President of the National Assembly of Quebec

The President of the National Assembly of Quebec (French; "Le Président de l’Assemblée nationale") is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, which is modeled after the Westminster parliamentary system. In other parliaments and legislatures the equivalent position is often called the "Speaker," which is why from 1867 to 1968, the presiding officer of the Assembly was known in French as "orateur," a translation of the English term "speaker".

Description

The President of the National Assembly is "the fourth person in importance of the protocolary order of the Quebec State", after the Lieutenant Governor, the Premier and the Deputy Premier. He or she is elected by his colleagues at the beginning of a legislature, for the length of the legislature. The President is assisted by the Vice Presidents of the Assembly, who can also replace him or her in his or her absence. Parti Québécois Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Louise Harel made history by being appointed as the first female President on March 12, 2002. The current President of the Assembly is the Liberal MNA Michel Bissonnet.

Roles

The function of the President holds three major roles.
*The presiding of the hearings of the Assembly.
*The administration of the services of the Assembly.
*The representation of the Assembly, notably in its relations with other parliaments.

List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec

# Joseph-Godric Blanchet - December 27, 1867 - Conservateur
# Pierre Fortin - November 4, 1875 - Conservateur
# Louis Beaubien - November 10, 1876 - Conservateur
# Arthur Turcotte - June 4, 1878 - Conservateur indépendant
# Louis-Olivier Taillon - March 8, 1882 - Conservateur
# Jonathan Saxton Campbell Würtele - March 27, 1884 - Conservateur
# Félix-Gabriel Marchand - January 27, 1887 - Libéral
# Pierre-Évariste Leblanc - April 26, 1892 - Conservateur
# Jules Tessier, November 23, 1897 - Libéral
# Henri-Benjamin Rainville - February 14, 1901 - Libéral
# Auguste Tessier - March 2, 1905 - Libéral
# William Alexander Weir - April 25, 1905 - Libéral
# Philippe-Honoré Roy - January 15, 1907 - Libéral
# Jean-Marie-Joseph-Pantaléon Pelletier - March 2, 1909 - Libéral
# Cyrille-Fraser Delâge - January 9, 1912 - Libéral
# Antonin Galipeault - November 7, 1916 - Libéral
# Joseph-Napoléon Francouer - December 10, 1919 - Libéral
# Hector Laferté - January 10, 1928 - Libéral
# Télesphore-Damien Bouchard - January 7, 1930 - Libéral
# Lucien Dugas - March 24, 1936 - Libéral
# Joseph-Mignault-Paul Sauvé - October 7, 1936 - Union Nationale
# Bernard Bissonnette - February 20, 1940 - Libéral
# Valmore Bienvenue - May 12, 1942 - Libéral
# Cyrille Dumaine - February 23, 1943 - Libéral
# Alexandre Taché - February 7, 1945 - Union nationale
# Maurice Tellier - December 15, 1955 - Union nationale
# Lucien Cliche - September 20, 1960 - Libéral
# John Richard Hyde - January 9, 1962 - Libéral
# Guy Lechasseur - October 22, 1965 - Libéral
# Rémi Paul - December 1, 1966 - Union nationale
# Gérard Lebel - October 22, 1968 - Union nationale
# Raynald Fréchette - February 24, 1970 - Union nationale
# Jean-Noël Lavoie - June 9, 1970 - Libéral
# Clément Richard - December 14, 1976 - Parti québécois
# Claude Vaillancourt - November 11, 1980 - Parti québécois
# Richard Guay - March 23, 1983 - Parti québécois
# Pierre Lorrain - December 16, 1985 - Libéral
# Jean-Pierre Saintonge - November 28, 1989 - Libéral
# Roger Bertrand - November 29, 1994 - Parti québécois
# Jean-Pierre Charbonneau - March 12, 1996 - Parti québécois
# Louise Harel - March 12, 2002 - Parti québécois
# Michel Bissonnet - June 4, 2003 - Liberal

References

* L'Assemblée Nationale du Québec: Écrire l'histoire de demain; educative CD-ROM issued by the Quebec government. [http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/nouvelles/cd-inst/]

ee also

*National Assembly of Quebec
*Politics of Quebec
*Speaker
*Westminster System
*Parliamentary system

External links

* [http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/Membres/president.html Page about the current President]
* [http://www.assnat.qc.ca National Assembly of Quebec]