# André Ouellet

André Ouellet (French:), PC KC (born April 6, 1939) is a former longtime Liberal federal politician and Cabinet member in Canada. Following his political career, he served as chairman of Canada Post.
First elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 1967 by-election, Ouellet served in a number of different positions in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien. In his capacity as Registrar General of Canada, he was one of the four signatories of the Proclamation of the Constitution Act of 1982 (along with Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Trudeau, and Justice Minister Jean Chrétien). Ouellet represented the safe Liberal seat of Papineau in Montreal for almost thirty years. His hold on the seat was only seriously threatened when the Liberals were crushed by the Progressive Conservative Party in the election of 1984, when he retained his seat by only 500 votes. In opposition, Ouellet became the Liberal's leading figure in the constitutional negotiations that led to the Charlottetown Accord, and was a strong advocate for the constitutional reform proposal, which was rejected in a 1992 referendum.
With the return to power of the Liberals after the 1993 election, Ouellet was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by the new prime minister, Jean Chrétien. Ouellet was seen as lacking experience in international relations but was a principled and pragmatic Minister of Foreign Affairs. Despite his experience, Ouellet was not popular in Quebec, and the lasting legacy of the Charlottetown Accord hurt him. After the close result of the 1995 Quebec referendum, Chrétien wanted to present a new face of his government in Quebec. In 1996, Chrétien appointed Ouellet to head the Canada Post Corporation. Ouellet's seat in the House of Commons of Canada was taken by Pierre Pettigrew in a by-election later that year.
As cabinet minister, Ouellet had served as Postmaster General. As chairman of Canada Post, he implemented reform that led to record profits in the corporation. In 2004, controversy surrounded Ouellet as Canada Post was one of the organizations embroiled in the Sponsorship Scandal. As a result, Ouellet was suspended from his position at Canada Post in February 2004 by Prime Minister Paul Martin. He resigned as chairman of Canada Post on August 12, 2004, after it was revealed he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal expenses and that he handed out an untendered contract.

## Electoral record (partial)

vte1993 Canadian federal election: Papineau—Saint-Michel :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | André Ouellet | 20,064 | 51.98 | +5.99 | $41,411 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Daniel Boucher | 15,148 | 39.24 | | $18,649 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Carmen de Pontbriand | 1,686 | 4.37 | −28.86 | $26,388a |
| | New Democratic Party | Gisèle Charlebois | 708 | 1.83 | −13.27 | $477 |
| | Natural Law | André Beaudoin | 678 | 1.76 | | $386 |
| | Marxist-Leninist | Serge Lachapelle | 141 | 0.37 | −0.12 | $80 |
| | Abolitionist | P.A. D'Aoust | 98 | 0.25 | | $0 |
| | Commonwealth | Normand Normandeau | 78 | 0.20 | −0.24 | $0 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 38,601 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 1,241 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,842 | 75.45 | +5.31 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 52,808 |
| a Does not include unpaid claims. Source: Thirty-fifth General Election, 1993: Official Voting Results, Published by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. Financial figures taken from the official contributions and expenses submitted by the candidates, provided by Elections Canada. |||||||
vte1988 Canadian federal election: Papineau :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | André Ouellet | 18,122 | 45.99 | – | $43,413 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Frank Venneri | 13,094 | 33.23 | | $39,468 |
| | New Democratic | Giovanni Adamo | 5,948 | 15.10 | | $22,192 |
| | Rhinoceros | Carole Ola Clermont | 987 | 2.51 | – | $0 |
| | Green | H. Joseph Vega | 469 | 1.19 | – | $0 |
| | Communist | Line Chabot | 235 | 0.60 | | $18 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Francine Tremblay | 193 | 0.49 | | $130 |
| | Revolutionary Workers League | Michel Dugré | 178 | 0.45 | | $513 |
| | Commonwealth of Canada | Normand Bélanger | 174 | 0.44 | | $0 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 39,400 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 907 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,307 | 70.14 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 57,470 |
| Source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, Thirty-fourth General Election, 1988. |||||||
vte1984 Canadian federal election: Papineau :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | André Ouellet | 12,754 | 38.99 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Tony Iacobaccio | 12,053 | 36.85 |
| | New Democratic | Paul Comtois | 4,295 | 13.13 |
| | Rhinoceros | Christian Jolicoeur | 1,925 | 5.89 |
| | Parti nationaliste | Gilles Maillé | 1,169 | 3.57 |
| | Communist | Suzanne Dagenais | 147 | 0.45 |
| | Social Credit | Roland Mireault | 147 | 0.45 |
| | Commonwealth of Canada | Gilles Gervais | 113 | 0.35 |
| | Non-affiliated | Doris Lacroix | 104 | 0.32 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 32,707 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 659 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,366 | 70.36 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 47,423 | |
| Source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, Thirty-third General Election, 1984. |||||||