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Suzanne Blais-Grenier

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Suzanne Blais-Grenier
Minister of the Environment
In office
September 17, 1984 – August 19, 1985
Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney
Preceded byCharles Caccia
Succeeded byThomas McMillan
Member of Parliament
for Rosemont
In office
September 4, 1984 – November 21, 1988
Preceded byClaude-André Lachance
Succeeded byBenoît Tremblay
Personal details
Born(1936-03-02)March 2, 1936
DiedJune 13, 2017(2017-06-13) (aged 81)
Political partyIndependent (1988–2017)
Other political
affiliations
Progressive Conservative Party (1984–1988)

Suzanne Blais-Grenier PC (March 2, 1936 – June 13, 2017) was a Canadian politician.

Blais-Grenier was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1984 federal election that brought Brian Mulroney to power. She represented the riding of Rosemont, Quebec. She was appointed to the Cabinet as Prime Minister Mulroney's first Minister of the Environment.

She faced mounting criticism from environmentalists following cuts to various programs, her lackluster performance over several months when being targeted by the Opposition in the House of Commons during question period and her spending on foreign travel. Blais-Grenier was demoted in 1985 to the position of Minister of State for Transport.

Following the demotion, Blais-Grenier became increasingly critical of the Mulroney government. At the end of 1985, she resigned from Cabinet to protest the government's refusal to prevent the closure of an oil refinery in Montreal.

On September 20, 1988, she was expelled from the Progressive Conservative caucus for refusing to withdraw allegations of kickbacks involving the Quebec wing of the party. She ran as an independent candidate in the November 1988 general election, but was defeated by Progressive Conservative Benoît Tremblay, and came in fourth place with 2,060 votes.

Electoral record (partial)

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1988 Canadian federal election: Rosemont
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Benoît Tremblay 17,127 37.84 $44,311
Liberal Jacques Guilbault 13,209 29.18 $45,624
New Democratic Giuseppe Sciortino 9,163 20.24 $37,493
Independent Suzanne Blais-Grenier 2,060 4.55 $8,864
Rhinoceros Christian Nettoyeur Jolicoeur 1,656 3.66 $0
Green Sylvain Auclair 1,383 3.06 $24
Communist Gaétan Trudel 151 0.33 $18
Social Credit Dollard Desjardins 148 0.33 $0
Marxist–Leninist Arnold August 122 0.27 $130
Independent Léo Larocque 122 0.27 $5,150
Commonwealth of Canada Christiane Deland-Gervais 120 0.27 $0
Total valid votes 45,261 100.00
Total rejected ballots 1,025
Turnout 46,286 68.31
Electors on the lists 67,754
Source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, Thirty-fourth General Election, 1988.
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