Jean Charest

Jean Charest
Charest in 2017
29th Premier of Quebec
In office
April 29, 2003 – September 19, 2012
MonarchElizabeth II
Lieutenant Governor
Deputy
Preceded byBernard Landry
Succeeded byPauline Marois
5th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
In office
June 25, 1993 – November 4, 1993
Prime MinisterKim Campbell
Preceded byDon Mazankowski
Succeeded bySheila Copps
Leadership positions
Leader of the Opposition in Quebec
In office
April 30, 1998 – April 29, 2003
Preceded byMonique Gagnon-Tremblay
Succeeded byBernard Landry
Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party
In office
April 30, 1998 – September 5, 2012
Preceded byMonique Gagnon-Tremblay (interim)
Succeeded byJean-Marc Fournier (interim)
Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
In office
December 14, 1993 – April 2, 1998
Interim: December 14, 1993 – April 29, 1995
Preceded byKim Campbell
Succeeded byElsie Wayne (interim)
Canadian cabinet
Minister of Industry
In office
June 25, 1993 – November 4, 1993
Prime MinisterKim Campbell
Preceded byPierre H. Vincent (Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs; Registrar General of Canada)
Michael Wilson (Minister of Industry, Science and Technology)
Succeeded byJohn Manley
Minister of the Environment
In office
April 21, 1991 – June 24, 1993
Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney
Preceded byRobert de Cotret
Succeeded byPierre H. Vincent
Minister of State (Fitness and Amateur Sport)
In office
March 31, 1988 – January 23, 1990
Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney
MinisterJake Epp
Perrin Beatty
Preceded byOtto Jelinek
Succeeded byMarcel Danis
Minister of State (Youth)
In office
June 30, 1986 – January 23, 1990
Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney
MinisterDavid Crombie
Lucien Bouchard
Gerry Weiner
Preceded byAndrée Champagne
Succeeded byMarcel Danis
House of Commons roles
Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Assistant Deputy Chair of the Committees of the Whole
In office
October 31, 1984 – June 29, 1986
SpeakerJohn Bosley
Preceded byJacques Guilbault
Succeeded byAndrée Champagne
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the
National Assembly of Quebec
for Sherbrooke
In office
November 30, 1998 – September 4, 2012
Preceded byMarie Malavoy
Succeeded bySerge Cardin
Member of Parliament
for Sherbrooke
In office
September 4, 1984 – April 30, 1998
Preceded byIrénée Pelletier
Succeeded bySerge Cardin
Personal details
Born
John James Charest

(1958-06-24) June 24, 1958 (age 66)
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Political partyConservative (federal)
Quebec Liberal (provincial)
Other political
affiliations
Progressive Conservative (before 2003)
Spouse
Michèle Dionne
(m. 1980)
Residence(s)Westmount, Quebec, Canada
Alma materUniversité de Sherbrooke
Websitewww.jeancharest.ca

John James "Jean" Charest PC (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ʃɑʁɛ]; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding several Cabinet posts from 1986 to 1990 and from 1991 to 1993, he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998.

Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Charest worked as a lawyer before becoming an MP following the 1984 federal election. In 1986 he joined Brian Mulroney's government as a minister of state, but resigned from cabinet in 1990 after improperly speaking to a judge about an active court case. He returned to cabinet in 1991 as the minister of the environment. Charest ran to succeed Mulroney as party leader and prime minister in the PCs' 1993 leadership election, but placed second to Kim Campbell. Charest served as Campbell's industry minister and deputy prime minister. After the PCs' defeat in the 1993 election, Charest succeeded Campbell as party leader. He led the PCs to a minor recovery in the 1997 election.

Charest left federal politics in 1998 and was elected to lead the Quebec Liberal Party, the province's main federalist political party. He became premier of Quebec after the Liberals won the 2003 provincial election. He won two more elections until he lost the 2012 election to the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois (PQ) and resigned as premier. After politics, Charest worked as a consultant, including for Huawei on the Meng Wanzhou case and for its 5G network plans in Canada, and joined McCarthy Tétrault LLP as a partner. Charest was a candidate in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, finishing a distant second to Pierre Poilievre.