Monique Jérôme-Forget
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| Minister of Finances President of the Treasury Board Minister of Government Services |
|
|---|---|
| Incumbent | |
| Riding | Marguerite-Bourgeoys (1998-present) |
| In office since | November 30, 1998 |
| Preceded by | Liza Frulla |
| Born | Montreal, Quebec |
| Residence | Montreal |
| Political party | |
| Profession(s) | Psychologist |
| Spouse | Claude E. Forget |
Monique Jérôme-Forget (born in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec politician and psychologist. She is the current Quebec Member of National Assembly (MNA) of the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeois in the Montreal region as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party. She is also the current Finance Minister, the President of the Treasury Board, Minister of government services and the Minister responsible of the government administration.
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[edit] Education
From 1960 to 1976, Jérôme-Forget studied at several universities including the University of London (England) in economics, Johns Hopkins University in history, the Université de Montréal in public economics and McGill University in psychology. At the end of her studies, she received a bachelor's and doctor's degree in psychology at McGill in 1972 and 1976 respectively.
[edit] Professional career
Between 1976 and 1998, she occupied several positions at various levels and worked for several years at McGill in various positions including in the administration level. She practiced psychology at McGill and the Royal Victoria Hospital for four years. She became an administrator at several Commissions and Institutions, including the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST), the Institut de recherche en santé et sécurité du travail (IRRST) and the Institut de recherche en politique publique (IRPP). She was also the vice-rector at the faculty of finances, institutional researches and human resources at McGill. In addition, she was also a director in professional service at the CLSC community organization. She also worked in the economic sector and she was a director for the Financial Post and the Quebec weekly busines bulletin Les Affaires from 1993 to 1998. Finally, she was also from 1982 and 1985, a sub-minister of Health in the Canadian federal government
[edit] Community involvement
She was involved heavily in the community, working for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Quebec federation in environment, the Social policies committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Medical Council of Canada and the Société investissement jeunesse. She was also a member of an intergovernmental relations committee of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
[edit] Political career
[edit] First mandate
Jerome-Forget entered politics in 1998. She became the MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeois in the 1998 elections and would serve as the opposition party's critic in finances when the Parti Québécois had their second mandate as a majority government.
[edit] Second term
While been re-elected for a second term and the Liberals winning a majority government the 2003 elections she would become a prominent force inside Jean Charest's Cabinet as she was named the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of government administration. She was also for half the mandate the Minister responsible for the Montreal region until 2005 when the responsibilities were giving to Culture Minister Line Beauchamp.
During her first term, she was criticized by several branches of the Quebec public sector during intense contract negotiations in which several special laws were enforced in order to stop mounting pressure from several sectors of the public sector including the health and education sectors and most of the white collars from various Ministries. Her proposition of increasing the use of public-private partnership was also met with fierce opposition from union groups including the FTQ and CSN
[edit] Third term
She was easily re-elected for a third term in the 2007 elections. After the election, she would become one of the top executives of the new minority government as Charest gave her additional responsibilities including the portfolio of Governmental Services, previously held by Henri-Francois Gautrin, and Finances which was held by Michel Audet who did not seek a re-election in 2007. She became the first minister since Jacques Parizeau who hold both the positions of President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Finances.
In the 2007 budget, she announced an increase of the reduction of income taxes to particulars of $700 million dollars which added to an earlier budget made by former Finance Minister Michel Audet prior to the 2007 elections and which he announced $250 million dollars in income tax cuts. She also abolished the capital tax to businesses and added significant founding to health and education. Critics argued that the government used transfer payments from Ottawa for income tax cuts instead of additional funding for health and education but a large portion of the money went to the two sectors.
The Parti Québécois and Action democratique du Quebec voted against the budget despite negotiations between the Liberals and PQ in which the latter demanded additional funding for residential health care, students with learning disabilities and rural regions. The Liberals added founding for those three sectors but did not meet the PQ's demand. However, only three PQ members were present for the budget vote on June 1, 2007. The PQ mentionned that due to opposition from the population for another election, they've decided to not defeat the government. While all 41 ADQ MNA's voted against, the budget passed 46 to 44 and avoided a second provincial election in just a few months. [1]
[edit] External links
- Biography of Monique Jerome-Forget (French)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michel Audet |
Minister of Finances (Quebec) 2007–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Joseph Facal |
President of the Treasury Board (Quebec) 2003–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Henri-Francois Gautrin |
Minister of Government Services 2007 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Liza Frulla |
MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys 1998–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
