Jean Marchand

Who was Jean Marchand?

Jean Marchand, PC, CC was a well known French Canadian public figure, trade unionist and politician in Quebec, Canada.

During the 1949 Asbestos Strike in Quebec, Marchand led the striking workers as secretary of the Catholic Workers Confederation of Canada. It was during this time that he met Pierre Trudeau. Marchand was approached to be a Liberal candidate in the federal election of 1963, but disagreements scuttled a run that year.

In the 1965 federal election, Marchand along with Gérard Pelletier and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, were persuaded to run as Liberal candidates. Dubbed the "Three Wise Men" in English, and les trois colombes in French, they were seen as destined to shake Canadian politics. Trudeau and Pelletier were provided "safe" ridings in Montreal while Marchand won a hard fight in Quebec City for his riding. Marchand was given a post in the government of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson promptly after winning the election.

After Charles de Gaulle's infamous cry of "Vive le Québec Libre", the Cabinet met to decide the response. The French-speaking ministers, led by Jean Marchand, wanted Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to tell de Gaulle to go home. The English-speaking ministers, on the other hand, did not want to go that far: a public rebuke was sufficient.