Michel Gauthier is a Québécois

French-speaking Quebecer

French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....

 politician, who served as leader of the Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...

 from 1996 to 1997. He was Leader of the Opposition

Leader of the Opposition (Canada)

The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , or simply the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party with the most seats in the House of Commons that is not a member of the government...

 during this time.

Biography

Born in Quebec City, Gauthier was first elected as a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec

National Assembly of Quebec

The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...

  for the Parti Québécois

Parti Québécois

The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...

 in 1981. He won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 as a candidate the Bloc Québécois in 1993.

Gauthier was not one of the Bloc's better-known Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MPs), but after Lucien Bouchard

Lucien Bouchard

Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...

 resigned to become Premier of Quebec

Premier of Quebec

The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....

, Gauthier won the Bloc Québécois leadership election of 1996

Bloc Québécois leadership elections

Lucien Bouchard, the first leader of the Bloc Québécois was elected by acclamation by the MPs who formed the Bloc in 1990. When the party held its first convention in April 1995 his leadership was ratified by the delegates.-1996 BQ leadership election:...

, defeating Francine Lalonde

Francine Lalonde

Francine Lalonde is a politician on the national and provincial levels. Prior to being elected she was a lecturer, teacher and unionist...

. The vote was conducted among members of the party's directorate rather than by all members of the party, and this hurt Gauthier's legitimacy.

His lack of profile resulted in some opposition parties mocking Gauthier as being the "faceless leader" of the opposition, as he was largely a political unknown in most of Canada and even in Quebec. Gauthier's leadership was unpopular with the caucus

Caucus

A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...

 due to alleged conservative views and lack of charisma, and facing a revolt by his MPs, Gauthier resigned in 1997. He was succeeded by Gilles Duceppe

Gilles Duceppe

Gilles Duceppe is a Canadian politician, and proponent of the Québec sovereignty movement. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons for over 20 years and was the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois for almost 15 years. He is the son of a well-known Quebec actor, Jean...

.

As a result of health issues after surgery, he announced in March 2007 that he would not run in the next federal election. He served as BQ House Leader

House Leader

In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament and an expert in parliamentary procedure...

 from 1997-2007. Gauthier also served as the chief campaign organizer.

He formally resigned on July 29, 2007, and became the host of Gauthier, a television news show, which began airing on TQS

Tqs

V is a Canadian privately-owned French-language television network. The network has owned-and-operated and affiliated stations existing throughout Quebec, although it can also be seen over-the-air in some bordering markets in the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick...

 in September 2007.

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