Normand Cherry

Normand Cherry (born June 2, 1938) is a Canadian former politician and union leader in the province of Quebec. He was a Liberal member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1989 to 1998 and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Robert Bourassa and Daniel Johnson.

Normand Cherry
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Sainte-Anne
In office 1989–1994
Preceded by	Maximilien Polak
Succeeded by	District was abolished in 1994
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Saint-Laurent
In office 1994–1998
Preceded by	Robert Bourassa
Succeeded by	Jacques Dupuis
Personal details
Born	June 2, 1938 Montreal, Quebec
Political party	Liberal

Early life and union career

Cherry was born in Montreal and received his early education in the Rosemont area of the city. He worked for Canadair from 1954 to 1989 and became a prominent labour activist, serving as president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 712 from 1969 to 1989. From 1985, he also lectured at the IAMAW Training and Conference Center in Maryland.[1]

Cherry formed a "Canadair Survival Committee" in late 1985, after the government of Canada announced that it was planning to sell the company to a private investor. Cherry's group sought to ensure that Canadair would remain publicly owned, stay in Montreal, and protect the jobs of its employees.[2] Cherry nonetheless supported Bombardier's successful offer to purchase the company in 1986, saying that the terms of the deal were favourable.[3]

In September 1986, Cherry argued that a federal contract to maintain CF-18 fighter jets should be given to Canadair rather than to a competing bid led by foreign-owned firms in Manitoba and Ontario. He said that it was not his intent to promote Quebec's interests at the expense of other provinces and that his primary concern was to ensure the CF-18 technology would remain under Canadian control.[4] The government of Brian Mulroney ultimately awarded the contract to Canadair.[5]

Political career

Cherry served as chief organizer for the opposition Union Nationale in the 1973 provincial election.[6] The party fared poorly in the election, losing all of its seats in the legislature.

Legislator

Minister of cultural communities

Cherry ran as a star candidate for the Liberal Party in the 1989 provincial election and was narrowly elected in the Montreal division of Sainte-Anne. He was appointed to the Bourassa ministry on October 11, 1989, serving as the junior minister responsible for cultural communities.[7]

In early 1990, Cherry took part in plans to modernize the manufacturing firm Valmet-Dominion Inc. (a unit of the Finnish company Valmet) and relaunch its corporate office in Montreal.[8] He spoke at the opening ceremonies and announced that Quebec would provide $11.1 million in development assistance. Less than a month later, Valmet-Dominion issued layoff notices to one third of its workforce; company officials said that the layoffs were cyclical, resulting from a downturn in the sector, though others expressed concern about the timing of the announcement.[9]

Labour minister

Cherry was promoted to minister of labour on October 5, 1990, while retaining ministerial responsibility for cultural communities.[1] In late 1991, he took part in a ceremony that launched the Canadair CL-415 and announced that Quebec would purchase eight of the new amphibious aircraft.[10] In the same time period, Cherry appointed a business-labor advisory panel to suggest amendments to Quebec's 1981 law on workers' compensation that some critics believed was overly generous.[11]

In 1993, Cherry took part in negotiations with officials from Ontario and New Brunswick in an effort to resolve long-standing differences in the construction sector.[12] In October 1993, he announced that Quebec would continue to require that out-of-province workers earn a "certificate of competence" before being allowed to work on Quebec sites.[13] The following month, however, he introduced legislation to deregulate homebuilding sites and permit the use of non-union labour. Construction workers organized several protests and strikes in a bid to defeat the legislation; the government responded with harsh back-to-work legislation, which Cherry himself described as "probably the most severe legislation ever introduced" on the matter.[14] Despite the protests, the legislation was approved by the assembly and brought into law.[15] Cherry was expelled from his IAWAW local at around the same time.[16]

Transport minister

Robert Bourassa announced his resignation as Liberal Party leader and premier in late 1993, and Cherry supported Daniel Johnson's bid to become the party's new leader.[17] When Johnson became premier on January 11, 1994, he appointed Cherry as transport minister.[18] In this position, Cherry initiated fifty million dollars worth of road repairs and introduced a camera system to review congestion on Montreal roads.[19] He also sought to co-ordinate better links between Quebec's road, rail, and ship transportation lines.[20] In September 1994, he launched a thirty-six million dollar project to link Saint-Bruno with the Jacques Cartier Bridge.[21]

Opposition member

Cherry's Sainte-Anne division was eliminated by redistribution before the 1994 provincial election, and he was re-elected in Saint-Laurent, a safe Liberal seat in Montreal.[22] The Parti Québécois defeated the Liberals in this election, and Cherry resigned from cabinet with the rest of the Johnson ministry on September 26, 1994. He served as a member of the official opposition for the next four years and was his party's critic for transport issues.[23]

An ardent Canadian federalist, Cherry spoke against Quebec separatism in the 1994 election and campaigned for the "non" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[24]

When Daniel Johnson resigned as Liberal Party leader in 1998, Cherry was among the first Liberals to suggest that Jean Charest become his successor.[25] Charest was subsequently chosen as party leader.

Cherry was not a candidate in the 1998 election.

Electoral record

1994 Quebec general election: Saint-Laurent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Normand Cherry	25,711	76.73	+24.60
	Parti Québécois	Louis Thibaudeau	5,602	16.72	−1.98
	Action démocratique	Daniel Murray	1,061	3.17	–
	Equality	Ray Moscato	362	1.08	−22.81
	CANADA!	Tony Kondaks	243	0.73	–
	Natural Law	Marc Hindle	154	0.46	–
	Economic	François Blouin	147	0.44	–
	Communist	Robert Bob Aubin	94	0.28	−0.25
	Non-affiliated	Annette Kouri	72	0.21	–
	Republic of Canada	Seng Phlang	61	0.18	–
Total valid votes			33,507	98.60	–
Total rejected ballots			476	1.40	–
Turnout			33,983	81.83	+7.71
Electors on the lists			41,530	–	–

1989 Quebec general election: Sainte-Anne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Normand Cherry	9,089	41.18
	Parti Québécois	Gilles Cormier	7,977	36.14
	Equality	Richard Lord	3,057	13.85
	Green	Serge Bellemare	941	4.26
	New Democratic	Suzy Potvin	218	0.99
	Independent	André 1er Le Pape Brabant	177	0.80
	Independent	Fergus V. Keyes	170	0.77
	Progressive Conservative	Réal Letendre	141	0.64
	Parti des travailleurs	Daniel McCrea	78	0.35
	Marxist–Leninist	Diane Johnston	70	0.32
	Social Credit	Jimmy Alcide Gallant	68	0.31
	Communist	Irène Dasylva	44	0.20
	Socialist Movement	Thérèse Spénard	42	0.19
Total valid votes			22,072	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			559
Turnout			22,631	67.31
Electors on the lists			33,623

References

1. "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
2. "Canadair 'survival' group forms to persuade Ottawa not to sell," Globe and Mail, 23 December 1985, A5.
3. Alan Toulin, "Selling price for Canadair called too low," Toronto Star, 19 August 1986, E1.
4. "Union says F-18 deal must go to Canadair," Globe and Mail, 3 September 1986, A5; "Canadair union launches lobby for fighter maintenance contract," Toronto Star, 3 September 1986, E3. John B. Lang of the Confederation of Canadian Unions noted that there was some irony in this position, in that the IAWAW was based in American and gave its American members a vote on the Canadian leadership. See John B. Lang, "Canadian content," Globe and Mail, 18 September 1986, A6.
5. Shirley Won, "Workers' spirits soar with news of more jobs," Montreal Gazette, 1 November 1986, A11.
6. Robert McKenzie, "Bourassa takes it on the chin in Round 1 of Quebec campaign," Toronto Star, 14 August 1989, A2.
7. Sarah Scott, "Elkas joins big guns in cabinet; Cote takes over health portfolio, Paradis to head Environment Department," Montreal Gazette, 12 October 1989, A1.
8. Tommy Schnurmacher, "Everyone wins at Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race Dinner," Montreal Gazette, 2 April 1990, B5.
9. Ronald Lebel, "Machinery-maker Valmet to lay off 200; Month ago company announced $17 million in government aid," Montreal Gazette, 1 May 1990, F1.
10. "CANADAIR OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES PRODUCTION OF ITS NEW AMPHIBIAN; FRANCE SIGNS CONTRACT FOR 12 CL-415 FIREFIGHTERS," Canada NewsWire, 16 October 1991, 14:36; Ronald Lebel, "Canadair fires up $500m aircraft order Water bomber deals save 700 jobs," Hamilton Spectator, 17 October 1991, C18.
11. Craig Toomey, "Workers' compensation `out of control'; Manufacturers fed up as board expects $600-million deficit in 1991," Montreal Gazette, 13 December 1991, D7; "Quebec ready to cut workers' compensation," Toronto Star, 23 March 1992, B3.
12. "News Quebec and Ontario heat up war of words," Engineering News Record, 11 October 1993, p. 12; "Quebec will demand certificates," Hamilton Spectator, 28 October 1993, B3.
13. Kevin Dougherty, "Building curbs assailed," 28 October 1993, p. 5.
14. Robert Gibbens, "Quebec unions fight open building sites," Financial Post, 13 November 1993, p. 6; Rheal Seguin, "Building workers protest legislation Quebec unions show force," Globe and Mail, 7 December 1993, A3; Robert McKenzie, "Quebec launches tough anti-strike legislation," Toronto Star, 13 December 1993, A10; Andre Picard, "Back-to-work legislation angers unions," Globe and Mail, 14 December 1993, A4.
15. Andy Riga, "Multicultural St. Laurent fertile ground for Liberals," Montreal Gazette, 7 September 1994, A9.
16. Ed Bantley, "Labor unions are often the victims of misdirected criticism," Montreal Gazette, 19 December 1993, A5.
17. "Bourassa's deputy won't seek top job," Toronto Star, 30 September 1993, A17.
18. "Leaner look for cabinet," Globe and Mail, 12 January 1994, A4.
19. Eddie Collister, "Get ready for traffic chaos; Summer work will clog bridges, Highway 15," Montreal Gazette, 22 April 1994, A1; Aaron Derfel, "Quebec to pour $50 million into highway repairs," Montreal Gazette, 28 April 1994, G1; Campbell Clark, "Cameras monitor traffic congestion on Montreal roads," Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 15 July 1994, D6; Campbell Clark, "Electronic eye to monitor highways for traffic jams; Every inch of Metropolitan to be on TV," Montreal Gazette, 15 July 1994, A4.
20. Jeff Heinrich, "Quebec transport firms must develop links: Cherry," Montreal Gazette, 30 April 1994, D1.
21. Mike Gordon, "$36-million road project aims to link St. Bruno," Montreal Gazette, 8 September 1994, E5.
22. Cherry was appointed by Premier Johnson as the Liberal Party's Saint-Laurent candidate. Francois Ghali, a city councillor in the suburban community of Saint-Laurent, had previously indicated that he wanted to seek the nomination. See Philip Authier, "Johnson slips St. Laurent nomination to Cherry; Would-be candidate Ghali cries foul," Montreal Gazette, 30 April 1994, A4.
23. Philip Authier, "Less-critical portfolios given to anglo MNAs in shadow cabinet," Montreal Gazette, 3 November 1994, A7.
24. Arthur Kaptainis, "Cherry returning to assembly on big ethnic vote; St.-Laurent results; Quebec Votes," Montreal Gazette, 13 September 1994, B9; Andre Picard, "Quebec's forgotten debate," Globe and Mail, 23 September 1995, A6; Paul Wells, "The Referendum: No side's B-team goes barn-storming," Montreal Gazette, 18 October 1995, A13.
25. Campbell Clark, "Embattled Johnson resigns: Pressure will mount on Tory leader Jean Charest to battle separatists as next Quebec Liberal leader," St. Catharines Standard, 3 March 1998, A3.