Jean Pelletier

Jean Pelletier, (February 21, 1935 – January 10, 2009) was a Canadian politician who served as the 37th mayor of Quebec City, Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office, and chairman of Via Rail.

He was a leading organizer of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, the son of Burroughs and Marie (Desautels) Pelletier, Pelletier was educated at the college des Jesuits in Quebec City and the Séminaire de Trois-Rivières.

He studied social sciences at Laval University before working as a journalist with CFCM-TV in Quebec City in 1957.

From 1958 to 1958, he was a correspondent with Télévision de Radio-Canada.

In 1959, he was the press secretary for the Premier of Quebec, Paul Sauvé.

From 1960 to 1962, he was the executive secretary for the Commission des Monuments Historiques de la Province de Québec, a society for the listing and preserving all buildings of historical interest in the province of Quebec.

From 1963 to 1964, he was a Technical Advisor to the Secretary of the Province of Quebec.

Moving into the private sector, he was a broker for Levesque & Beaubien from 1964 to 1970.

From 1970 to 1973, he was a vice president for Dumont Express.

From 1973 to 1977, he was vice-president of Action Sociale Ltée.

Pelletier began his political career with the Union Nationale party, a conservative and nationalist party identifying with Quebec autonomism.

He won a seat as a municipal councillor in Quebec City in December 1976.

He was elected mayor in 1977, serving for twelve years and two more elections.

During his tenure as mayor, from 1977 to 1989, he improved rail service into the city, was instrumental in reviving the Lower Town and in having it designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While mayor, Pelletier also became friends with Paris mayor Jacques Chirac.

The two worked closely together as part of the Association of Francophone Mayors (1979–89), where Pelletier served as vice president.

He successfully persuaded Chirac to keep quiet during the 1980 Quebec referendum, though Chirac personally supported an independent Quebec like General Charles de Gaulle.

With the demise of the Union Nationale, he joined the Liberal Party of Canada.

Pelletier was a longtime close ally and friend of Jean Chrétien.

They knew each other for years, having first met at boarding school while still youths.

They attended law school at Laval University together and earned similar reputations as being aggressive.

When Chrétien won the leadership in 1990, he was largely unpopular in Quebec, rocked by caucus defects, and indecisive in responding to the Oka standoff.

The federal Liberals were disorganized, near bankruptcy, and dropped in the polls from 50 to 32 per cent.

In order to reinvigorate his leadership and reorganized his chaotic office, Chrétien hired Pelletier as his chief of staff, while Eddie Goldenberg continued as senior political adviser.

Pelletier ran unsuccessfully in the Quebec City riding during the 1993 election, which saw the party capture few seats in the province of Quebec outside of their federalist stronghold of Montreal.

That campaign saw Chrétien become Prime Minister, and Pelletier became his Chief of Staff, making him head of the Prime Minister's Office.

Chrétien praised Pelletier as Chief of Staff, saying "He ran a very tight–and tight-lipped–ship.... As a result, we didn't suffer from the public feuding, backbiting gossip, and anonymous leaks that had plagued other PMOs. Even those columnists and academics who were no fans of the Liberal Party had to concede that Pelletier's operation was among the most efficient and harmonious in memory, despite having been reduced from 120 to 80 employees as a cost-saving measure."

Jeffrey Simpson, a columnist for The Globe and Mail, noted that "Pelletier stayed away from the media. He seldom met with journalists, and when he did, he gave almost nothing away. He was courteous, refined, sometimes witty and usually non-informative."

Pelletier persuaded two designates for Governor General, Roméo LeBlanc and Adrienne Clarkson, to marry their long-time partners, so they could be appointed as Canada's head of state.

Pelletier remained close friends with Jacques Chirac, who became President of France in 1994.

Pelletier played an instrumental role in Chrétien and Chirac becoming close friends despite their initial disagreements.

Chrétien had initially dismissed Chirac as a "right-wing Gaullist" and had been publicly furious when Chirac announced on Larry King Live that France would be one of the first countries to recognize an independent Quebec.

Years later, when Paul Martin became prime minister and dismissed Pelletier (see below), Chirac criticized Martin for his treatment of Pelletier.

On May 4, 2001, Chrétien appointed Pelletier chairman of Via Rail, a Crown corporation.

Soon after, Chrétien promised an extra C$700 million to improve Via's service.

On March 1, 2004, Pelletier and Via President Marc LeFrançois were fired by Prime Minister Paul Martin and Transport Minister Tony Valeri.

Their dismissals were shortly after the Liberal Party became embroiled in the sponsorship scandal.

Pelletier was one of four Chrétien loyalists sacked from jobs at Crown corporations by Martin's government during the sponsorship scandal.

Via was accused of skipping mandated procedures in order to hand out contracts to Liberal-friendly firms and individuals.