- Pierre de Bané
Pierre de Bané, PC, QC (born
August 2 1938 ) is a Canadian Senator. He was the first person ofArab descent to be elected to theCanadian House of Commons inMatane and nextMatapédia—Matane , and is a former member of theCanadian Cabinet .De Bané was born in
Haifa , Palestine to Lebanese parents. The family immigrated toCanada in 1947 to escape the looming war. The family settled inQuebec , and De Bané became a lawyer as an adult.He was first elected to the
Canadian House of Commons in the 1968 general election, and serve as aMember of Parliament for sixteen years.In 1978, Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau appointed De Bané to theCanadian Cabinet as Minister of Supply and Services. He joined theopposition bench when the Liberals lost the 1979 election, but was reappointed to Cabinet as Minister of Regional Economic Expansion when the Liberals returned to power in 1980 election.In 1982, De Bané became Minister of State for External Relations and, eight months later, he became Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. De Bané was named to the Senate by Trudeau days before he retired as Prime Minister.
De Bané is active on numerous Senate committees, particularly those dealing with fisheries, foreign affairs, and legal affairs and has also been active in public life on the issue of
Palestinian refugee s.External links
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