Suzanne Blais-Grenier

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

The Honourable Suzanne Blais-Grenier PC
Minister of the Environment
In office September 17, 1984 – August 19, 1985
Prime Minister	Brian Mulroney
Preceded by	Charles Caccia
Succeeded by	Thomas McMillan
Member of Parliament for Rosemont
In office September 4, 1984 – November 21, 1988
Preceded by	Claude-André Lachance
Succeeded by	Benoît Tremblay
Personal details
Born	(1936-03-02)March 2, 1936
Died	June 13, 2017(2017-06-13) (aged 81)
Political party	Independent (1988–2017)
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative Party (1984–1988)

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)

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.

External links

• Suzanne Blais-Grenier – Parliament of Canada biography