Quebec lieutenant

In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a politician, usually from Quebec or at least French-Canadian, and usually a Member of Parliament or at least a current or former candidate for Parliament, who is selected by a senior politician such as the Prime Minister or the leader of a federal party, as his or her main advisor and/or spokesperson on issues specific to Quebec. This is particularly the case when the leader is an anglophone, though several francophone leaders have also had Quebec lieutenants. This is an unofficial but usually well-known assignment.

Notable Quebec lieutenants

Some past and current Quebec lieutenants include:

Liberal Party of Canada

• Wilfrid Laurier for Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie and then for party leader Edward Blake
• Ernest Lapointe and then Louis St. Laurent for Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Jean Marchand for Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and then Pierre Trudeau
• Marc Lalonde for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau following Marchand's resignation
• Raymond Garneau for party leader John Turner (subsequent to Turner's prime ministership)
• Jean Lapierre for Prime Minister Paul Martin

Conservative Party of Canada (to 1942)

• Sir Hector Langevin and then Joseph-Aldéric Ouimet for Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald
• Pierre Édouard Blondin for Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

• Léon Balcer for Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker
• Lucien Bouchard for Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
• Jean Charest for Prime Minister Kim Campbell
• André Bachand for party leaders Joe Clark and then Peter MacKay
• Marcel Faribault for party leader Robert Stanfield

Conservative Party of Canada (from 2004)

• Josée Verner for party leader Stephen Harper

New Democratic Party

• Pierre Ducasse for party leader Jack Layton