Jean Pelletier was a leading organizer of the Liberal Party of Canada.
26 Facts About Jean Pelletier
1.
2.
Jean Pelletier studied social sciences at Laval University before working as a journalist with CFCM-TV in Quebec City in 1957.
3.
Jean Pelletier began his political career with the Union Nationale party, a conservative and nationalist party identifying with Quebec autonomism.
4.
Jean Pelletier won a seat as a municipal councillor in Quebec City in December 1976.
5.
Jean Pelletier was elected mayor in 1977, serving for twelve years and two more elections.
6.
Jean Pelletier successfully persuaded Chirac to keep quiet during the 1980 Quebec referendum, though Chirac personally supported an independent Quebec like General Charles de Gaulle.
7.
Jean Pelletier ran unsuccessfully in the Quebec City riding during the 1993 election, which saw the party capture few seats in the province of Quebec outside of their federalist stronghold of Montreal.
8.
That campaign saw Chretien become Prime Minister, and Jean Pelletier became his Chief of Staff, making him head of the Prime Minister's Office.
9.
Jean Pelletier seldom met with journalists, and when he did, he gave almost nothing away.
10.
Jean Pelletier was courteous, refined, sometimes witty and usually non-informative.
11.
Jean Pelletier persuaded two designates for Governor General, Romeo LeBlanc and Adrienne Clarkson, to marry their long-time partners, so they could be appointed as Canada's head of state.
12.
Jean Pelletier remained close friends with Jacques Chirac, who became President of France in 1994.
13.
Jean Pelletier played an instrumental role in Chretien and Chirac becoming close friends despite their initial disagreements.
14.
Years later, when Paul Martin became prime minister and dismissed Jean Pelletier, Chirac criticized Martin for his treatment of Jean Pelletier.
15.
Jean Pelletier was one of four Chretien loyalists sacked from jobs at Crown corporations by Martin's government during the sponsorship scandal.
16.
Jean Pelletier was not at Via for most of these occurrences, and the Martin government was accused of using an incident as an excuse to remove one of Chretien's allies.
17.
Paul Martin maintained that Jean Pelletier was fired for remarks that he made to Montreal's La Presse newspaper attacking Olympic athlete Myriam Bedard.
18.
Pelletier filed suit in Quebec Superior Court alleging wrongful dismissal; Transport Minister Jean Lapierre issued a written statement noting that the second dismissal was effective immediately and that Pelletier would not receive compensation due to his suit against the government.
19.
Jean Pelletier's lawyer argued that it followed a long-standing government policy for high-ranking functionaries in judicial proceedings.
20.
Jean Pelletier was awarded $235,000 in lost income, and a further $100,000 for damaging his reputation.
21.
Jean Pelletier had sued for $689,000 in financial losses and $3.3 million for moral damages.
22.
The court threw out the Gomery inquiry's conclusions that Chretien and Jean Pelletier bore responsibility for the sponsorship scandal.
23.
Jean Pelletier died in Quebec City on January 10,2009, from complications of colon cancer, aged 73.
24.
Jean Pelletier was survived by his wife, Helene, and two children.
25.
In 1985, Jean Pelletier was made a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of having "played a pivotal role in many social, cultural and philanthropic organizations in the Old Capital".
26.
Jean Pelletier was promoted to Officer in 2003 in recognition of having "dedicated his life to public service".