Gérard Pelletier

The Honourable Gérard Pelletier PC CC
Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations
In office August 1981 – July 1984
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau John Turner
Preceded by	Michel Dupuy
Succeeded by	Stephen Lewis
Canadian Ambassador to France
In office September 4, 1975 – July 17, 1981
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau Joe Clark
Preceded by	Léo Cadieux
Succeeded by	Michel Dupuy
Minister of Communications
In office November 27, 1972 – August 28, 1975
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Robert Stanbury
Succeeded by	Pierre Juneau
Acting May 11, 1971 – August 11, 1971
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Côté (acting)
Succeeded by	Robert Stanbury
Secretary of State for Canada
In office July 6, 1968 – November 26, 1972
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Jean Marchand
Succeeded by	Hugh Faulkner
Minister without portfolio
In office April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Member of Parliament for Hochelaga
In office November 8, 1965 – August 29, 1975
Preceded by	Raymond Eudes
Succeeded by	Jacques Lavoie
Personal details
Born	(1919-06-21)June 21, 1919 Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada
Died	June 22, 1997(1997-06-22) (aged 78) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Alexandrine ”Alec” Leduc ​ ​ (m. 1943)​
Children	4
Education	University of Montreal University of St. Michael's College
Occupation	Journalist, Politician

Gérard Pelletier PC CC (June 21, 1919 – June 22, 1997) was a Canadian journalist and politician.

Career

Pelletier initially worked as a journalist for Le Devoir, a French-language newspaper in Montreal, Quebec. In 1961 he became editor-in-chief of the Montreal daily and North America's largest French circulating newspaper, La Presse. Pelletier, with other French-Canadian intellectuals, Pierre Elliott Trudeau included, founded the journal Cité Libre. First elected to Parliament in 1965, he served as a member of the cabinet of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Gérard Pelletier (second from left) in 1941, at the headquarters of the Catholic Student Youth

Pelletier met Trudeau while studying in France and worked with him and Jean Marchand during the Asbestos Strike of 1949 in Quebec. Dubbed the "Three Wise Men" in English and Les trois colombes (The three doves) in French, they entered politics at the same time in the federal election of 1965. The trio was recruited by Liberal prime minister Lester Pearson to help derail the rising Quebec separatist movement.

He served in various cabinet posts in the Trudeau government until 1975 (Secretary of State: 1968–1973, Minister of Communications: 1973–5), when he left the Liberal caucus and became ambassador to France and then ambassador to the United Nations (1981–1984). In 1978 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Bibliography

As author

• — (1945). J. E. C. d'aujourd'hui : une étude sur le mouvement. Montreal: Centrale de la Jeunesse étudiante catholique. ISBN 9780458982707. OCLC 465845812.
• —; Pelletier, Alec (1945). Quartier Nord. (illustrations by Julien Hébert). Montreal: Éditions Fides.
• — (1950). Histoire des enfants tristes : un reportage sur l'enfance sans soutien dans la province de Québec. Montreal: L'Action nationale. ISBN 9780458982707. OCLC 49083264.
• — (1962). Le concept d'élasticité chez Marshall et quelques auteurs (Maîtrise). Université Laval.
• — (1965). Confederation at the crossroads. Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan.
• — (1971). La crise d'octobre. Montreal: Éditions du Jour. OCLC 299724407.
• — (1983). Les années d'impatience : 1950-1960. Montreal: Éditions A. Stanké. ISBN 2-76040214-2.
• — (1983–1992). Souvenirs. Montreal: Éditions A. Stanké. (in three volumes)
• — (1986). Le temps des choix, 1960-1968. Montreal: Éditions A. Stanké. ISBN 2-76040288-6.
• — (1992). Aventure du pouvoir, 1968-1975. Montreal: Éditions A. Stanké. ISBN 2-76040422-6.
• —; Hill, Heather (1995). Le diplomate et l'Africain. Montreal: Éditions A. Stanké. ISBN 2-76040491-9.

Contributions

• Lamonde, Yvan, ed. (1991). Cité libre : une anthologie. (with the collaboration of Gérard Pelletier). Montreal: Éditions A. Stanké. ISBN 2-76040379-3.

Electoral record

1974 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gérard Pelletier	10,561	49.86	+5.52
	Progressive Conservative	Jacques Lavoie	6,435	30.38	+5.91
	Social Credit	Lucien Mallette	2,258	10.66
	New Democratic	Roger Hébert	1,461	6.90	-10.92
	Independent	Jean Poitras	190	0.90
	Marxist–Leninist	Robert Lévesque	181	0.85
	Communist	Guy Désautels	95	0.45
Total valid votes			21,181	100.00

1972 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gérard Pelletier	11,235	44.34	-10.80
	Progressive Conservative	Jacques Lavoie	6,199	24.47	-1.64
	New Democratic	Raymond-Gérard Laliberté	4,515	17.82	+5.07
	Independent	Gérard Contant	2,171	8.57
	Independent	Jacques Ferron	879	3.47
	Independent	Françoise Lévesque	338	1.33
Total valid votes			25,337	100.00

1968 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gérard Pelletier	12,080	55.14	+7.39
	Progressive Conservative	Michel Gagnon	5,720	26.11	+6.49
	New Democratic	René Nantel	2,793	12.75	-6.88
	Ralliement créditiste	Dollard Desormeaux	1,122	5.12	-8.83
	Communist	Jeannette Walsh	192	0.88
Total valid votes			21,907	100.00

1965 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gérard Pelletier	11,929	47.76	+1.39
	New Democratic	Claude Richer	4,902	19.62	+7.61
	Progressive Conservative	Marius Heppell	4,662	18.66	+4.88
	Ralliement créditiste	Fernand Bourret	3,486	13.96	-12.73
Total valid votes			24,979	100.00

Note: Ralliement créditiste vote is compared to Social Credit vote in the 1963 election.

External links

• Gérard Pelletier – Parliament of Canada biography
• Gérard Pelletier fonds, Library and Archives Canada