53 Facts About Sylvain Simard

Sylvain Simard was born on 26 April 1945 and is a politician and academic based in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Sylvain Simard represented Richelieu in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2012, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry.

Sylvain Simard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from the Universite de Montreal, a Master of Arts degree from McGill University, and a Ph.

Sylvain Simard first became involved with the Parti Quebecois as a regional organizer in the Outaouais.

Sylvain Simard was elected as the PQ's vice-president in 1981 and argued that the party's internal organization should receive more autonomy from the provincial PQ government of Rene Levesque.

Sylvain Simard helped coordinate the PQ's bid to join the Socialist International in 1983.

Sylvain Simard supported electoral reform and proposed that future elections in Quebec be conducted under a system of compensatory proportional representation.

Sylvain Simard encouraged Premier Levesque to shuffle his cabinet and staff in early 1984, arguing that some people had been in the same positions for too long.

Sylvain Simard was encouraged to run as a New Democratic Party candidate in the 1988 federal election, at a time when the NDP was seeking to build its support base in Quebec.

Sylvain Simard was a prominent local member of the Societe nationale des Quebecois and opposed proposed changes to the province's Charter of the French Language.

Sylvain Simard formed a group called the Gatineau Democratic Movement in 1987, and there was some speculation that he would run for mayor in that year's municipal election.

Sylvain Simard ultimately decided against doing so, arguing that it would be irresponsible to split the vote against incumbent Gaetan Cousineau.

Sylvain Simard was the first declared candidate in a by-election to succeed him, running on a platform of increased democratic consultation, budget cuts that would not affect municipal salaries, and reduced taxes.

Sylvain Simard was a PQ candidate in the 1989 provincial election, narrowly losing to Liberal Party cabinet minister Guy Rivard in the Montreal division of Rosemont.

From 1990 to 1994, Sylvain Simard was president of the Mouvement National des Quebecois.

Sylvain Simard called for a referendum on sovereignty in early 1992 and campaigned against the Charlottetown Accord on Canadian constitutional reform later in the same year.

Sylvain Simard was first elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for Richelieu in the 1994 provincial election, defeating Liberal incumbent Albert Khelfa.

The PQ won a majority government in this election under Jacques Parizeau's leadership, and Sylvain Simard entered the legislature as a government backbencher.

On 22 January 1997, Sylvain Simard was given additional responsibilities as minister responsible for international humanitarian action.

In March 1996, Sylvain Simard announced that Quebec would close thirteen of its nineteen foreign delegations as a cost-saving measure.

Sylvain Simard added that Quebec representatives in some of the affected areas could operate from within Canadian embassies, promoting both Quebec trade interests and sovereignty.

Canadian deputy prime minister Sheila Copps responded that Quebec representatives would "absolutely not" be allowed to promote Quebec sovereignty in Canadian facilities, and Sylvain Simard's plan was widely criticized in the rest of Canada.

Sylvain Simard took part in a bid for Quebec to receive special status at the United Nations in 1997.

Sylvain Simard threatened a boycott of the 2001 Francophone Games in Ottawa and Hull, on the grounds that the federal government was excluding Quebec from the organizing committee.

Sylvain Simard was skeptical of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and encouraged Canada to withdraw from negotiations around the accord in October 1998.

In late November 1996, Sylvain Simard criticized Charles Aznavour after the well-known troubadour sang some of his best-known songs in English during a concert in Ottawa.

Sylvain Simard was re-elected in the 1998 Quebec election, but was dropped from cabinet on 15 December 1998.

Sylvain Simard rejoined Lucien Bouchard's cabinet on 6 October 2000, as the minister of citizenship and immigration.

In late 2000, Sylvain Simard said that he would not serve alongside Yves Michaud, a candidate for the PQ nomination in an upcoming Montreal by-election.

When Bouchard resigned from office in early 2001, Sylvain Simard supported Bernard Landry's successful bid to become the party's new leader.

Sylvain Simard added that spending as a percentage of gross domestic product would decline, as it had in previous years.

In November 2001, Sylvain Simard launched a $220 million initiative to ensure pay equity.

Sylvain Simard launched a major recruitment campaign in early 2001, seeking to fill 1,500 full-time and 5,000 part-time public service positions.

In making the announcement, Sylvain Simard indicated that minority groups, including anglophones and youth, would receive fair representation.

Sylvain Simard served on a cabinet committee overseeing strategies for Quebec's asbestos sector in this period.

Sylvain Simard delivered an education policy statement in March 2002, in which he promised to maintain Quebec's longstanding freeze on university tuition rates and remove a legislative loophole that allowed non-anglophone parents to send their children to English public schools after one year at an English private school.

Sylvain Simard announced a $91 million program for reforming Quebec's secondary schools in January 2003, highlighted by increased tutoring, a focus on history and the French language as well as upgrades to the sciences, and new steps to target the provincial dropout rate.

Sylvain Simard introduced another plan in the same month to counter schoolyard harassment and intimidation.

Sylvain Simard was strongly critical of the right-wing Action democratique du Quebec's proposal to introduce a system of school vouchers to the province.

Sylvain Simard was one of the few ministers in the Landry government with a strong interest in promoting Quebec sovereignty.

Sylvain Simard was re-elected in Richelieu by a reduced margin and served as opposition critic for the treasury board and public service.

Sylvain Simard was named as the PQ's chief organizer in October 2004.

Sylvain Simard was strongly critical of the Charest government's cuts to economic development and the public service, as well as its move toward public-private partnerships.

Sylvain 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 federalist side had "violated" and "flouted" Quebec's election laws.

Sylvain Simard supported Bernard Landry's bid to retain the PQ leadership after the 2003 election, but nonetheless helped Landry reach his decision to resign after receiving only 76 per cent support at the party's June 2005 convention.

Later in the same year, Sylvain Simard supported Andre Boisclair's successful bid to succeed Landry as party leader.

Sylvain Simard suggested lifting Quebec's tuition freeze in 2006, arguing that it had created a state of "perpetual underfunding" for universities.

The PQ fell to a third-place finish in the 2007 general election, and Sylvain Simard was again re-elected by a reduced margin over a strong challenge from an ADQ candidate.

When Boisclair resigned, Sylvain Simard planned to support Gilles Duceppe's bid to lead the party.

The PQ returned to official opposition status in the 2008 election under Marois's leadership, and Sylvain Simard was re-elected by an increased margin.

Sylvain Simard was re-appointed as critic for the treasury board and public service after the election.

Sylvain Simard openly disagreed with this policy approach, which was approved by delegates to a PQ convention in April 2011.

In May 2011, Sylvain Simard introduced a private member's bill to protect whistleblowers in the Quebec civil service.