Quebec lieutenant

In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a politician, usually from Quebec or at least French-Canadian, who is selected by a senior politician such as the Prime Minister or the leader of a federal party, as his or her main advisor on issues specific to Quebec. This is particularly the case when the leader is an anglophone though several francophone leaders have also had Quebec lieutenants. This is an unofficial but usually well-known assignment.

Some past and current Quebec lieutenants include:

• Jean Lapierre, for Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin
• Lucien Bouchard, for Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
• Jean Marchand for Liberal Prime Minister Lester Pearson and then for Pierre Trudeau
• Marc Lalonde for Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau following Marchand's resignation
• Léon Balcer for Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker
• Ernest Lapointe and then Louis St. Laurent for Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King
• Pierre Édouard Blondin for Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Laird Borden
• Wilfrid Laurier for Liberal Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie and then Liberal leader Edward Blake
• Sir Hector Langevin and then Joseph-Aldéric Ouimet for Tory Sir John A. Macdonald
• Marcel Faribault for Progressive Conservative leader Robert Stanfield
• Raymond Garneau for Liberal leader John Turner
• Pierre Ducasse, for NDP leader Jack Layton