page_title: Jean Charest
section_title: Premier of Quebec
hierarchical_section_title: Jean Charest / Provincial politics / Premier of Quebec
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Québec.Quelques semaines après avoir commencé son mandat, le Consul général Peter O’Donohue a rendu une visite de prise de poste au Premier ministre du Québec, monsieur Jean Charest. Monsieur O’Donohue a souligné les liens solides qui existent depuis fort longtemps entre le Québec et les États-Unis et sa détermination à déployer les efforts nécessaires pour renforcer ces liens. English: Quebec CityA few weeks after taking up his duties, Consul General Peter O’Donohue payed a courtesy call on Quebec Premier Jean Charest. Mr. O' Donohue highlighted the solid bonds that have long existed between Quebec and the United States and his desire to reinforce and expand on those ties.
context_page_description: John James "Jean" Charest PC is a Canadian politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec, from 2003 to 2012; the deputy prime minister of Canada from June 25, 1993, until November 4, 1993; the leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998; and the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 1998 to 2012. He became Premier after winning the 2003 election; after he lost the 2012 election he announced that he would be resigning as Quebec Liberal Leader and leaving politics. Charest sits as an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission. Charest is currently a consultant for Huawei on the Meng Wanzhou case and for its 5G network plans in Canada.
context_section_description: Charest's first two years as Premier of Quebec were marked by stiff and vocal opposition to his policies by Quebec labour unions.  Indeed, the Charest government has consistently sought new sources of revenue, increasing hydro rates, raising auto insurance premiums, increasing fees for various government services, and imposing a carbon tax on businesses. They did, however, refrain from raising the Provincial Sales Tax to make up for the loss of revenue caused by the decision of the federal government to reduce the Goods and Services Tax to 5 per cent. They also continued the Parti Québécois drive to provide subsidies and tax breaks for families with children.
  Much of the fiscal policy of the Charest government has been based upon the expectation that new revenues could be obtained from a resolution of the fiscal imbalance believed to exist between the federal and provincial governments. The Harper government is widely expected to address this issue through increased equalization payments, while falling short of Quebec's overall demands.
  Charest also attempted to distinguish himself on the issue of the environment. His vocal opposition to the federal decision to opt out of the Kyoto Accord, and his insistence that Quebec would seek to meet its own Kyoto targets has earned him considerable support. His government set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, petroleum royalties, and a 2011-2020 Action Plan for Electric Vehicles. He also established the Sustainable Development Act, which adds to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms the right for every person to live in a healthful environment in which biodiversity is preserved. On May 9, 2011, Jean Charest launched the Plan Nord, the work of a generation that brings together the imperatives of environmental, social and economic growth and sustainability. In 2012, Charest was awarded with the Fray International Sustainability Award for is work and advocacy towards sustainable development in politics.
  In the 2003 election, Charest had promised to allow the cities that had been forcibly merged by the Parti Québécois government to hold referendums which would allow to demerge and return to their previous situation. This promise was seen as key to his victory in many ridings, such as those in the suburbs around Longueuil and Quebec City and the continued support of the Anglophone community in the West Island of Montreal. In office however, Charest retreated from his promise. Municipalitites were allowed to hold demerger referendums, if at least 10 per cent of the electorate signed a petition calling for them, and only if more than 35 per cent participated in the voting process. In some former municipalities, such as Saint Laurent on the Island of Montreal, the turnout of the vote was of 75.2 per cent in favour of a demerger, but it was invalidated because the voter turnout was just 28.6 per cent.
  The demerger process also resulted in the restructuring of the existing megacities, with both these and the demerged cities handing over massive powers over taxation and local services to the new "agglomeration councils". The makeup of these councils was based on the population of the municipalities involved, with the mayors having the right to unilaterally appoint all of the individuals who would represent their cities on the council. The resulting structure was seen by many to be less democratic than the one which had preceded it, as demerged municipalities were denied an effective voice, and the city councils of the major cities were substantially weakened by the power of the mayors to go over the heads of opposition councillors and exercise power through their appointees to the agglomeration body.
  During the debate in the Parliament of Canada over recognizing Quebec as a nation within Canada, Charest stated that Quebec was a "nation" no matter what other parts of Canada said—that this was not up to anyone else to define.
  The Charest government was deeply unpopular during its first years in office, enjoying a public approval rating of below 50 per cent in most opinion polls and falli
caption: United States Consul General Peter O’Donohue meets with Quebec Premier Jean Charest in November 2010.
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