P.M.#23 – Dr. Stéphane Dion

Name Stéphane Maurice Dion
Born: September 28, 1955 in Quebec City, Quebec
Died: not
Party: Liberal Party of Canada
Best known for:
  • he was named Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs by Chretien in January 1996, before he was elected to Parliament. He was elected two months later in a by-election.
  • Dion presented the Clarity Act to the Parliament; the Act stated that a referendum on separation needs to use a “clearly” stated question (where “clear” is in the judgement of the Canadian House of Commons) and the separatists would need a “clear majority” (not “50% plus one” majority) in order to separate.
  • he was dropped from Cabinet when Paul Martin took power, but was later brought back into Cabinet by Martin as Minister of the Environment
  • he became the leader of the Liberal Party, running a campaign on the issues of social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability
Some Things I Didn’t Know About This P.M.
  • His father, Léon Dion, co-founded the department of Political Science at Laval University in Quebec, where Stéphane Dion got his B.A. and M.A. degrees
  • His father’s name is Léon Dion… tee hee.
  • As a teenager & university student, he was a Quebec separatist activist, but his support of separatism “ended during a five-hour, rum-and-Coke fuelled discussion with a federalist household while he was going door-to-door” for the Parti Québécois.
  • He received his doctorate degree in Sociology from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and then taught public administration & organizational ansalysis and theory at the Université de Montréal (1984 to January 1996).
  • He has a pet dog named “Kyoto.”

If you are just dying to read more about P.M. Stéphane Dion, check these out:

Image credits:

  • Photo was accessed from Wikipedia and is used under a Creative Commons license.

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