Robert Perreault

Robert Perreault (born 13 May 1947) is a Canadian politician and administrator in the province of Quebec. He was a prominent city councillor in Montreal from 1982 to 1994, a Parti Québécois member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2000, and a cabinet minister in the government of Lucien Bouchard.

Early life and career Perreault was born in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Université de Montréal in 1968 and later studied economics at the same institution. From 1975 to 1983, he was an administrator for cultural, sports, and recreation organizations in Quebec."Meet the mandarins," Montreal Gazette, 16 November 1991, D5

City councillor 1982–1986 Perreault was a member of the progressive Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM) in municipal politics. He was first elected to the Montreal city council in the 1982 municipal election, defeating incumbent councillor Roger Larivée from mayor Jean Drapeau's Civic Party in the east-end Laurier ward. The Civic Party won a majority government on council in this election, and Perreault served in opposition for the next four years, achieving prominence as the MCM's critic on economic issues.Lewis Harris, "Municipal parties make trust key economic issue," Montreal Gazette, 25 October 1986, B4. In 1985, he joined with party leader Jean Doré to propose an industry surtax to fund Montreal's public transit.Ingrid Peritz, "Firms should pay more to transit: MCM," Montreal Gazette, 13 November 1985, A3. He later suggested that an "enterprise zone" be created for economically depressed areas in Montreal's east end.David Wimhurst, "Special enterprise zone would create regulatory 'oasis' in city's east end," Montreal Gazette, 17 February 1986, B7. 1986–1990 Jean Doré was elected as mayor of Montreal in the 1986 municipal election and the MCM won a landslide victory on council. Perreault was easily re-elected in Laurier and, following the election, was named as vice-chair of the Montreal executive committee (i.e., the municipal cabinet) with responsibility for economic development and administrative reform.Ingrid Peritz, "Fainstat will chair executive including 3 women, 2 anglos," Montreal Gazette, 26 November 1986, A1.

Perreault introduced significant reforms to Montreal's civil service in early 1987 in a bid to decentralize the city's operations. Almost half of the city's department directorships were eliminated (with many directors taking early retirement), and twelve new municipal centers were opened in different neighbourhoods across the city."MCM to shake up city hall 'labyrinth'," Montreal Gazette, 21 March 1987, A3Ingrid Peritz, "City's plan to cut number of department directors attacked by Civic Party," Montreal Gazette, 28 March 1987, H16Ingrid Peritz, "Better service promised with city shakeup," Montreal Gazette, 31 March 1987, A3. In the same year, Perreault introduced a ninety million dollar five-year investment plan for Montreal's east end; he indicated the plan would protect eleven thousand existing jobs, create four thousand more, and bring $350 million in investment from the private sector."Montreal will invest $90 million to stimulate east-end economy," Montreal Gazette, 14 October 1987, A3"Montreal development," Toronto Star, 14 October 1987, B6. In 1990, he introduced a similar plan valued at one hundred million dollars for economically depressed areas in southwest Montreal.Lewis Harris, "Southwest area hungry for city aid plan," Montreal Gazette, 13 March 1990, A3.

Perreault also served as a city representative on the regional Montreal Urban Community and was appointed as chair of the Montreal Urban Community Transit Corp. (MUCTC) in November 1986.Lewis Harris, "City, suburbs split power on new MUC council," Montreal Gazette, 27 November 1986, A3. Soon after his appointment, he announced a one-year fare freeze and a small tax increase for suburban Montreal homeowners that was targeted to transportation.Lewis Harris, "MUCTC will freeze transit fares for a year," Montreal Gazette, 2 December 1986, A1. In 1988, he wrote a public letter calling for municipalities in Laval and the South Shore to contribute more to Montreal's transit system, arguing that the service was used by many of residents of these communities.Robert Perreault, "Off-island municipalities should pay transit share," Montreal Gazette, 28 November 1988, B3.

1990–1994 The MCM won another landslide victory in the 1990 municipal election. Perreault was not re-appointed to the city's executive committee, but remained chair of the MUCTC.Irwin Block, "Cousineau leads top city panel; First woman to be chairman of executive committee," Montreal Gazette, 16 November A1.

The Quebec government introduced significant cuts to Montreal municipal transit in 1991, amid a serious North American economic downturn."Fight's over on transit - Perreault," Montreal Gazette, 19 June 1991, A3; Michael Orsini, "MUCTC seeks another $200 million from cities," Montreal Gazette, 3 July 1991, A3. The MUCTC made up for these cuts by increasing municipal contributions, increasing fares, and laying off some employees. At the end of the year, it posted a surprising $13.3 million surplus, and some transit advocates complained that the fare increases approved by Perreault had been excessive.Elizabeth Thompson, "Transit budget lays off 245 with no service cuts," Montreal Gazette, 16 October 1991, A1; Elizabeth Thompson, "Students, seniors will face sharply increased MUCTC fares," Montreal Gazette, 30 September 1992, A3; Geoff Baker, "Transit users stunned by MUCTC's $13 million surplus," Montreal Gazette, 8 April 1993, A3.

Perreault announced in November 1993 that public transit ridership had increased after five years of decline, notwithstanding the continuing economic downturn.Elizabeth Thompson, "MUCTC puts brakes to declining ridership," Montreal Gazette, 3 November 1993, A3. The MUCTC posted another $14 million surplus in early 1994."MUC and transit commission both report a budget surplus," Montreal Gazette, 21 April 1994, A3.

MCM divisions and national politics Perreault was on the Quebec nationalist wing of the MCM. In the 1980s, he dissented against the party's call to reform Quebec's Charter of the French Language.Ingrid Peritz, "Dore team waiting in the wings," Montreal Gazette, 1 November 1986, B1. He announced his support for the newly formed Bloc Québécois in 1990 and called for a referendum on Quebec sovereignty the following year.Ray Doucet, "Five MCM councillors back Bloc Quebecois; Candidate acknowledges poverty problem, but stresses sovereignty," Montreal Gazette, 7 August 1990, A3; Irwin Block, "Referendum push Group formed to pressure for sovereignty vote in '91," Montreal Gazette, 15 February 1991, B1.

In December 1990, Perreault announced that the MUCTC would remove the government of Canada's English/French bilingual advertisements from bus and subway lines to ensure compliance with Quebec's French-only sign laws. Critics noted that this would result in about $800,000 in lost revenue over the next year. Perreault dropped the plan after being advised that the advertisements were legal under Canada's Official Languages Act."Montreal transit removes bilingual ads," Ottawa Citizen, 20 December 1990, A12; Irwin Block, "MUCTC row over federal ads is waste of time: language chief," Montreal Gazette, 22 December 1990, A3; Irwin Block, "Perreault aims to pick up Godin's mantel," Montreal Gazette, 6 September 1994, A11.

Perreault wrote an editorial for the newspaper La Presse in August 1992, accusing the MCM of having lost credibility with the electorate.Elizabeth Thompson, "Perreault's attack drops bomb on MCM," Montreal Gazette, 10 August 1992, A3. This was regarded as a serious indicator of dissent within Doré's party."Fine message, poor messenger; Perreault personifies many of the MCM's woes" [editorial], Montreal Gazette, 13 August 1992, B2.

Provincial legislator Perreault sought the Parti Québécois nomination for the east-end Montreal division of Mercier in the buildup to the 1994 provincial election. He initially lost to lawyer Giuseppe Sciortino, but this result was later annulled due to voting irregularities, and Perreault defeated Sciortino in a follow-up contest. Party leader Jacques Parizeau had supported Sciortino's candidacy as a means of building the PQs support in Montreal's Italian community, and several senior party officials unsuccessfully pressured Perreault to drop out. (There were also ideological differences between the candidates; Perreault was considered a centrist, and Sciortino was closer to the PQ's left wing.)The first round of balloting at the first nomination meeting saw Perreault receive 245 votes, compared with 114 for Sciortino, 89 for retired civil servant Claude Bernard, and 71 for Jean-Louis Hérivault. Perreault's opponents then joined forces, and Sciortino was elected by fourteen votes on the second ballot. The results were annulled when it was discovered that at least fifteen voters from Claude Bernard's group had given improper addresses. See Philip Authier, "Liberals' monopoly on minorities over, new Italian-origin PQ candidate says," Montreal Gazette, 22 June 1994, A7; Lysiane Gagnon, "Pauline Julien versus Camille Laurin: a spectacular match," Globe and Mail, 25 June 1994, D3; Irwin Block, "Transit chief flatly refuses to drop bid for Mercier nod," Montreal Gazette, 27 July 1994, A8; Gord Sinclair, "Language won't get in way of Quebec election," Financial Post, 27 July 1994, p. 9; Andre Picard, "Media Watch: Trail Notes," Globe and Mail, 2 August 1994, A4; Hubert Bauch, "Parizeau angers members by making pick in Mercier," Montreal Gazette, 3 August 1994, p. 1; Anne McIlroy, "Star candidates carry price, PQ finds," Toronto Star, 4 August 1994, A11; Andre Picard, "Media Watch," Globe and Mail, 6 August 1994, A6; Andre Picard, "Parizeau-backed star loses nomination bid ," Globe and Mail, 9 August 1994, A6. The nomination controversy was covered in the New York Times; see Clyde H. Farnsworth, "Montreal Journal; A 'Free' Quebec? In Many Tongues, a Firm 'No!'", The New York Times, 25 August 1994, p. 4. During the second nomination meeting, Perreault brought outgoing Mercier representative Gérald Godin on the stage as one of his supporters. This was very controversial; Godin was suffering from the advanced stages of brain cancer, and many party supporters believed the decision to bring him on stage wearing a Perreault scarf was exploitative. See Don Macpherson, "A sickening stunt; Perreault must have wanted Mercier very badly," Montreal Gazette, 9 August 1994, B3; Andre Picard, "Media watch," Globe and Mail, 10 August 1994, A5. Despite the nomination controversy, Perreault was elected without difficulty in the 1994 election. The PQ won a majority government under Parizeau's leadership, and Perreault entered the legislature as a governmental backbencher. Minister of public security Lucien Bouchard succeeded Jacques Parizeau as premier on 29 January 1996, and appointed Perreault to cabinet as minister of public security."The Quebec cabinet," Globe and Mail, 30 January 1996, A7. Perreault's department announced a series of prison reforms shortly thereafter, including plans to close as many as six prisons and incarcerate fewer non-violent criminals.Rheal Seguin, "Quebec launches prison reforms," Globe and Mail, 3 August 1996, A1.