Jean-François Bertrand

Jean-François Bertrand is a politician in Quebec, Canada.^[1]

Background

He was born on June 22, 1946 in Cowansville, Quebec and has a degree in political science from Université Laval. He is the son of politicians Jean-Jacques and Gabrielle Bertrand.

Member of the legislature

Bertrand became an executive member of the Parti Québécois in 1974 and was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 1976 election. He served as parliamentary assistant and Deputy House Leader from 1978 to the 1981 election.

Cabinet Member

He was re-elected in 1981 and was appointed to Premier René Lévesque's Cabinet. He served as Minister of Communications, until his defeat in the 1985 election. He also was the government's House Leader from 1982 to 1984.

Mayoral election

Bertrand was the Progrès Civique de Québec candidate for mayor in Quebec City in 1989. He lost against Rassemblement Populaire candidate Jean-Paul L'Allier.

Federal politics

He ran as a Bloc Québécois candidate in a 1995 by-election in the federal district of Brome—Missisquoi. He lost against Liberal candidate Denis Paradis.

Retirement

He authored and published Je suis un bum de bonne famille in 2003. The book revealed that he has a drug addiction.

Electoral record

Federal

Canadian federal by-election, February 13, 1995: Brome—Missisquoi
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Denis Paradis	19,078	51.02	+14.36	$54,562
	Bloc Québécois	Jean-François Bertrand	15,764	42.16	+1.40	$53,734
	Progressive Conservative	Guy Lever	1,235	3.30	−13.85	$36,225a
	Reform	Line Maheux	517	1.38		$21,755
	New Democratic Party	Paul Vachon	371	0.99	−0.27	$9,325
	Christian Heritage	Jean Blaquière	126	0.34		$2,321
	Non-Affiliated	Yvon V. Boulanger	107	0.29		$3,816
	Green	Éric Ferland	101	0.27		$412
	Natural Law	Michel Champagne	77	0.21	−1.08	$6,538
	Abolitionist	John H. Long	15	0.04	−1.61	$1,219
Total valid votes			37,391	100.00
Total rejected ballots			288
Turnout			37,679	64.32	−12.32
Electors on the lists			58,579
a- Does not include unpaid claims.

Footnotes

1. "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.