- Serge Joyal
Serge Joyal, PC, OC, OQ (born
February 1 ,1945 inMontreal ,Quebec ) is a Canadian Senator.A lawyer by profession, Joyal served as vice-president of the
Quebec wing of theLiberal Party of Canada . He was first elected to theCanadian House of Commons in the 1974 general election and remained a LiberalMember of Parliament (MP) for ten years.Following the 1980 general election, he served as co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Patriation of the
Canadian Constitution . In 1982, he joined the Cabinet of Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau as a Minister of State. He was appointedSecretary of State for Canada in 1982.He remained Secretary of State in the Cabinet of Prime Minister
John Turner who succeeded Trudeau as Liberal leader and Prime Minister in June 1984, but lost his seat in the 1984 election that defeated the Turner government.On
November 26 ,1997 , Joyal was appointed to theCanadian Senate on the recommendation ot Prime MinisterJean Chrétien , and serves on a number of committees specialising in legal and constitutional affairs.Joyal is an Officer of the
Order of Canada , Officer of theNational Order of Quebec and is also aChevalier inFrance 'sLégion d’Honneur . He is an expert art collector and appraiser. In recent years, he has used his knowledge of the art world and his influence on the Senate and the government to get Parliament to assemble a collection of original portraits of the kings of France for the period during which Canada was first explored and colonized by France. As of 2004, they were placed on the walls of the central block of theParliament Buildings , as companions to the portraits of the British and then Canadian monarchs who have been the heads of the Canadian state since 1763.External links
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=1166&s=M Political biography from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://www.sen.parl.gc.ca/sjoyal/flash/flash_intro.html Official site]
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