90 Facts About Stephane Dion

Stephane Maurice Dion was born on September 28,1955 and is a Canadian diplomat, academic and former politician who has been the Canadian ambassador to France and Monaco since 2022 and special envoy to the European Union since 2017.

Stephane Dion served in cabinets as intergovernmental affairs minister, environment minister, and foreign affairs minister, and served as ambassador to Germany from 2017 to 2022.

Stephane Dion's research focused on Canadian federalism and public administration.

Stephane Dion was first named Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs by Prime Minister Chretien in 1996, following the aftermath of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum.

Stephane Dion returned to the backbench in 2003 when Paul Martin became the prime minister and dropped a number of ministers in an effort to disassociate himself from the former Chretien government.

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Stephane Dion campaigned to replace him and subsequently won the party leadership election.

Stephane Dion ran on an environmental platform in the 2008 federal election, but was defeated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, only managing to return the party to Official Opposition.

Stephane Dion continued to sit as the member of Parliament for Saint-Laurent.

In 2015, the Liberal Party returned to power and Stephane Dion was named to Justin Trudeau's Cabinet, serving until 2017, when he left politics and assumed his current diplomatic postings.

Stephane Dion was born on September 28,1955 in Quebec City, the second of five children.

Stephane Dion's mother, Denyse, was a real-estate agent born in Paris, France, and his father, Leon Dion, was a Quebec academic.

Stephane Dion holds dual citizenship in France because of his French-born mother.

Stephane Dion was raised in a modest home on boulevard Liegeois in Sillery, today part of Quebec City.

Stephane Dion was involved with the sovereignty movement, first as a teenager attending a Jesuit college in Quebec City, and later as a university student campaigning for Parti Quebecois candidate Louise Beaudoin in the 1976 election.

Stephane Dion has said that his involvement as "an activist for the separatist cause" ended during a five-hour discussion with a federalist household while he was going door-to-door for the PQ, but he did not openly commit to federalism until much later.

Stephane Dion studied political science at Universite Laval in the department co-founded by his father; this was where he met his future wife, Janine Krieber, a fellow student in the same program.

Stephane Dion's wife is an "expert in strategic studies and counter-terrorism issues, " who teaches political science and sociology at Royal Military College Saint-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

Stephane Dion spent four years in Paris, living with Janine in the Montmartre district and studying public administration under the tutelage of noted sociologist Michel Crozier.

An expert in public administration, Stephane Dion emerged as a key figure in publicly criticizing this line of argument.

Between 1987 and 1995, Stephane Dion published a number of books and articles on political science, public administration and management.

Stephane Dion was a guest scholar at the Laboratoire d'economie publique de Paris from 1994 to 1995, a co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Political Science from 1990 to 1993, and a research fellow at the Canadian Centre for Management Development from 1990 to 1991.

On 25 January 1996, Stephane Dion was named Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Pettigrew was named Minister for International Cooperation, and both were sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Stephane Dion would hold the riding in general election of 1997, and was re-elected again in the 2000,2004,2006,2008,2011, and 2015 elections.

Stephane Dion continued to serve as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs until the end of Jean Chretien's ministry on 12 December 2003.

On 30 September 1996, Stephane Dion submitted three questions to the Supreme Court of Canada constituting the Supreme Court Reference re Secession of Quebec:.

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Stephane Dion expanded upon his earlier arguments against the territorial integrity of Quebec following secession by highlighting the inconsistency in the argument that Canada is divisible but Quebec is not.

Secondly, Stephane Dion underscored that without recognition by the Government of Canada and when opposed by a strong minority of citizens, a unilateral declaration of independence faces much difficulty in gaining international recognition.

Stephane Dion criticized the Quebec premier for accepting some aspects of the ruling and not other sections of the ruling.

In regard to the ruling, Stephane Dion makes three claims: that the federal government has a role in the selection of the question and the level of support required for it to pass, that secession can only be achieved through negotiation rather than a "unilateral declaration of independence", and that the terms of negotiation could not be decided solely by the Government of Quebec.

In May 1999, Stephane Dion was the object of a pie-in-the-face gag orchestrated by the Montreal group, les Entartistes.

Stephane Dion was not amused and pressed charges, resulting in convictions of assault against two members of the pie-throwing group.

Stephane Dion organized and hosted the First International Conference on Federalism in Mont Tremblant in October 1999 to foster international support for the cause of federalism in Canada.

Stephane Dion has often been described in Quebec as a Trudeau centralist due to his strong defence of Canadian federalism and forceful arguments against Quebec sovereigntists.

Stephane Dion has contested the political concentration on the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments, arguing that:.

Stephane Dion had a prominent role within the Chretien administration at the time of the sponsorship scandal, and his position as "National Unity" minister made him a figure of particular interest to the subsequent Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities.

Stephane Dion stated before the Gomery Commission that although in mid-2001 he was aware of the disproportionately large percentage of sponsorship funds going to Quebec, he was never directly involved in the administration of the program.

Indeed, Stephane Dion had been critical of the program while in cabinet, and openly doubted that it would do much to sway Quebecers from sovereignty.

In early 2007, after winning the Liberal Party leadership, Stephane Dion suggested that Marc-Yvan Cote's lifetime ban against rejoining the party may have been an excessive punishment for Cote's involvement in the scandal.

Stephane Dion later clarified his remarks, saying that he would not take any steps to reinstate Cote's party membership and that such reinstatement would probably not occur.

Stephane Dion was criticized by Jean Lapierre, Martin's new Quebec Lieutenant.

At one stage in the buildup to the 2004 election, Lapierre described Stephane Dion's Clarity Act as "useless", and although Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said the legislation was "extremely popular" in Western Canada, Martin defended Lapierre by saying that the Act would make little difference under his administration.

Stephane Dion championed a "new industrial revolution" focused on "environmentally sustainable technologies and products", and he sought to nurture a collaborative relationship with big business rather than a confrontational one.

Stephane Dion's ministry declined to protect Sakinaw and Cultus sockeye salmon under the Species at Risk Act because it "could cost the sockeye fishing industry $125 million in lost revenue by 2008, " This led to some criticism from environmentalists.

In February 2006, after the Liberals had been defeated and the Conservatives had taken over the reins of government, Stephane Dion said that Canada would very likely not be able to reach its Kyoto targets.

Stephane Dion said that his campaign would focus on sustainable development of the economy and creating a "hyper-educated" Canadian workforce in order to compete with China.

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Stephane Dion was a lower-key figure during most of the leadership race, with much of the media and political attention being centred on the race's two most high-profile candidates, Michael Ignatieff and former Ontario New Democratic Party premier Bob Rae.

On 2 December 2006, at the Liberal Party leadership convention, Stephane Dion finished third after the first ballot, garnering 17.

Michael Ignatieff was named deputy leader, Bob Rae and Scott Brison became platform development co-chairs, Gerard Kennedy was named special adviser for election readiness and renewal, Martha Hall Findlay was charged with platform outreach, and Ken Dryden, who received special acknowledgement from Stephane Dion for being "the heart of our party", was tasked "to be everywhere".

In early January 2007, Stephane Dion made a leadership decision in regards to Wajid Khan, a Liberal MP who was serving as a Middle-East adviser to the Prime Minister.

Stephane Dion thought it was inappropriate for a member of the Official Opposition to be serving the government so he told Khan to give up the position.

Stephane Dion was confident that Khan would stay with the caucus and give up advising the Prime Minister, but Khan chose to cross the floor, and join the Conservative caucus instead.

On 18 January 2007, Stephane Dion unveiled the remainder of the Liberal opposition's shadow cabinet.

Shortly after Stephane Dion led the Liberal caucus in its rejection of the 2007 Conservative budget, arguing that it failed Canadians on economic prosperity, social justice and environmental sustainability.

On 1 February, Stephane Dion tabled a motion challenging the Conservatives to reaffirm Canada's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, attempting to capitalize on a 2002 letter in which Prime Minister Harper described the Accord as a "socialist scheme" that is based on "tentative and contradictory scientific evidence" and designed to suck money out of rich countries.

On 12 April 2007, Stephane Dion announced that the Liberals would not run a candidate against Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova in return for the Green Party leader's agreement not to run a Green candidate in Stephane Dion's riding of Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

On 8 November 2007, Stephane Dion released a policy plan, that he compared to the United Kingdom's Labour Party under former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Stephane Dion set up targets to reduce general poverty by 30 percent and child poverty by 50 percent as well as helping working families with work rewards as well as increasing the Canada Child Tax benefit, increasing guaranteed revenues for seniors.

Stephane Dion stood by Carroll's version of events and rejected calls for Carroll's dismissal.

Stephane Dion first approached Montreal MPs Denis Coderre and Pablo Rodriguez to succeed Proulx, but they declined.

Stephane Dion explained the decision as that Canadians are not willing to have a third election in just over three years.

Stephane Dion declared the results a victory for his party, while noting that some Liberal support was siphoned off to the Green Party.

Stephane Dion praised a similar measure introduced and approved by the British Columbia government in the 2008 provincial budget as well as the province of Quebec that introduced a carbon-based tax which revenues will be used for green technologies.

In June 2008, Stephane Dion unveiled the new policy called The Green Shift and explained that this tax shift would create an ecotax on carbon while reducing personal and corporate income taxes.

Stephane Dion stated that the taxation on carbon would generate up to $15 billion per year in revenues to offset the reduction in income tax revenue.

Stephane Dion sought a court injunction against the Liberal Party to stop using the name.

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Stephane Dion responded that the lawsuit was "deplorable" and added that the Liberals are not a commercial company and did not see any legal problems for using the term "Green Shift".

Stephane Dion complained that she was being muzzled by the Liberals, though party officials denied it.

Stephane Dion sent a letter of the plan to Governor General Michaelle Jean, and the opposition had scheduled a non-confidence motion for 8 December 2008.

Shortly afterwards, Stephane Dion came under increasing pressure from the party to immediately step down as Liberal leader.

Stephane Dion's resignation took effect on 10 December 2008, upon the selection of Michael Ignatieff as interim leader.

On his retirement, Stephane Dion became the shortest serving non-interim leader of the Liberal Party since Confederation—serving for approximately four months less time of the next shortest serving leader, Paul Martin.

Stephane Dion delivered a farewell speech on 2 May 2009, at the Liberal Party leadership convention.

Stephane Dion questioned Ignatieff's ability to lead the party out of its current woes, alleging that party members were duped by Ignatieff and would have recognized his obvious shortcomings if they'd only taken the time to read his academic writings.

Krieber claimed that Stephane Dion was working to rebuild the party after the disappointing 2008 election, but their efforts were stymied by Ignatieff, who turned down the coalition with the other opposition parties, and who "dethroned Stephane Dion without a leadership race".

Stephane Dion was said to have no involvement in the criticism letter and later asked Krieber to remove the Facebook post, which talks of deep divisions in the Liberal Party.

In November 2011, Stephane Dion was awarded with the Fray International Sustainability Award at Fray International Symposium in Mexico, for his work and advocacy towards sustainable development.

Stephane Dion was one of just seven Liberal MPs re-elected in his home province, he won 43.

Stephane Dion criticized the NDP's policy that 50-per-cent-plus-one in a referendum would justify Quebec separating from Canada.

Stephane Dion campaigned outside his riding for much of the 2015 federal election, visiting areas such as Sudbury, Ontario to support local candidates and attack the Conservative government's record on the environment and healthcare.

The 2015 election was a resounding victory for Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party, and Stephane Dion was comfortably re-elected to an eighth term representing the newly reformulated Saint-Laurent riding.

On 4 November 2015, Stephane Dion was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Justin Trudeau's cabinet.

Stephane Dion was named as chair of the cabinet's committee on environment and climate change.

Stephane Dion sought re-engagement with the world, including authoritarian regimes such as Russia and Iran and a focus on multilateralism, climate change, and the United Nations.

Stephane Dion indicated that Canada would oppose capital punishment for Canadians imprisoned abroad and would change its contribution to the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from providing airstrikes to providing special forces trainers.

Stephane Dion tied the concept of responsible conviction to continuing some policies of the previous Stephen Harper government in a modified manner, such as continuing its maternal and newborn health initiative but with new funding for abortion and family planning.

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Stephane Dion justified continuing a $15 billion sale of light armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia despite its human rights abuses to protect Canadian jobs and preserve Canada's credibility in signing major international deals, but committed to reassessing the rules on Canadian export permits so that future deals would conform to Canadian interests such as human rights promotion.

On 10 January 2017, Stephane Dion was replaced as Minister of Foreign Affairs by Chrystia Freeland in a cabinet shuffle, with the move being seen in part as a response to United States President-elect Donald Trump's incoming presidency.

Stephane Dion announced his retirement from politics, making no mention of either potential position, in a statement released shortly after the cabinet shuffle.

Stephane Dion confirmed, in his farewell speech to the House of Commons on 31 January 2017, that he had accepted the position of Ambassador to the EU and Germany instead of accepting an offer from the Universite de Montreal.

Stephane Dion served as Ambassador to Germany until 1 June 2022, when he was appointed Canada's Ambassador to France and Monaco while retaining his role as special envoy to the European Union.