Serge Joyal PC CC OQ (born February 1, 1945) is a Canadian politician who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1974 to 1984 and subsequently in the Senate of Canada from 1997 to 2020.[1]

Serge Joyal
PC, CC, OQ
Secretary of State for Canada
In office
October 6, 1982 – September 16, 1984
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
John Turner
Preceded byGerald Regan
Succeeded byWalter McLean
Senator for Kennebec, Quebec
In office
November 26, 1997 – January 31, 2020
Nominated byJean Chrétien
Appointed byRoméo LeBlanc
Preceded byGuy Charbonneau
Succeeded byClément Gignac (2021)
Member of Parliament
for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve
(Maisonneuve—Rosemont; 1974–1979)
In office
July 8, 1974 – September 4, 1984
Preceded byJ. Antonio Thomas
Succeeded byAllan Koury
Personal details
Born (1945-02-01) February 1, 1945 (age 79)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyProgressive Senate Group (2019–2020)
Other political
affiliations

Career

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A lawyer by profession, Joyal served as vice-president of the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1974 general election and remained a Liberal member of Parliament for ten years.

In 1978, Joyal, along with a group of concerned Montreal citizens that included Nick Auf der Maur and Robert Keaton, co-founded the Municipal Action Group ("MAG"). Joyal was particularly well known at the time for having supported L’Association des gens de l’air, a group which was criticizing the lack of spoken French by airport controllers. Joyal led the newly formed MAG and ran for mayor against the incumbent, Jean Drapeau. MAG succeeded in electing one member to Montreal council (auf der Maur), but Drapeau's party won 52 seats. As Joyal had not resigned his federal seat, he returned to Ottawa.

Following the 1980 general election, Joyal served as co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Patriation of the Canadian Constitution. In 1982, he joined the Cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as a Minister of State. He was appointed Secretary of State for Canada in 1982. When John Turner succeeded Trudeau in June 1984, Joyal remained in cabinet as Secretary of State. Joyal but lost his seat in the 1984 election that defeated the Turner government. On November 26, 1997, Joyal was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and serves on a number of committees specialising in legal and constitutional affairs.

With the Senate Liberal Caucus facing losing official parliamentary caucus status in 2020 with a third of its caucus facing mandatory retirements on their turning age 75, Senator Joseph Day announced that the Senate Liberal Caucus had been dissolved and a new Progressive Senate Group formed in its wake,[2][3] with the entire membership joining the new group, including this senator.[2]

Joyal was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1996 and was raised to the rank of Companion of the Order in 2023.[4] He is an Officer of the National Order of Quebec and is also a Chevalier in France's Légion 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. In 2004, these paintings were placed on the walls of the Salon de la Francophonie, featured in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, as companions to the portraits of the British and then Canadian monarchs who had been the sovereigns of the territories forming Canada since 1763.

He retired from the Senate reaching the age of 75, after more than 22 years of representing Kennebec on January 31, 2020.[5]

Electoral record

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1984 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga—Maisonneuve
Party Candidate Votes
Progressive Conservative Édouard Desrosiers 13,244
Liberal Serge Joyal 12,201
New Democratic Marie-Ange Gagnon-Sirois 3,596
Rhinoceros Richard A. Sirois 1,847
Parti nationaliste Réal Ménard 1,089
Communist Gaetan Trudel 99
Commonwealth of Canada Daniel Gonzales 63
1980 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga—Maisonneuve
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Serge Joyal 21,138
New Democratic Marie-Ange Gagnon-Sirois 2,732
Progressive Conservative Yves Bourget 1,977
Rhinoceros Diane Gougeon 1,412
Social Credit Roger Hébert 873
Not affiliated Robert Coté 286
Independent Jacques Beaudoin 200
Marxist–Leninist Pierre Chenier 98
Union populaire Sylvain Morissette 98


1979 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga—Maisonneuve
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Serge Joyal 21,059 61.90
Social Credit André Aubry 3,769 11.08
Progressive Conservative André Coutu 3,605 10.60
Independent Jacques Lavoie 1,837 5.40
New Democratic Marie-Ange Gagnon-Sirois 1,746 5.13
Rhinoceros Daniel Bouf Bouf Bouffard 1,097 3.22
Union populaire Reggie Chartrand 644 1.89
Marxist–Leninist Pierre Chénier 114 0.34
Communist Danielle Ferland 92 0.27
Revolutionary Workers League Michel Dugré 60 0.18
Total valid votes 34,023 100.00
Total rejected ballots 1,077
Turnout 35,100 68.78
Electors on the lists 51,034
Source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, Thirty-first General Election, 1979.
1978 Montreal municipal election: Mayor of Montreal
Party Candidate Votes %
Civic Party of Montreal Jean Drapeau
(incumbent)
212,345 60.89
Municipal Action Group Serge Joyal 89,173 25.57
Montreal Citizens' Movement Guy Duquette 43,522 12.48
Independent Louis Gervais 1,963 0.56
Independent Mariette Lapierre 1,755 0.50
Total valid votes 348,758 100
Source: Election results, 1833-2005 (in French), City of Montreal. Party identifications are taken from Le Devoir, 11 November 1978.
1974 Canadian federal election: Maisonneuve—Rosemont
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Serge Joyal 13,817
Progressive Conservative Lise Bourque 6,053
Social Credit Gilles Morissette 2,783
New Democratic Lionel J. Desjardins 2,186
Communist Bernadette Le Brun 200
Marxist–Leninist Mario Verrier 156

References

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  1. ^ "Profil". lop.parl.ca. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b Tasker, John Paul (J.P.) (14 November 2019). "There's another new faction in the Senate: the Progressive Senate Group". CBC News Online. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  3. ^ "One-time Liberal senators rename themselves as Progressive Senate Group". CTV News. The Canadian Press. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  4. ^ "The Honourable Serge Joyal". Governor General of Canada. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ^ Bryden, Joan (31 January 2020). "Quebec's Joyal retires from Senate". Toronto Star. Ottawa, Ontario. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
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