François-Philippe Champagne PC MP (born June 25, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has been Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry since 2021. He was formerly the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2021. He was elected to represent the riding of Saint-Maurice—Champlain in the House of Commons in the 2015 election for the Liberal Party.[3][4] He became Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry on January 12, 2021, after a cabinet reshuffle.[1]
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Early life
editChampagne was born in Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada on June 25, 1970, and raised in Shawinigan, Quebec.[5][6] He studied law at the Université de Montréal and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. After several years working as a senior attorney for Elsag Bailey Process Automation, he joined ABB Group in 1999, eventually rising to group vice president and senior counsel. In 2008, he joined Amec PLC as a strategic development director, and was designated a "young global leader" by the World Economic Forum. Following his return to Canada, he became involved in a variety of business and non-profit ventures.
Political career
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In an interview with The Globe and Mail in London, 2009, Champagne expressed his desire to eventually return to Canada and enter politics, citing fellow Shawinigan resident Jean Chrétien as an inspiration.[7] Ahead of the 2015 Canadian federal election, he was nominated as the Liberal candidate in Saint-Maurice—Champlain, a riding represented at the time by New Democratic-turned-Liberal MP Lise St-Denis, and was elected to Parliament on October 19, 2015.[8]
After his election in 2015, Champagne was appointed as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance until 2017, when he was appointed Minister of International Trade.[9]
Minister of Infrastructure and Communities (2018-2019)
editIn 2018, Champagne was named Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, and oversaw the federal government’s ambitious $187 billion infrastructure investment plan.
Minister of Foreign Affairs (2019-2021)
editIn November 2019, Champagne became Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking the helm of Trudeau's foreign policy.
In June 2020, it was reported that Champagne had two more mortgages with the state-owned Bank of China, raising questions of potential vulnerability to foreign influence.[10]
Champagne welcomed Trump's peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates as a positive and historic step toward a peaceful and secure Middle East, adding Canada was gladdened by suspension of Israel's plans to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.[11]
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (2021-present)
editIn the 2021 Canadian cabinet reshuffle, Champagne was moved out of the Foreign Affairs portfolio, and became Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.[12] Champagne was characterized by Politico in 2023 as "Trudeau's pitchman" for a global audience, tasked with luring would-be foreign investment in the United States to instead invest in Canada. His efforts were credited with enticing Volkswagen to construct a gigafactory in Canada rather than the U.S., a first for the company outside of Europe.[13]
In 2024, he suggested that the Competition Bureau should scrutinize Big Tech companies' activities in the payments sector. Champagne highlighted competition-related concerns associated with Apple and Google's digital wallet services.[14]
Personal life
editChampagne is trilingual, speaking English, French and Italian.[7]
Electoral record
edit| 2019 Canadian federal election: Saint-Maurice—Champlain | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | François-Philippe Champagne | 23,104 | 39.55 | -1.97 | $101,231.55 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Nicole Morin | 19,950 | 34.15 | +14.99 | $4,638.18 | |||
| Conservative | Bruno-Pier Courchesne | 9,542 | 16.33 | +0.06 | none listed | |||
| New Democratic | Barthélémy Boisguérin | 3,071 | 5.26 | -15.51 | none listed | |||
| Green | Stéphanie Dufresne | 1,809 | 3.10 | +1.16 | none listed | |||
| People's | Julie Déziel | 938 | 1.61 | – | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 58,414 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 1,307 | 2.19 | ||||||
| Turnout | 59,721 | 65.20 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 91,594 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -8.48 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[15][16] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Saint-Maurice—Champlain | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | François-Philippe Champagne | 24,475 | 41.52 | +30.59 | $107,029.87 | |||
| New Democratic | Jean-Yves Tremblay | 12,245 | 20.77 | −20.51 | $29,855.51 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Sacki Carignan Deschamps | 11,295 | 19.16 | −9.31 | $32,567.29 | |||
| Conservative | Jacques Grenier | 9,592 | 16.27 | −0.86 | $49,358.13 | |||
| Green | Martial Toupin | 1,144 | 1.94 | −0.09 | $3,832.69 | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Jean-Paul Bédard | 196 | 0.33 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 58,947 | 100.0 | $269,923.91 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 1,175 | – | – | |||||
| Turnout | 60,122 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 92,086 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[17][18] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "PM to shuffle cabinet with Navdeep Bains retiring from politics". CTVNews. January 11, 2021.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ "Le libéral François-Philippe Champagne remporte son pari dans Saint-Maurice-Champlain". Radio Canada. October 19, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "François-Philippe Champagne to be Canada's next foreign affairs minister". CBC News. November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "The Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, P.C., M.P." Library of Parliament. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
- ^ Lum, Zi-Ann (July 3, 2023). "Canada's closer: How Trudeau's pitchman is outplaying America". POLITICO. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
- ^ a b Pitts, Gordon (June 8, 2009). "Another 'little guy from Shawinigan'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ François-Philippe Champagne Biography, Liberal.ca.
- ^ "The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne". Prime Minister of Canada. October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Fife, Robert; Chase, Steven (June 10, 2020). "Foreign Affairs Minister has two mortgages with state-run Bank of China". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
- ^ Sevunts, Levon (August 14, 2020). "Canada welcomes normalization of relations between Israel and U.A.E." Radio Canada International.
- ^ "Trudeau shuffles cabinet as poll shows Liberals flirting with majority territory". Global News. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
- ^ Lum, Zi-Ann (2023-07-03). "Canada's closer: How Trudeau's pitchman is outplaying America". Politico. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
- ^ Karadeglija, Anja (2024-07-16). "Federal Industry Minister suggests Competition Bureau look at digital wallets". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ Canada, Elections. "Voter Information Service - Find your electoral district". www.elections.ca.
- ^ Canada, Elections. "Error page". www.elections.ca.
External links
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