Jacques Olivier

For the South African rugby union player, see Jacques Olivier (rugby union).

The Honourable
Jacques Olivier
PC
29th Mayor of Longueuil
In office
2001–2005
Preceded byClaude Gladu
Succeeded byClaude Gladu
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Longueuil
In office
1972–1984
Preceded byJean-Pierre Côté
Succeeded byNic Leblanc
Personal details
Born (1944-04-14) April 14, 1944 (age 80)
Hull, Quebec, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Parti municipal Rive-Sud–Équipe Olivier
ProfessionBusinessman

Joseph Mario Jacques Olivier, PC (born April 14, 1944) is a Canadian politician, businessman and labour leader. He was mayor of Longueuil, Quebec, from 2001 until 2005 and is a former Member of Parliament.

Background and early career

A hospital worker in his youth, Olivier was elected president of the trade union local at Charles-LeMoyne Hospital and treasurer of Quebec's National Federation of Hospital Employees. In 1970, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed Olivier as an aide to the Canadian Cabinet on labour relations.

Election to Federal Parliament and Federal political role

In the 1972 election, Olivier was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of Longueuil. He served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Labour from 1976 to 1978.

Following the 1980 election, Olivier was elected chair of the Liberal Party's Quebec caucus. In January 1984, Trudeau appointed Olivier to the Cabinet as Minister of State for fitness and amateur sport. Olivier was dropped from Cabinet in June when John Turner became the new prime minister. He was defeated in the subsequent 1984 election.

Business associations

Following his defeat, Olivier established a Ford dealership in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, and soon joined the board of directors of the Corporation des concessionnaires automobiles du Grand Montréal et du Québec.

Longueuil municipal politics

In 1987, he ran to be mayor of Longueuil, but was defeated. He was elected mayor of the Montreal suburb in 2001, and serves as vice-chairman of the executive committee of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. During the Quebec municipal restructuring of 2002, Olivier became Mayor of the new Mega-city of Longueuil which merged the former cities of Longueuil, Boucherville, Brossard and Saint-Lambert; towns of Greenfield Park, LeMoyne, Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville and Saint-Hubert. This merger was partially reversed after municipal referendums and was seen by many to be a failure on Olivier's part to sell the new Mega-City. Olivier led his own municipal political party, équipe Olivier, which held a large majority on Longueuil's city council.

Olivier did not run in the 2005 municipal election and was succeeded as mayor by Claude Gladu.

Electoral record (incomplete)

1972 Canadian federal election: Longueuil
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Jacques Olivier 22,129 44.62
Social Credit Emile-A. Vadeboncoeur 12,091 24.38
Progressive Conservative Marcel Robidas 7,015 14.14
New Democratic Robert Mansour 4,548 9.17
Independent Jacques Gendron 2,020 4.07
Non-Affiliated Raôul Wéziwézô Duguay 1,625 3.28
Marxist–Leninist André Pesant 170 0.34
Total valid votes 49,598 100.00
Total rejected ballots 2,977
Turnout 52,575 72.56
Electors on the lists 72,458
Source: Official Voting Results, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Canada), 1972.