference, Pettigrew was splashed with a red substance by Yves Engler, a political activist associated with the group Haiti Action Montreal. As Engler threw the red substance on Pettigrew, he shouted "Pettigrew lies, Haitians die". Engler claimed that the red paint was meant to symbolize the blood on the hands of the Canadian state due to Canada's involvement in Haiti. Pettigrew told police that he wanted full charges pressed against Engler. However, a couple of days later, Pettigrew suddenly decided to drop all charges. This led to speculation that Pettigrew was pressured by the Prime Minister to drop the charges in order to avoid a trial and the resulting media coverage that would come with it.
Despite growing pressure, Pettigrew consistently stated that Canada will "stay the course" in Haiti.[3]
On December 28, 2005, Pettigrew was the victim of an attempted mugging while he was waiting for a train in the Montreal subway station. The accused, Frederick Estelle, has been charged with aggravated theft.[4][5]
January 23, 2006, Pettigrew was defeated by Bloc Québécois candidate Vivian Barbot, ending his tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as a Member of Parliament for Papineau.
The National Post named Pettigrew as the Member of Parliament with the best hair.
On October 23, 2006, Deloitte Canada's President Alan MacGibbon announced that Pierre Pettigrew had been appointed as Executive Advisor for the firm's international activities.
| 27th Ministry - Government of Paul Martin | ||
| Cabinet Posts (3) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Bill Graham | Minister of Foreign Affairs (2004–2006) |
Peter MacKay |
| Anne McLellan | Minister of Health (2003–2004) |
Ujjal Dosanjh |
| Stéphane Dion | Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs (2003–2004) |
Lucienne Robillard |
| Special Cabinet Responsibilities | ||
| Predecessor | Title | Successor |
| ? | Minister responsible for Official Languages (2003–2004) |
Mauril Bélanger |
| 26th Ministry - Government of Jean Chrétien | ||
| Cabinet Posts (3) | ||
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Sergio Marchi | Minister for International Trade (1999–2003) |
Jim Peterson |
| Doug Young | Minister of Human Resources Development (1996–1999) |
Jane Stewart |
| position created | Minister for International Cooperation (1996) |
Don Boudria |
| Special Cabinet Responsibilities | ||
| Predecessor | Title | Successor |
| position created | Minister responsible for La Francophonie (1996) |
Don Boudria |
