Jump to content

Diane St-Jacques

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diane St-Jacques
Member of the House of Commons
In office
2 June 1997 - 27 June 2004[1]
Preceded byJean Leroux
Succeeded byRobert Vincent
Personal details
Born (1953-05-16) May 16, 1953 (age 71)
Granby, Canada
Political partyLiberal Party of Canada
Other political
affiliations
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
OccupationPolicy advisor

Diane St-Jacques (born May 16, 1953) is a Canadian business person and former politician. St-Jacques served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004.[1]

History

[edit]

St-Jacques was born in Granby, Quebec.[1] She was a promotional coordinator for Agropur in Granby and an advertising consultant for a radio station in Sherbrooke. St-Jacques was involved in the community in a variety of volunteer roles. Involved in politics since 1979, St-Jacques first stood for office in the 1997 federal election as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Shefford. With Sherbrooke's Jean Charest as a national leader, the party experienced a resurgence in Quebec's Eastern Townships, and St-Jacques was elected to the House of Commons, taking her seat from the Bloc Québécois.

Until she left the PC caucus, she was its designated parliamentary critic for International Cooperation, La Francophonie, and children and youth. She was also identified as the PC "family critic."[citation needed]

In 1999, St-Jacques joined MPs Svend Robinson (NDP) and Réal Ménard (Bloc), both openly gay, and Toronto Liberal MP Bill Graham, in a "pink caucus" across party lines. The group advocated that the legal definition of spouse include same-sex couples. The social conservative Campaign Life Coalition decried St.-Jacques as "a married mother of one, who says she isn't a lesbian but who supports the gay agenda."[citation needed]

St-Jacques spoke in Parliament in favour of medical marijuana rights.[citation needed]

In April 1998, Charest left federal politics to seek the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, and Tory support in Quebec declined under Joe Clark's leadership. On September 12, 2000, with an election increasingly close, St-Jacques, with fellow Tory MP David Price and independent, formerly Tory MP André Harvey, joined the Liberal Party of Canada and the Liberal caucus. St-Jacques and Price reportedly told Clark they would leave the party months earlier.

In the 2000 election, St-Jacques retained her Shefford seat as a Liberal.

She served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development in the government of prime minister Jean Chrétien from January 13 until December 11, 2003, and as Deputy Government Whip under Chrétien's successor Paul Martin from February 2, 2004, until she left office.

In the 2004 federal election, she lost her seat to Robert Vincent of the Bloc Québécois. She ran again in the 2006 federal election, placing third place behind Vincent and the Conservative candidate Jean Lambert. She received 23.4% of all votes cast.

2004 Canadian federal election: Shefford
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Bloc Québécois Robert Vincent 21,968 46.60 +2.65 $41,344
Liberal Diane St-Jacques 18,725 39.72 -6.21 $60,445
Conservative Jacques Parenteau 3,732 7.92 +0.45[a] $6,910
Green Francine Brière 1,571 3.33
New Democratic Sonia Bisson 1,146 2.43 +1.59 $400
Total valid votes/expense limit 47,146 100.00 $77,209
2000 Canadian federal election: Shefford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Diane St-Jacques 20,707 45.93 +19.74
Bloc Québécois Michel Benoit 19,816 43.95 +8.13
Alliance Jean-Jacques Treyvaud 1,867 4.14
Progressive Conservative Audrey Castonguay 1,498 3.32 -33.58
Marijuana Nicolas Cousineau 819 1.82
New Democratic Elizabeth Morey 380 0.84 -0.25
Total valid votes 45,087 100.00
1997 Canadian federal election: Shefford
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Diane St-Jacques 17,897 36.90 +25.10
Bloc Québécois Jean H. Leroux 17,376 35.82 -19.60
Liberal Chantal Gareau 12,699 26.18 -2.87
New Democratic Karen Hurley 531 1.09 -0.11
Total valid votes 48,503 100.00

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in the 2000 election.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Profile". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Shefford
1997–2004
Succeeded by