Gérard D. Levesque

Who was Gérard D. Levesque?

Gérard D. Levesque was a longtime Quebec politician and Cabinet minister, who twice served as Acting Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. His last name is sometimes given with the more common spelling for this surname, Lévesque, but authoritative sources omit the accent.

Levesque was first elected to what is now called the Quebec National Assembly in the riding of Bonaventure in 1956 and sat in the legislature continuously until the end of his life. Under Premier Jean Lesage he served as minister of housing and fisheries and then as minister for trade. In the first cabinet of Robert Bourassa, who came to power in 1970, he served in various capacities including minister of trade, Minister of Justice and deputy premier.

After the defeat of the Bourassa government in 1976, Levesque served as Leader of the opposition until 1979, while leaders Robert Bourassa and then Claude Ryan were without parliamentary seats. Levesque was also acting leader of the party between Bourassa's resignation and the election of Ryan.