Gérard Pelletier

The Honourable Gérard Pelletier PC CC
Member of the Canadian 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	Montreal
Political party	Liberal
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.

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

• (in three volumes)

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 1974: 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

Canadian federal election, 1972: 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

Canadian federal election, 1968: 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

Canadian federal election, 1965: 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

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Raymond Eudes	Member of Parliament for Hochelaga 1965–1975	Succeeded by Jacques Lavoie
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Joseph Alphonse Léo Cadieux	Canadian Ambassador to France 1975–1981	Succeeded by Michel Dupuy
Preceded by Michel Dupuy	Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations 1981–1984	Succeeded by Stephen Lewis