Quebec lieutenant explained

In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a Quebec politician who is selected by the party leader to be the main advisor or spokesperson on issues specific to Quebec. This is particularly the case when the leader is an anglophone, though several francophone leaders have also had Quebec lieutenants. It is typically filled by a Member of Parliament or at least a current or former candidate for Parliament. The position is usually a well-known but often an unofficial assignment, and has no official legal status.

Notable Quebec lieutenants

Some past and current Quebec lieutenants include:

Liberal

Lieutenant		Riding	Took office	Left office	Leader		Drummond—Arthabaska (before 1877) Quebec East (after 1877)	1874	1887	Alexander Mackenzie Edward Blake	None		1887	1896	Wilfrid Laurier		St. Johns—Iberville (before 1900) Sainte-Marie (after 1900)	1896	1902	Wilfrid Laurier	None		1902	1921	Wilfrid Laurier Daniel Duncan McKenzie (interim) William Lyon Mackenzie King			1921	1941	William Lyon Mackenzie King			1941	1948	William Lyon Mackenzie King	None		1948	1963	Louis Saint-Laurent Lester B. Pearson			1963	1967	Lester B. Pearson		Quebec West (before 1968) Langelier (after 1968)	1967	1975^[1]	Lester B. Pearson Pierre Trudeau			1975	1984	Pierre Trudeau			1984	1988	John Turner	None		1988	1993	John Turner Herb Gray (interim)			1993	1999	Jean Chrétien			1999	2002	Jean Chrétien			2002	2003	Jean Chrétien			2003	2006	Paul Martin	None		2006	2007	Bill Graham (interim) Stéphane Dion			2007^[2]	2007	Stéphane Dion		None	2007^[3]	2008	Stéphane Dion			2009^[4]	2009^[5]	Michael Ignatieff	Rémi Bujold (as Chief Provincial Organizer) Marc Garneau (as Leader's Representative)	None (Bujold) Westmount—Ville-Marie (Garneau)	2009^[6]	2011	Michael Ignatieff	None		2011	2019	Bob Rae (interim) Justin Trudeau			2019^[7]	2024	Justin Trudeau			2024^[8]	2025	Justin Trudeau			2025^[9]	2025^[10]	Mark Carney			2025^[11]	Present	Mark Carney

Conservative (1867–1942)

Lieutenant		Riding	Took office	Left office	Leader			1867	1873	John A. Macdonald		Dorchester (before 1876) Charlevoix (1876–1878) Trois-Rivières (after 1878)	1873	1891	John A. Macdonald			1891	1896	John Abbott John Sparrow David Thompson Mackenzie Bowell Charles Tupper	None		1896	1911	Charles Tupper Robert Borden			1911	1914	Robert Borden			1914	1921	Robert Borden	None		1921	1925	Arthur Meighen		None	1925	1926	Arthur Meighen	None		1926	1942	Hugh Guthrie (interim) R. B. Bennett Robert Manion Richard Hanson (interim) Arthur Meighen

Progressive Conservative

Lieutenant		District (Area)	Took office	Left office	Leader	None		1942	1949	John Bracken George A. Drew			1949	1949	George A. Drew	None		1949	1957	George A. Drew William Earl Rowe John Diefenbaker			1957	1965	John Diefenbaker	None		1965	1967	John Diefenbaker		None	1967	1968	Robert Stanfield	None		1968	1972	Robert Stanfield			1972	1978	Robert Stanfield Joe Clark	None		1978	1988	Joe Clark Erik Nielsen (interim) Brian Mulroney			1988	1990	Brian Mulroney			1990	1993	Brian Mulroney			1993	1993	Kim Campbell	None		1993	1998	Jean Charest Elsie Wayne (interim)			1998	2004	Joe Clark Peter MacKay

Canadian Alliance

Lieutenant		Riding	Took office	Left office	Leader		None	2000	2000	Stockwell Day

Conservative (2004–present)

Lieutenant		Riding	Took office	Left office	Leader		None	2004	2005	Stephen Harper			2005	2008	Stephen Harper			2008^[12]	2013	Stephen Harper		Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean (before 2015) Lac-Saint-Jean (after 2015)	2013^[13]	2017	Stephen Harper Rona Ambrose (interim)			2017^[14]	2020	Andrew Scheer Erin O'Toole			2020^[15]	2021	Erin O'Toole			2021^[16]	2022	Erin O'Toole Candice Bergen (interim)			2022	2022	Candice Bergen (interim)			2022^[17]	Present	Pierre Poilievre

Social Credit

Lieutenant		Riding	Took office	Left office	Leader			1961^[18]	1963	Robert N. Thompson

New Democratic

Lieutenant		Riding	Took office	Left office	Leader	Gérard Picard^[19] ^[20]	None	1961	1963	Tommy Douglas		None	1964	1968	Tommy Douglas	None		1968	1989	Tommy Douglas David Lewis Ed Broadbent		None	1989	1990	Ed Broadbent Audrey McLaughlin	None		1990	2003	Audrey McLaughlin Alexa McDonough		None	2003	2007	Jack Layton			2007^[21]	2012	Jack Layton Nycole Turmel (interim)			2012^[22]	Present	Tom Mulcair Jagmeet Singh Don Davies (interim)

Notes and References

News: Thomson . Peter . Marchand resigns as Quebec Lieutenant . . February 26, 1975 . Transport Minister Jean Marchand today announced his resignation as leader of the Quebec wing of the Liberal party. He will be succeeded by Health and Welfare Minister Marc Lalonde..
Web site: Le PLC veut regagner le coeur des francophones. www.cyberpresse.ca.
Web site: Gilles Toupin : Hervieux-Payette devient le lieutenant de Dion au Québec. www.cyberpresse.ca.
Web site: Coderre devient lieutenant politique au Québec. La Presse . January 22, 2009. www.lapresse.ca.
Web site: Coderre steps down as Ignatieff's Quebec lieutenant. https://web.archive.org/web/20090930034930/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090928/coderre_quebec_090928/20090928?hub=TopStoriesV2. dead. September 28, 2009. September 30, 2009.
https://montrealgazette.com/news/Marc+Garneau+named+Quebec+lieutenant/2077819/story.html Marc Garneau named Quebec lieutenant, Montreal Gazette, October 7, 2009
News: These 10 Quebec MPs are in Trudeau's new cabinet . 21 November 2019 . . . 21 November 2019.
News: PM Justin Trudeau to adjust cabinet roles today, as Pablo Rodriguez quits . https://web.archive.org/web/20240919161331/https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pm-justin-trudeau-to-adjust-cabinet-roles-today-as-pablo-rodriguez-quits-1.7044141 . dead . September 19, 2024 . September 19, 2024 . CTV News . September 19, 2024.
Web site: Swearing-in of the 30th Canadian Ministry . Mark . Carney . Mark Carney . . Ottawa, Ontario . March 14, 2025 . March 14, 2025.
Web site: https://x.com/s_guilbeault/status/1994161758148399593 . 1 December 2025.
News: Major . Darren . Carney brings Trudeau-era minister back into cabinet, adds responsibilities to 2 others . 1 December 2025 . CBC News . 1 December 2025.
Web site: Harper dévoile son nouveau cabinet. Joël-Denis. Bellavance. La Presse . October 30, 2008. www.lapresse.ca.
Web site: Harper shakes up his Quebec team. The Globe and Mail . August 4, 2013. www.theglobeandmail.com.
Web site: Alain Rayes devient lieutenant politique des conservateurs pour le Québec. Agence. QMI. June 24, 2017. Le Journal de Québec.
Web site: Conservative Party: Richard Martel becomes Quebec lieutenant, Gérard Deltell becomes parliamentary leader. fr. September 2, 2020. September 2, 2020. HuffPost.
Web site: Alain Rayes resigns as Conservative Party's Quebec lieutenant. February 6, 2022. February 7, 2022. CBC News.
Web site: L'équipe de Poilievre ferait pression sur Rayes pour qu'il quitte son poste de député. September 13, 2022. September 14, 2022. ICI Radio-Canada.
Web site: Perspective Monde. perspective.usherbrooke.ca.
Chef du NPD dans le Québec, La Presse, February 26, 1963
The Labour World, February 1963
http://canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/article.php?articleID=130492 NDP recruits ex-Quebec environment minister Thomas Mulcair for next election, EarthEast, April 20, 2007
Web site: Your NDP Team « Canada's NDP.