Michel Bissonnet

Michel Bissonnet, MNA (born March 28, 1942) is a Canadian politician who served as Liberal member and President (House Speaker) of the National Assembly of Quebec.

Michel Bissonnet
MNA for Jeanne-Mance
In office 1981–2003
Preceded by	Henri Laberge
Succeeded by	riding dissolved
MNA for Jeanne-Mance–Viger
In office 2003–2008
Preceded by	first member
Succeeded by	Filomena Rotiroti
Borough mayor for Saint-Leonard and Montreal City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office 2008
Preceded by	Frank Zampino
Personal details
Born	March 28, 1942 Montreal, Quebec
Political party	Quebec Liberal Party (provincial) Union Montreal (2008-2013) Independent (2013) Ensemble Montréal (2013-)
Residence	Montreal, Quebec
Profession	Attorney
Cabinet	President of the National Assembly of Québec

Background

Bissonnet obtained a license in law at Université de Montréal in 1976 and was admitted to the Barreau du Québec the following year. Prior to his years as a lawyer, he worked for the City of Montreal for 17 years in various positions including archivist and assistant office manager.

NDP candidate

Bissonnet was formerly involved in the federal New Democratic Party and its Quebec wing, the defunct Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec. He was a candidate in the 1967 federal by-election for that party in the district of Papineau. He finished third with 15% of the vote. Liberal candidate André Ouellet was elected.

City politics

He ran as an Action Laval candidate for the city council of Laval in 1969 and served as mayor of Saint-Léonard from 1978 to 1981.

Member of the Provincial Legislature

Bissonnet successfully ran as the Liberal candidate in the district of Jeanne-Mance in the 1981 election. He was re-elected in the 1985, 1989, 1994 and 1998 elections. He also won re-election in the merged district of Jeanne-Mance–Viger in 2003 and 2007.

Speaker

He served as Vice-President of the National Assembly during his third term of office from 1989 to 1994, Assistant Whip of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and Third Vice-President of the National Assembly during his fifth term from 1999 to 2003. He became the President of the National Assembly (Speaker of the House) after the Liberal victory in 2003. In 2007, Bissonnet was reconfirmed as President of the National Assembly.

Borough Mayor

In July 2008, Bissonnet announced that he would leave provincial politics and run again for the mayoral position of Saint-Léonard, now a borough of Montreal following the 2002 amalgamation. He had become of the longest serving MNA of the 38th National Assembly, even though he had never been appointed to the Cabinet.[1]

Bissonnet ran under Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's Union Montreal label. An election had been called to fill the position in the aftermath of the resignation of Frank Zampino. Bissonnet was elected with 94.3% of the vote in September 2008, against Livio DiCelmo of Projet Montréal.[2]

In the 2013 Montreal municipal elections, he was re-elected borough mayor of Saint-Léonard under Équipe Denis Coderre.

Electoral record (incomplete)

2007 Quebec general election: Jeanne-Mance–Viger
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michel Bissonnet	20,716	68.00
	Action démocratique	Carole Giroux	4,565	14.98
	Parti Québécois	Kamal El Batal	3,659	12.01
	Green	Hamadou Abdel Kader Nikiema	790	2.59
	Québec solidaire	Ramon Villaruel	635	2.08
	Marxist–Leninist	Stéphane Chénier	101	0.33
Total valid votes			30,466	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			349
Turnout			30,815	63.26
Electors on the lists			48,710
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

See also

• National Assembly of Quebec
• Politics of Quebec

Footnotes

1. Michel Bissonnet doit confirmer sa démission lundi - LCN - National
2. Victoire écrasante de Michel Bissonnet, La Presse, Montreal, September 22, 2008

External links

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.