Jacques Saada

Jacques Saada
Member of Parliament for Brossard—La Prairie
In office September 22, 1997 – November 29, 2005
Preceded by	first member
Succeeded by	Marcel Lussier
Personal details
Born	November 22, 1947 Tunis, Tunisia
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Brossard, Quebec
Profession	teacher, businessman
Religion	Jewish

Jacques Saada, PC (born November 22, 1947) is a Canadian politician and former cabinet minister.

Saada is a teacher and linguist by profession and was Chief Executive Officer of a translation firm, a consultant and a lecturer in translation prior to entering politics.

He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) from the Quebec riding of Brossard—La Prairie in the 1997 federal election. He served as Deputy Government Whip from 2001 to 2003. When Paul Martin became Prime Minister of Canada on December 12, 2003, he had Saada appointed as a privy councillor[1] (giving him the prenominal "The Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life) and to the Cabinet as Minister Responsible for Democratic Reform and Government House Leader.

Following the 2004 election with the election of a Liberal minority government, Saada was transferred to the positions of Minister for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for La Francophonie.

Saada was born in Tunis, the main city of Tunisia, to a Jewish family. In the 2004 election his campaign was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti, letters, and phone calls.

Saada was defeated in the 2006 election, losing his seat in Brossard—La Prairie to Bloc Québécois candidate Marcel Lussier. His former constituency assistant, Alexandra Mendès, defeated Lussier in the 2008 election.

He was the Quebec Chair for the Rae campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party. In September 2007, Saada was named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Quebec Aerospace Association (AQA). He resigned from that position in December 2011.

Electoral record (partial)

Canadian federal election, 2000: Brossard—La Prairie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Jacques Saada	26,806	52.69	–	$63,331
	Bloc Québécois	Nicolas Tétrault	16,758	32.94		$66,058
	Alliance	Richard Bélisle	2,973	5.84		$8,956
	Progressive Conservative	Sylvain St-Louis	2,783	5.47		$50
	New Democratic	Clémence Provencher	852	1.67		none listed
	Natural Law	Sylvia Larrass	528	1.04		none listed
	Marxist–Leninist	Normand Chouinard	172	0.34		$10
Total valid votes/Expenditures limit			50,872	100.00		$69,269
Total rejected ballots			1,067
Turnout			51,939	66.13
Electors on the lists			78,535
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

External links

• Jacques Saada – Parliament of Canada biography
• Background
• Statement in the Canadian Parliament, April 9, 2002
• Quebec Aerospace Association

27th Ministry – Cabinet of Paul Martin
Cabinet Posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
legislation enacted	Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec 2005–2006	Jean-Pierre Blackburn
'	Minister of State 2004–2005 styled as Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec	legislation enacted
'	Minister of State 2003–2004 styled as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons	'
Special Cabinet Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Denis Coderre	Minister responsible for La Francophonie 2004–2006	Josée Verner
position created	Minister responsible for Democratic Reform 2003–2004	Mauril Bélanger
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Don Boudria	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (2003–2004)	Tony Valeri