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Bio - J. Marc Simard: Neurosurgery neurosurgery.umaryland.ed... | Mark Sylvain, M.D. - Biography sandiego-spine.com | Sylvain Poux expasy.org | ERGORESEARCH INC., Managed by Sylvain BOUCHER proteor.com |
Sylvain Simard is a politician and academic in the Canadian province of Quebec. He has represented the Richelieu electoral division in the National Assembly of Quebec since 1994, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry. Simard is a member of the Parti Québécois.
[edit] Early life and careerSimard was born on April 26, 1945, in Chicoutimi, Quebec. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Montreal (1967), a Master of Arts degree from McGill University (1970), and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Bordeaux in France (1975). From 1976 to 1994, he was a professor of French literature at the University of Ottawa. His brother, Christian Simard, was a Bloc Québécois member of the Canadian House of Commons from 2004 to 2006.[1] [edit] PQ vice-presidentSimard first became involved with the Parti Québécois (PQ) as a regional organizer in Outaouais. He was elected as the party's vice-president in 1981, succeeding Louise Harel, and in this capacity argued that the PQ organization should have more autonomy from the government of René Levesque.[2] In 1982, he helped organize a street protest against the patriation of the Canadian Constitution without Quebec's signature.[3] Later in the same year, he requested that Elections Canada incorporate a federal wing of the PQ so that the party would be able to run candidates in the next Canadian election. Although some senior party members opposed this measure, it eventually led to the creation of the Parti nationaliste du Québec.[4] Simard later helped coordinate the PQ's bid to join the Socialist International in 1983. (This effort was opposed by the New Democratic Party, the primary social-democratic party in the rest of Canada.)[5] Simard favoured electoral reform, and proposed that future elections in Quebec be conducted under a system of compensatory proportional representation.[6] He also encouraged Premier Levesque to shuffle both his cabinet and his staff in early 1984, arguing that some people had been in the same positions for too long.[7] His own term as vice-president ended in 1984. Simard testified before the Senate of Canada as a PQ representative in 1983, and spoke against national security legislation that he described as dangerous to civil liberties.[8] [edit] Political activismSimard was encouraged to run as a New Democratic Party candidate in the 1988 federal election, at a time when that party was actively seeking to build support in Quebec. He ultimately decided not to.[9] He ran as a PQ candidate in the 1989 provincial election and was narrowly defeated by Liberal cabinet minister Guy Rivard in the Montreal division of Rosemont. From 1990 to 1994, Simard was president of the Mouvement National des Quebecois (MNQ). In 1991, he argued that a sovereign Quebec would require control over immigration and would try to reduce the concentration of immigrant communities in Montreal neighbourhoods. He was quoted as saying, "We can't lower the concentration [of existing communities]; the people who are here are here. But in the future . . . we will have to adjust our welcome of immigrants to our capacities to integrate them." He added that francophone Quebecers would need to become more accepting of immigrant communities and the changes they would bring to Quebec culture.[10] At a MNQ meeting in 1991, he said that most francophone Quebecers were "remarkably open to the necessity for and the advantages of immigration."[11] He called for a referendum on sovereignty in early 1992, and campaigned against the Charlottetown Accord on Canadian constitutional reform later in the year.[12] Unlike other Quebec sovereigntist groups, the MNQ under Simard's leadership tried to build links with francophone groups throughout Canada.[13] During his time as MNQ president, Simard argued that francophone Quebecers were unfairly labelled as racist and xenophobic and that Quebec was wrongly singled out for intolerant behaviour in years past. "Of course we denounce all forms of anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and we don't excuse it even fifty years later," he said in 1993. "But why should we have to respond to these attacks that are obviously politically motivated?"[14] [edit] Politician[edit] Minister of International RelationsSimard was first elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for Richelieu in the 1994 general election, defeating Liberal incumbent Albert Khelfa. He was a backbencher during Jacques Parizeau's premiership and was appointed to cabinet when Lucien Bouchard succeeded Parizeau on January 29, 1996. Simard served as minister of International Relations and minister responsible for La Francophonie, with further responsibilities for Outaouais region. On January 22, 1997, he was given extra responsibilities as minister responsible for international humanitarian action. Shortly after his appointment, he warned the Canadian government to consider the prospect of violent reaction if it tried to partition predominantly federalist areas in a future, sovereign Quebec. This was a response to remarks by Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, who said that if Canada was divisible, then Quebec would be as well.[15] In March 1996, Simard announced that Quebec would close thirteen of its nineteen foreign delegations as a cost-saving measure, and that Quebec representatives in some of the affected areas might operate from within Canadian embassies. He added that the representatives would still promote both Quebec trade interests and sovereignty, and that he saw no contraction in using Canadian facilities to these ends.[16] Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps responded that Quebec representatives would "absolutely not" be allowed to promote Quebec sovereignty in Canadian facilities, and Simard's plan was widely criticized in the rest of Canada.[17] Simard took part in a bid for Quebec to receive special status at the United Nations in 1997; this was defeated by the Canadian government.[18] Later in the year, Simard and federal politicians quarreled over the terms of a child-support agreement between Quebec and France; the Canadian government argued that some sections of the document came close to defining Quebec as a sovereign country.[19] Simard later threatened to have Quebec boycott the 2001 Francophone Games in Ottawa and Hull, on the grounds that the federal government was excluding Quebec from the organizing committee.[20] As Minister of International Relations, Simard represented Quebec in trade and diplomatic missions to France, China, Vietnam, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Zimbabwe.[21] He was skeptical of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and encouraged Canada to withdraw from negotiations around the accord in October 1998.[22] In late November 1996, Simard criticized Charles Aznavour when the well-known troubadour sang some of his best-known songs in English during a concert in Ottawa. The minister was quoted as saying, "Charles Aznavour is a French singer and when he comes here he should sing in French. It shows a complete ignorance of the reality and sensibilities of Quebec society — it's a provocation."[23] Simard was re-elected in the 1998 Quebec election, but was dropped from cabinet on December 15, 1998. In 2000, he co-authored a review of legislative procedures that called for representatives to be given more opportunities to consider and scrutinize bills before the legislature.[24] [edit] Minister of Citizenship and ImmigrationSimard rejoined Lucien Bouchard's cabinet on October 6, 2000, as the minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Soon after his appointment, he announced that Quebec would increase its annual immigration rate from 30,000 to a figure between 40,000 and 45,000 by 2003, and that the province would raise its rate of francophone immigration from 44% to 52% in the same period.[25] Echoing his statements from a decade earlier, he called for an increased settlement of immigrants in areas outside of Montreal to facilitate their integration to Quebec society.[26] In March 2001, Simard announced that the numbers of both educated and francophone immigrants to Quebec were increasing and that the province would look to the Maghreb for more francophone immigration in upcoming years.[27] In late 2000, Simard said that he would not serve alongside Yves Michaud, a candidate for the PQ nomination in an upcoming Montreal by-election. Michaud had described Jewish support for the federalist option in the 1995 Quebec referendum as an "ethnic vote against the sovereignty of the Quebec people" and described B'nai Brith Canada as "anti-sovereigntist extremists." He was also quoted as saying that Jews believe themselves to be "the only people in the world who have suffered." Simard responded that Michaud's comments were "an old anti-Semitic throwback that leave me no choice but to condemn." (Michaud, in turn, contended that he was being "falsely demonized" and was not anti-Semitic. He did not receive the nomination.)[28] [edit] President of the Treasury BoardLucien Bouchard announced his retirement as PQ leader and premier in early 2001, and Simard supported Bernard Landry's successful big to become Bouchard's successor.[29] When Landry became premier on March 8, 2001, he reassigned Simard as president of the Treasury Board, minister of state for Administration and the Public Service, minister responsible for Administration and the Public Service, and minister responsible for the Outaouais. Simard issued his first report as Treasury Board president on March 29, 2001, indicating that government spending would increase by 3.1% in 2001-02, with three-quarters of the new revenues going to health and education. He added that spending as a percentage of gross domestic product would decline, as it had in past years.[30] Later in the year, he announced that Quebec would take nearly one billion dollars from its reserve fund to avoid going into deficit amid a North American economic downturn.[31] Simard initiated a major public service recruitment campaign in 2001, seeking to fill 1,500 full-time and 5,000 part-time positions. This was described as the most important hiring outreach in the field in twenty years.[32] Simard indicated that he would take steps to ensure under-represented groups (including anglophones and youth) were fairly represented among those hired.[33] In November 2001, Simard announced a $220 million initiative toward pay equity.[34] The following month, he announced that Bell Canada had won a five-year, $200-million contract to construct a telecommunications network.[35] Simard also served on a cabinet committee that oversaw strategies for Quebec's asbestos sector.[36] [edit] Minister of EducationBernard Landry shuffled his cabinet on January 30, 2002, and appointed Simard as minister of State for Education and Employment, minister of Education, and minister responsible for Employment. He also retained cabinet responsibility for the Outaouais region. Simard announced an education review plan in March 2002, which was highlighted by a pledge to continue Quebec's university longstanding policy against raising tuition fees. He called for schools to publish their success rates, both for the benefit of parents and to ensure the schools in question would be pressured to improve their standards.[37] He also pledged to remove a legislative loophole that allowed non-anglophone parents to send their children to anglophone public schools after one year at an anglophone private school. The minister's intent was to ensure the vitality of the French language and francophone education; the president of the anglophone group Alliance Quebec argued that the proposed change was illegal.[38] He announced a $91 million program for reforming Quebec's secondary schools in January 2003, highlighted by increased tutoring, a focus on French and history as well as upgrades in the sciences, and measures to target the provincial dropout rate.[39] He introduced another plan in the same month to counter schoolyard harrassment and later confirmed that Quebec students would spend (25.5 hours per week in class (up from 23.5) by 2005.[40] In October 2002, Simard introduced a plan for making Quebec's cégeps more effective in training students.[41] He also pledged greater investment intextra-curricular activities and sought to create stronger links between the education systems of Quebec and France.[42] He was strongly critical of the right-wing Action démocratique du Québec's proposal to introduce a system of school vouchers."[43] He declined requests that Christmas carols be removed from the education system, arguing that they were part of Quebec's cultural heritage.[44] During this period, Simard was known as one of the few ministers in Landry's government who had a strong interest in promoting sovereignty.[45] In February 2003, he argued that Quebec would receive an additional $800 million for education spending if the "fiscal imbalance" between different levels of government was fixed.[46] [edit] Opposition memberThe PQ was defeated in the 2003 provincial election, although Simard retained his seat without much difficulty. In opposition, he was named as his party's critic for the Treasury Board and Public Service.[47] He was appointed as the PQ's chief organizer in October 2004.[48] Simard was strongly critical of the public service and economic development cuts introduced by the government of Quebec new premier, Jean Charest, as well as by the Charest government's move toward public-private partnerships.[49] In 2006, he brought forward a private member's bill to introduce a pension benefits guarantee fund in Quebec.[50] Simard called for a public inquiry into federalist spending practices during the 1995 referendum on sovereignty in 2005, following statements by a high-ranking Liberal Party of Canada organizer that the federalists had "violated" and "flouted" Quebec's election laws. Simard was quoted as saying, "We don't want to rewrite the past. What is done is done. What we need are new ground rules and the means to ensure that that this doesn't happen again."[51] Simard backed Bernard Landry in his efforts to retain the PQ leadership after the 2003 election.[52] He nevertheless helped Landry reach the decision to resign in June 2005 after receiving only 76% from delegates at the party's convention. Simard told the media, "He made the right decision. We had discussed the level he needed to avoid headlines in the media [...] that [he] was clinging to office."[53] He later supported André Boisclair in his successful bid to succeed Landry as party leader.[54] He suggested increasing Quebec's tuition rates in 2006, on the grounds that the longstanding freeze was causing "perpetual underfunding" among universities. The youth wing of the PQ opposed this strategy, and a policy workshop latter affirmed its support for maintaining the existing rates.[55] The PQ was reduced to a third-place finish in the 2007 general election, and Simard was re-elected by a reduced margin. After the election, he was one of a small number of PQ representatives who continued to support Boisclair's leadership.[56] When Boisclair resigned, Simard was initially prepared to support Gilles Duceppe's bid to become party leader.[57] Duceppe decided not to run, however, and Pauline Marois was chosen as the party's new leader. The PQ returned to official opposition status in the 2008 election under Marois's leadership, and Sylvain was returned with an increased margin of victory. He was re-appointed as critic for the Treasury Board and the public service after the election.[58] In March 2009, he argued that the government could save four billion dollars by building two new university teaching hospitals in Montreal as conventional projects, rather than as private-public partnerships.[59] Simard has been a member of the legislative Quebec-Israel Committee.[60] [edit] External links
[edit] Electoral record
[edit] References
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