riding death_place death_date predecessor birth_place successor religion profession party birth_date term_start residence spouse article_title term_end name
ottawa east ottawa -- vanier ottawa , ontario 10 december 2009 jean-thomas richard first member ottawa , ontario riding dissolved mauril bélanger catholic chiropractor liberal 22 october 1929 1972 1974 ottawa monique gauthier jean-robert gauthier
 1974 1994 jean-robert gauthier
jean-robert gauthier

jean-robert gauthier , -lrb- october 22 , 1929 -- december 10 , 2009 -rrb- was a canadian politician .
a chiropractor by training , he entered politics as trustee on a local school board .
he was elected to the house of commons of canada to represent the riding of ottawa east in the 1972 election as a liberal party member of parliament .
he remained its representative for several decades winning by large majorities each time in the safe liberal seat .
in 1984 , he was appointed opposition whip and became a member of the party 's shadow cabinet .
his highest profile came during his time as official languages critic for the liberal caucus , in which gauthier was a strident defender of official bilingualism .
locally , he was known for campaigning to have an aquarium built in ottawa .
with the liberal victory in the 1993 election , he ran for speaker of the house , but lost by one vote to gilbert parent .
in 1994 , he was appointed to the senate .
in the senate , he fought for the rights of french speakers .
he retired on his 75th birthday in 2004 .
in the senate , he listed his senate division as `` ontario '' from november 23 , 1994 to december 3 , 2001 , and as `` ottawa -- vanier '' from december 4 , 2001 until his retirement .
he was made a member of the order of canada in 2007 .
in 2009 , he was made a member of the order of ontario .
he was made an officer of the legion of honour by the french government in 2002 .
in september 2006 , jean-robert gauthier catholic elementary school opened in barrhaven .
