THE SENATE — New Senator
Congratulations on Appointment
September 25, 2024
Your honour and colleagues, I am very pleased to rise today on behalf of the Government Representative Office in the Senate to welcome Senator Pierre Moreau.
Senator Moreau, you may have noticed that you are joining a group of Canadians with very diverse origins and perspectives, who all make a unique and valuable contribution to the Senate.
With over 40 years of legal and political experience, you are a very welcome addition to this chamber. Your many roles, including that of Minister of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy, Minister of Education and Higher Education, Minister of Transport — and I could go on — will have no doubt prepared you well for the meticulous work of examining and giving careful consideration to the many bills that you will have to study as a senator.
Honourable senator and colleague, throughout your career, you have selflessly represented your community. It is therefore quite fitting that you will be continuing that work in the Senate. Once again, on behalf of the Government Representative Office in the Senate, I want to welcome you to this chamber.
Honourable senators, on behalf of the opposition, I am pleased to rise in this chamber to welcome our new colleague Senator Pierre Moreau of Quebec.
Senator, welcome to the Senate of Canada. We look forward to working with you in your capacity as a representative of the province of Quebec in Ottawa. I say this because you have previously had the opportunity to serve Quebecers at the National Assembly of Quebec. Your career in politics and law has certainly prepared you well for this new chapter.
I strongly believe that your experience and knowledge of the fiscal austerity period in Quebec politics will, without a doubt, serve you and, more importantly, serve all Canadians well, especially following the policies and the type of governance we have seen under the Trudeau NDP-Liberal government here in Ottawa.
On June 6, 2003, during your first intervention at the National Assembly, you said you had made the choice to run in politics because until then, like many Quebecers, you had been helplessly witnessing the enlargement of the state based on the principle that the state believes it can do anything it wants and can intervene everywhere. Here we are, 21 years later, and your comments stand to be remarkably relevant here on the federal scene.
Over the last nine years, Canadians have witnessed a steep increase in federal government overreach. I am hopeful that you have kept your passion to push back on government overreach and that you will also push back in this chamber. As the son of a farmer, I trust that you know what it means to be resilient and hard-working. If Jean Charest and Dominique Vien decided to come to the Conservative Party of Canada, I gather that both you and Senator Gignac can do this as well.
Senator Moreau, welcome to the Senate of Canada.
Honourable colleagues, Senator Moreau, I am deeply moved to welcome you as a new senator from Quebec. During my years in the Quebec public service, I had the privilege of watching you work in the National Assembly, on both sides of the chamber, and in the Quebec government as a cabinet minister.
I can only commend your talent, your skill and the positive impression you leave on everyone you meet. Your qualities and achievements are obviously what have brought you to this chamber, on the basis of merit.
Colleagues, today we welcome a senator from Quebec whose professional and human experiences are nothing short of remarkable. These experiences, in many respects, reflect a strong grasp of our Constitution, our parliamentary system and our legislation. A lawyer specializing in public and administrative law — including municipal law, which he practised for 22 years — Senator Moreau also dedicated himself to serve democracy as an elected parliamentarian.
A pre-eminent Quebec minister leading key departments, he was tasked with ensuring the advancement and respect of areas of jurisdiction at all levels of government. Under various titles, he was called upon to negotiate and to promote interprovincial cooperation and Quebec’s interests at the federal level, namely, in his role as Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy and Minister of Transport. He will undoubtedly be a key player in this chamber, notably when it comes to regional and provincial interests.
One of his feats — and an impressive one — is that, despite his many years of public service, during which he brought often complex issues to a successful conclusion, our new colleague is one of the few Quebec parliamentarians to remain popular after retiring from politics. He is so popular that he has been wooed back into service. This might have something to do with the fact that Pierre Moreau knows how to rise above partisan and electoral considerations.
Fans of “Mordus de politique,” a popular political program on the ICI RDI network, have come to appreciate him as an objective expert, an astute analyst and an excellent communicator. These are all qualities that will serve him well in this chamber, to which he will bring a wealth of multidisciplinary expertise and detailed knowledge of the situation on the ground.
Senator Moreau, on behalf of all members of the Independent Senators Group, congratulations. We look forward to working with you.
Thank you. Meegwetch.
Honourable senators, I welcome Pierre Moreau from the senatorial district of the Laurentides in Quebec to the Senate. Senator Moreau arrives here with an impressive amount of experience, both legal and political.
One of the quirky parts of our Constitution is that Quebec still has its senators appointed to represent 1 of 24 electoral divisions that existed more than 150 years ago prior to Confederation. One of those electoral divisions is called the Laurentides, and Senator Moreau has been tapped by the Prime Minister to represent this particular district.
For those keeping score, Senator Moreau is the thirteenth individual to come to this place from that senatorial division.
Upon close examination of the history of the Laurentides — which I did, by the way — it shows some distinct patterns about the pedigree and type of individuals to assume the mantle of “senator from the Laurentides.” Here is what I discovered.
Seven senators from the Laurentides held elected office before being named to the Senate. Most were members of the Quebec National Assembly or go way back to the legislative council. Senator Moreau is among this group of distinguished former political office-holders.
From this list of federal and provincial legislators, three senators from the Laurentides, including Senator Moreau, were also cabinet ministers in governments. Others had extensive knowledge in municipal affairs that they brought here. Just like Senator Moreau, some past senators were lawyers, educators and worked in the media. Five were non-affiliated or independent at the time, like you are now, sir.
The point I am making is that senators from the Laurentides have a common streak. They come here with a wealth of experience, know the ins and outs of politics and comfortably find a new home in this place. You’re going to fit right in, and I believe you’ll hit the ground running.
I have a last piece of information to share with Senator Moreau and with my colleagues, which may make him ponder his future contribution here in the Senate. It turns out that two senators from the Laurentides went on to serve as Speaker of the Senate. Who knows what your future holds for you as a senator from the Laurentides? On behalf of my colleagues in the Canadian Senators Group, or CSG, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada. Your perspectives, values, wisdom and experience are welcome here. We look forward to working with you.
Honourable senators, quite a pleasant aspect of my role as leader of the independent senators of the Progressive Senate Group is to welcome new members to this chamber. Last week, we welcomed five impressive new colleagues with very different life experiences, each eager to contribute to our work on behalf of Canadians.
Today we have an encore. It is my honour to welcome the last of the newly appointed senators, the Honourable Pierre Moreau. Maybe he is not the last one because there was another announcement at noon.
Our new colleague has roots throughout Quebec. He grew up in Verchères and studied law at Université Laval in Quebec City. He settled in the Montreal area with his life partner of over 40 years, the Honourable Michèle Monast, my former colleague at the Quebec Superior Court.
They have a second home in the Charlevoix region, which is part of his senatorial division, the largest in Quebec. We have heard quite a bit about it from our colleague, Senator Tannas.
Pierre has then become the second “honourable” in the family, but he’ll have to remind himself every day that he’s the one with the least seniority, especially when it comes to household chores. In 2003, he left his career in law for a 15-year stint as a member of Quebec’s National Assembly, holding several ministerial positions in the cabinets of Premier Charest and Premier Couillard. I have it on good authority that he was a workaholic, a minister with both hands on the wheel, and a formidable parliamentarian — a diligent man with a sense of humour and sometimes even an incisive edge.
He returned to Montreal to practise law but never lost his passion for politics. He was a daily panellist on the RDI network as a member of a team of high-profile former politicians. I heard from another reliable source that he was always the most prepared and he never uttered a falsehood. After a few seasons on television, he decided to focus on practising law and became a managing partner at his firm.
However, he missed serving the public good so he submitted his application for a seat in this chamber. Now he is here with us, ready to contribute to our work and to the modernization of the upper chamber of our Parliament.
On behalf of all senators and independent senators of the Progressive Senate Group, I welcome you to the Senate, Senator Moreau. We look forward to working with you. Congratulations and welcome.
