Bernard Landry Facts for Kids

Quebec Executive Council

Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance
In office January 29, 1996 – March 8, 2001
Premier	Lucien Bouchard
Preceded by	Pauline Marois (Finance)
Succeeded by	Pauline Marois
Minister of International Affairs
In office September 26, 1994 – January 29, 1996
Premier	Jacques Parizeau
Preceded by	John Ciaccia
Succeeded by	Sylvain Simard
Minister of Finance
In office October 16, 1985 – December 12, 1985
Premier	Pierre-Marc Johnson
Preceded by	Yves Duhaime
Succeeded by	Gérard D. Levesque

Parliamentary constituencies

Member of the National Assembly of Quebec
In office September 12, 1994 – June 4, 2005
Preceded by	Luce Dupuis
Succeeded by	Stéphane Bergeron
Constituency	Verchères
In office April 13, 1981 – December 2, 1985
Preceded by	Riding established
Succeeded by	Guy Bélanger
Constituency	Laval-des-Rapides
In office November 15, 1976 – April 13, 1981
Preceded by	Gilles Houde
Succeeded by	Michel Leduc
Constituency	Fabre

Personal details

Born

March 9, 1937
Saint-Jacques, Quebec, Canada

Died

November 6, 2018 (aged 81)
Verchères, Quebec, Canada

Political party

Parti Québécois

Spouses

Lorraine Laporte

(died 1999)

Chantal Renaud

(m. 2004)

Alma mater

Université de Montréal
Paris Institute of Political Studies

Profession

Lawyer
economist
professor

Bernard Landry (March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was an important Canadian politician. He served as the 28th Premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. As a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he also led the party from 2001 to 2005. He was also the Leader of the Opposition from 2003 to 2005.

Bernard Landry's Early Life and Education
- Family Life and Later Years
Bernard Landry's Political Journey
Bernard Landry's Published Works
Honours and Awards
See also

Bernard Landry's Early Life and Education

Bernard Landry was born on March 9, 1937, in Saint-Jacques, Quebec, a town near Joliette. His parents were Thérèse Granger and Bernard Landry. He was taught by religious teachers when he was young and even learned some Latin.

Landry spoke French as his first language. He was also fluent in English and Spanish. He studied law at the Université de Montréal. He also earned a degree in economics and finance from Sciences Po Paris in France. Later in his life, starting in 2005, he became a professor at UQAM. He taught about business strategies there.

Family Life and Later Years

Bernard Landry was married twice. His first wife was Lorraine Laporte, who was a lawyer and later a judge. They had three children together. Sadly, Lorraine passed away from cancer in 1999. In 2004, Landry married Chantal Renaud, who was a scriptwriter and a former singer and actress.

Bernard Landry passed away on November 6, 2018, at the age of 81. He died from problems related to a lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis. A special state funeral was held for him at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal.

Bernard Landry's Political Journey

Bernard Landry had a long career in politics. He first tried to get elected in 1970 and 1973 but was not successful. Before becoming a politician, he worked as a lawyer in Montreal.

Becoming a Member of the National Assembly

In 1976, Landry was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for the first time. He represented the area of Fabre. He was part of the Parti Québécois government led by René Lévesque. In this government, he held important roles.

From 1977 to 1981, he was the Minister of State for Economic Development.
He was re-elected in 1981 in the area of Laval-des-Rapides.
He continued as Minister of State for Economic Development until 1982.
Later, he became the Minister of International Relations and Exterior Commerce.
He also served as the Minister of Finance in the same government.

Key Roles Before Becoming Premier

After the Parti Québécois lost the election in 1985, Landry taught at the Université du Québec à Montréal until 1994. When the PQ won the election in 1994, the new Premier, Jacques Parizeau, made Landry his Deputy Premier. He held this important position from 1994 to 1998.

As the Minister of Finance, Landry worked to reduce government spending to balance the budget. He also supported agreements that made trade easier between countries, like the Free Trade Agreement.

Serving as Premier of Quebec

Bernard Landry became the Premier of Quebec on March 8, 2001. He took over after Lucien Bouchard resigned. As Premier, Landry was a strong supporter of the Quebec sovereignty movement. This means he believed that Quebec should become an independent country. However, he also thought Quebec should still work closely with Canada, similar to how countries in the European Union cooperate. He was a loyal follower of René Lévesque's idea of "sovereignty-association."

Landry was known for speaking his mind. For example, he felt that Quebec was not getting enough money from the federal government through payments called equalization payments. He said that receiving these payments for over 40 years showed that the central government had failed to share wealth fairly.

In 2003, Landry's party lost the Quebec general election to Jean Charest's Quebec Liberal Party. A documentary film called À hauteur d'homme was made about his thoughts on this election.

Resignation as Party Leader

After the election loss, Landry thought for a long time about his future as party leader. In August 2004, he announced he would stay on to lead the Parti Québécois to the next election. However, in June 2005, he decided to resign as party leader. This happened after a vote where he received 76.2% approval from party members. He felt this was not enough support to continue leading the party.

After retiring from his main political roles, Bernard Landry remained active. He often shared his opinions on politics and encouraged young people to get involved in political life.

Bernard Landry's Published Works

Bernard Landry wrote several books and articles during his life, often focusing on economics and international relations.

Quebec's Foreign Trade, 1982
Commerce sans frontières : le sens du libre-échange (Trade Without Borders: The Meaning of Free Trade), 1987
La cause du Québec (The Cause of Quebec), 2002
Le commerce international : une approche nord-américaine (International Trade: A North American Approach), 2008 (with Antoine Panet-Raymond and Denis Robichaud)

Honours and Awards

Bernard Landry received several awards and honours for his contributions:

1999 - Bavarian Order of Merit
Legion d'honneur (from France)
2006 - Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society's Patriot of the Year and Bene merenti de patria medal
2008 - Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec

Bernard Landry facts for kids

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