Monique Jérôme-Forget
Encyclopedia
Monique Jérôme-Forget is a psychologist
and a former Quebec
politician
. She was the Member of National Assembly
(MNA) for the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeois in the Montreal region as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party between 1998 and 2009. With the government in power she was the Finance Minister
from 2007 to 2009, the President of the Treasury Board
and the Minister of government services and the Minister responsible of the government administration
from 2003 to 2008.
including the University of London
(England) in economics
, Johns Hopkins University
in history
, the Université de Montréal
in public economics and McGill University
in psychology. At the end of her studies, she received a bachelor's
and doctor's degree in psychology
at McGill in 1972 and 1976 respectively.
From 1979 to 1982, she worked as the Director of Professional Services at the CLSC Metro, Montreal.
From 1982 to 1985, she served as Assistant Deputy Minister in the federal Department of Health and Welfare in Ottawa.
In 1985-86, she worked as the Vice-Rector, Finance, Institutional Research and Human Resources, at Concordia University in Montreal.
From 1986 to 1990, she was Chair and CEO of Quebec’s Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST). The Commission is responsible for workplace health and safety. She also was chair, Institut de recherche en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST).
From 1991 to 1998, she was the CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). As well from 1993-1998 she was a columnist for the Financial Post and Les Affaires.
, la Cinematheque Québécoise, the Quebec federation for the environment, the Social policies
committee
of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), the Medical Council of Canada
and the Société investissement jeunesse. She was also a member of the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations of Queen's University
in Kingston, Ontario
, as well as the McGill University Institute for Canadian Studies. She was the representative for Canada on the International Commission for Workers' Compensation.
and would serve as the opposition party's critic in finances when the Parti Québécois
had their second mandate as a majority government.
, in which the Liberals won a majority government
, and became a prominent force inside Jean Charest
's cabinet
as she was named the president of the Treasury Board
and the Minister of Public Administration and Government Services. She was also for half the mandate the Minister responsible for the Montreal region until 2005 when the responsibilities were given to Culture
Minister Line Beauchamp
.
As public administration minister she negotiated a six-year collective agreement covering half a million public sector employees and resolved a long-standing issue over pay equity affecting some 400,000, mostly female employees. As Treasury Board President she kept the nominal growth of public expenditure under 5% giving Quebec the slowest growing public sector of all Canadian governments. As a result, the credit rating of the Province of Quebec was increased on two occasions.
She also put together the most important infrastructure program in the history of Quebec ($41 billion for the first five years) and introduced in that province the concept of Public-Private Partnerships (or PFI) and to oversee it, she set up an agency that has won two international prizes for the quality of its work. Under these initiates, as she resigned her position in the government some $10 billion of projects from highways to teaching hospitals and concert hall were under way. The program was enhanced in her third (2009-2010) budget as an important element in her recession fighting strategy.
. After the election, she became one of the senior ministers of the new minority government
as Premier Charest gave her additional responsibilities including the portfolio of Governmental Services, previously held by Henri-Francois Gautrin
, and Finances which had been held by Michel Audet
who did not seek a re-election in 2007. She became the first minister since Jacques Parizeau
to hold both the positions of President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Finances.
Her 2007 budget provided for a $700 million reduction in personal income tax. It also initiated a phased abolition of the capital tax on businesses and continued a policy of significant funding increments to the health and education missions. These moves on the fiscal front were designed to implement campaign commitments to lighten the fiscal burden in Quebec to a more reasonable level as compared with other provinces. Over the period 2007-2008, she supervised the negotiations that led to the "Montreal Accord" to deal with the problem with asset-backed commercial paper.
The Parti Québécois
and Action démocratique du Québec
declared that they would vote against the budget. However, only three PQ members were present for the budget vote on June 1, 2007 so that the minority Liberal government got its budget approved as the Parti Québécois clearly did not want to provoke an election.
MNA Dominique Vien
as well as the position of President of the Treasury Board to former Finances Minister and former Deputy Premier Monique Gagnon-Tremblay
but kept the responsibility for the Infrastructures program. In this last capacity, she signed several infrastructure agreements with her federal counterpart then also engaged in an anti-recession program.
The global credit crisis had gathered steam during the 2007-2008 period. It was compounded by a stock market collapse in October 2008. In the last months of 2008, she played a key role in developing a joint effort by the Alberta, Ontario and Federal governments, and of course that of Quebec, in providing guarantees to holders of asset backed commercial paper. This financial crisis had until then a relatively mild impact of the Quebec economy.This however was to change in the last days of 2008 and the first months of 2009.
In her third budget, presented on March 14, 2009, there was a major shift from the budget balance of previous years into a significant $3.9 billion deficit that the difficult circumstances made both inevitable and desirable to stimulate aggregate demand in the economy. She announced in that budget and the economic statement made in January several stimulative measures such a program called REA-II as well as additional funding of $100 million each for Investissements Quebec and the Societe Générale de Financement. The budget anticipated a return to equilibrium over the next four years and anticipated a rise of the provincial sales tax of one percent as of January 2011, as well as yearly cost-of-living related increases in charges and fees for government services as of the same date. However, she was clear that other, unspecified tax increases or expenditures cutbacks would be needed to restore a balanced budget.
In the beginning of February, a formal announcement of nearly $40 billion of losses were made by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
for 2008, the worst results in the Caisse's history. These results (and even their anticipation given the dramatic declines in asset prices over the preceding months) generated a lot of debates and questions about the quality of risk management practices at the Caisse, the nature of its objectives and the adequacy of its management. All that was accompanied by many changes in that management including the Board, the Chair and the CEO's position.
A federal-provincial tax controversy ensued one week later following the decision by the Ontario government
to harmonize the PST and the GST
. After the federal government offered $4 billion to Ontario in compensation for the tax move, Jérôme-Forget and the Quebec government requested a $2.6 billion compensation from Ottawa. The province had received no money when it harmonized both taxes in the 1990s.
On April 8, 2009, Jérôme-Forget announced her retirement from politics.
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and a former Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. She was the Member of National Assembly
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...
(MNA) for the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeois in the Montreal region as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party between 1998 and 2009. With the government in power she was the Finance Minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
from 2007 to 2009, the President of the Treasury Board
Treasury Board
The Treasury Board is the Government of Canada's only statutory Cabinet committee and is responsible for the federal civil service much of the operation of the Canadian government. Among its specific duties are negotiating labour agreements with the public service unions and serving as Comptroller...
and the Minister of government services and the Minister responsible of the government administration
Administration (government)
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
from 2003 to 2008.
Education
From 1960 to 1976, Jérôme-Forget studied at several universitiesUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
including the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
(England) in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
in public economics and McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in psychology. At the end of her studies, she received a bachelor's
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
and doctor's degree in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at McGill in 1972 and 1976 respectively.
Professional career
On completing her doctorate in psychology, Jérôme-Forget began practice as a psychologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital (part of the McGill University Hospital Centre).From 1979 to 1982, she worked as the Director of Professional Services at the CLSC Metro, Montreal.
From 1982 to 1985, she served as Assistant Deputy Minister in the federal Department of Health and Welfare in Ottawa.
In 1985-86, she worked as the Vice-Rector, Finance, Institutional Research and Human Resources, at Concordia University in Montreal.
From 1986 to 1990, she was Chair and CEO of Quebec’s Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST). The Commission is responsible for workplace health and safety. She also was chair, Institut de recherche en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST).
From 1991 to 1998, she was the CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). As well from 1993-1998 she was a columnist for the Financial Post and Les Affaires.
Community involvement
She has been heavily involved in the community, working for the Montreal Symphony OrchestraMontreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
, la Cinematheque Québécoise, the Quebec federation for the environment, the Social policies
Social policy
Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...
committee
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
(OECD), the Medical Council of Canada
Medical Council of Canada
Medical Council of Canada ' is an organization that is charged with assessing medical candidates, evaluation of physicians through exams and granting a qualification called Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada to those who wish to practice medicine in Canada.MCC is governed by a 51-member...
and the Société investissement jeunesse. She was also a member of the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations of Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, as well as the McGill University Institute for Canadian Studies. She was the representative for Canada on the International Commission for Workers' Compensation.
First mandate
Jerome-Forget entered politics in 1998. She became the MNA for Marguerite-Bourgeoys in the 1998 electionsQuebec general election, 1998
The Quebec general election of 1998 was held on November 30, 1998, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Lucien Bouchard, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Charest.After the narrow defeat of...
and would serve as the opposition party's critic in finances when 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...
had their second mandate as a majority government.
Second term
She was re-elected for a second term in the 2003 electionsQuebec general election, 2003
The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:...
, in which the Liberals won a majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
, and became a prominent force inside Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
's cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
as she was named the president of the Treasury Board
Treasury Board
The Treasury Board is the Government of Canada's only statutory Cabinet committee and is responsible for the federal civil service much of the operation of the Canadian government. Among its specific duties are negotiating labour agreements with the public service unions and serving as Comptroller...
and the Minister of Public Administration and Government Services. She was also for half the mandate the Minister responsible for the Montreal region until 2005 when the responsibilities were given to Culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
Minister Line Beauchamp
Line Beauchamp
Line Beauchamp is a Quebec politician. She is the current Quebec Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the Montreal riding of Bourassa-Sauvé as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party...
.
As public administration minister she negotiated a six-year collective agreement covering half a million public sector employees and resolved a long-standing issue over pay equity affecting some 400,000, mostly female employees. As Treasury Board President she kept the nominal growth of public expenditure under 5% giving Quebec the slowest growing public sector of all Canadian governments. As a result, the credit rating of the Province of Quebec was increased on two occasions.
She also put together the most important infrastructure program in the history of Quebec ($41 billion for the first five years) and introduced in that province the concept of Public-Private Partnerships (or PFI) and to oversee it, she set up an agency that has won two international prizes for the quality of its work. Under these initiates, as she resigned her position in the government some $10 billion of projects from highways to teaching hospitals and concert hall were under way. The program was enhanced in her third (2009-2010) budget as an important element in her recession fighting strategy.
Third term
She was easily re-elected for a third term in the 2007 electionsQuebec general election, 2007
The Quebec general election of 2007 was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on March 26, 2007 to elect members of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party led by Jean Charest managed to win a plurality of seats, but were reduced to a minority government, Quebec's first in...
. After the election, she became one of the senior ministers of the new minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
as Premier Charest gave her additional responsibilities including the portfolio of Governmental Services, previously held by Henri-Francois Gautrin
Henri-François Gautrin
Henri-François Gautrin is a Quebec politician, teacher and physician. He is the current Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Verdun in the Montreal region...
, and Finances which had been held by Michel Audet
Michel Audet
Michel Audet is an economist and a politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the Finance Minister of Quebec in the first Charest government....
who did not seek a re-election in 2007. She became the first minister since Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...
to hold both the positions of President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Finances.
Her 2007 budget provided for a $700 million reduction in personal income tax. It also initiated a phased abolition of the capital tax on businesses and continued a policy of significant funding increments to the health and education missions. These moves on the fiscal front were designed to implement campaign commitments to lighten the fiscal burden in Quebec to a more reasonable level as compared with other provinces. Over the period 2007-2008, she supervised the negotiations that led to the "Montreal Accord" to deal with the problem with asset-backed commercial paper.
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...
and Action démocratique du Québec
Action démocratique du Québec
The Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists....
declared that they would vote against the budget. However, only three PQ members were present for the budget vote on June 1, 2007 so that the minority Liberal government got its budget approved as the Parti Québécois clearly did not want to provoke an election.
Fourth term
She was easily re-elected for a fourth time in her riding in the 2008 elections. At her request, she gave up her portfolio of government services to BellechasseBellechasse (provincial electoral district)
Bellechasse is a provincial electoral riding in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, the riding was created in 1867...
MNA Dominique Vien
Dominique Vien
Dominique Vien is a Canadian politician, who served as Member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of Bellechasse from 2003 to 2007. She was defeated in the 2007 election by Jean Domingue of the Action démocratique du Québec, but was then re-elected in the same district in 2008...
as well as the position of President of the Treasury Board to former Finances Minister and former Deputy Premier Monique Gagnon-Tremblay
Monique Gagnon-Tremblay
Monique Gagnon-Tremblay is a politician in Quebec, Canada. She is the current MNA member for the riding of Saint-François in the Estrie region. She served as Liberal leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Quebec from May 1998 to December 1998 and Deputy Premier in 1994 and from 2003...
but kept the responsibility for the Infrastructures program. In this last capacity, she signed several infrastructure agreements with her federal counterpart then also engaged in an anti-recession program.
The global credit crisis had gathered steam during the 2007-2008 period. It was compounded by a stock market collapse in October 2008. In the last months of 2008, she played a key role in developing a joint effort by the Alberta, Ontario and Federal governments, and of course that of Quebec, in providing guarantees to holders of asset backed commercial paper. This financial crisis had until then a relatively mild impact of the Quebec economy.This however was to change in the last days of 2008 and the first months of 2009.
In her third budget, presented on March 14, 2009, there was a major shift from the budget balance of previous years into a significant $3.9 billion deficit that the difficult circumstances made both inevitable and desirable to stimulate aggregate demand in the economy. She announced in that budget and the economic statement made in January several stimulative measures such a program called REA-II as well as additional funding of $100 million each for Investissements Quebec and the Societe Générale de Financement. The budget anticipated a return to equilibrium over the next four years and anticipated a rise of the provincial sales tax of one percent as of January 2011, as well as yearly cost-of-living related increases in charges and fees for government services as of the same date. However, she was clear that other, unspecified tax increases or expenditures cutbacks would be needed to restore a balanced budget.
In the beginning of February, a formal announcement of nearly $40 billion of losses were made by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec manages public pension plans in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly...
for 2008, the worst results in the Caisse's history. These results (and even their anticipation given the dramatic declines in asset prices over the preceding months) generated a lot of debates and questions about the quality of risk management practices at the Caisse, the nature of its objectives and the adequacy of its management. All that was accompanied by many changes in that management including the Board, the Chair and the CEO's position.
A federal-provincial tax controversy ensued one week later following the decision by the Ontario government
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
to harmonize the PST and the GST
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
. After the federal government offered $4 billion to Ontario in compensation for the tax move, Jérôme-Forget and the Quebec government requested a $2.6 billion compensation from Ottawa. The province had received no money when it harmonized both taxes in the 1990s.
On April 8, 2009, Jérôme-Forget announced her retirement from politics.