Line Beauchamp

Line Beauchamp
Line Beauchamp, 2010
MNA for Bourassa-Sauvé
In office November 30, 1998 – May 14, 2012
Preceded by	first member
Succeeded by	Rita de Santis
Deputy Premier of Quebec
In office September 7, 2011 – May 14, 2012
Preceded by	Nathalie Normandeau
Personal details
Born	(1963-02-24) February 24, 1963 Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Québec
Political party	Quebec Liberal Party
Residence(s)	Montreal, Quebec

Line Beauchamp (born February 24, 1963) is a female Quebec politician. She served as the Liberal Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the Sauvé riding, and for Bourassa-Sauvé at the Quebec National Assembly from November 30, 1988 to May 14, 2012. She also served as Minister of Culture and Communications from April 29, 2003 to April 18, 2007, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks from April 18, 2007 to August 12, 2012, and served as Minister of Education, Recreation, and Sports from August 11, 2010, and as Deputy Premier of Quebec from September 7, 2011, until she resigned on May 14, 2012 as a result of the 2012 Quebec student strike.

In January 2013, she founded her strategic consulting company and took on a variety of contracts with clients from an array of sectors including, but not limited to, culture, education, real estate, and professional services. She is also a guest columnist for le Journal de Montréal.

Born in Valleyfield, Line Beauchamp earned a BAC in psychology from Université de Montréal in 1985. From 1984 to 1985, she worked as a teaching assistant in that same institution and in 1987 became the Director of Info-croissance, a consumer protection association dealing with psychotherapy, self-help, and cults. From 1991-1993 Line Beauchamp worked as Executive Director for the 101,5 CIBL-FM radio station. In 1993, she became the Executive Director for Pro-Est, the society for the promotion and socio-economic partnerships of Montreal East, until 1998. Between 1989 and 1998, Line Beauchamp was a member of several executive committees, including the l'Association coopérative d'économie familiale du Centre de Montréal (ACEF) from 1989-1993, the Corporation de développement de l'Est (CDEST) from 1993-1997, Collège de Maisonneuve from 1995-1998, and the Régie des installations olympiques (RIO) from 1996-1998, in addition to being a member of the Réseau des gens d'affaires de l'Est from 1993-1998.

Since 2013 she has been a member of the Executive Committee for Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, Rivière-des-Prairies Hospital's Fondation les Petits Trésors, Fondation Père-Ménard, Zoofest and Mondial des jeux.

Political Career

Beauchamp entered provincial politics in 1998 when she was elected in the riding of Sauvé on October 30, 1998, becoming opposition critic in culture and communications. She was eventually re-elected in Bourassa-Sauvé when the Liberals regained power in the 2003 elections. She would be subsequently named Minister of Culture and Communications while also becoming minister responsible for the Montreal region for the full mandate. She would also be a member of several parliamentary committees including social, educational and cultural development, citizenship and culture and decentralization and regions. She would also participate in several organizations in regard to relations between other countries or regions including Belgium and Catalonia. During her first term, she was involved in the opening of the National Library of Quebec in downtown Montreal.

After the Liberals were re-elected in 2007 in a minority government, Jean Charest named Beauchamp Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks replacing Claude Béchard, who assumed the Natural Resources portfolio after the defeat of Pierre Corbeil. She was replaced in her Culture and Communications portfolio by former Radio-Canada journalist Christine St-Pierre, while then Economic Development Minister Raymond Bachand took Beauchamp's responsibilities in regard to affairs surrounding the Montreal region.

After the 2008 election, she kept the same portfolios and was also named Deputy House Leader to Jacques Dupuis. After a cabinet shuffle in 2010, she was named Minister of Education, Leisure and Sports, replacing Michelle Courchesne, who became president of the treasury board. Following the resignation of Nathalie Normandeau, Beauchamp also became Deputy Premier of Quebec on September 7, 2011.

Beauchamp had been the Liberals' point person in the ongoing tuition fee debate in Quebec. Her position had always remained the same from the get-go: that tuition had to be increased in order to properly fund Quebec universities. On May 14, 2012, during the student strike that had continued since February, Beauchamp resigned her ministerial positions and her seat as an MNA, claiming that she was no longer part of the solution. She was succeeded as Minister and as Deputy Premier by Michelle Courchesne, her predecessor in the education portfolio.

Electoral record (incomplete)

2003 Quebec general election: Bourassa-Sauvé
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Line Beauchamp (incumbent)	20,175	61.07
	Parti Québécois	Kettly Beauregard	8,243	24.95
	Action démocratique	Michelle Allaire	3,771	11.42
	Green	Francis Mallette	327	0.99
	Communist	Sylvain Archambault	261	0.79
	Christian Democracy	Denis Gagné	119	0.36
	Marxist–Leninist	Claude Brunelle	94	0.28
	Equality	Boris Mospan	44	0.13
Total valid votes			33,034	100.00
Total rejected ballots			573
Turnout			33,607	64.22
Electors			52,332
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

1998 Quebec general election: Sauvé
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Line Beauchamp	14,125	58.45
	Parti Québécois	Umberto di Genova	7,413	30.68
	Action démocratique	Eric Sigouin	2,084	8.62
	Communist	Sylvain Archambault	192	0.79
	Socialist Democracy	Eric Fontaine	172	0.71
	Innovator	Nicole Corbeil	123	0.51
	Natural Law	Franklin Valois	57	0.24
Total valid votes			24,166	100.00
Total rejected ballots			332
Turnout			24,498	76.27
Electors			32,122
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

External links

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.