Jean Charest

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The Honourable Jean Charest PC
Charest in 2017
29th Premier of Quebec
In office April 29, 2003 – September 19, 2012
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Lieutenant Governor	Lise Thibault Pierre Duchesne
Deputy	See list Monique Gagnon-Tremblay Jacques Dupuis Nathalie Normandeau Line Beauchamp Michelle Courchesne
Preceded by	Bernard Landry
Succeeded by	Pauline Marois
5th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
In office June 25, 1993 – November 4, 1993
Prime Minister	Kim Campbell
Preceded by	Don Mazankowski
Succeeded by	Sheila Copps
Leadership positions Leader of the Opposition in Quebec In office April 30, 1998 – April 29, 2003 Preceded by Monique Gagnon-Tremblay Succeeded by Bernard Landry Leader of the Quebec Liberal Party In office April 30, 1998 – September 5, 2012 Preceded by Monique Gagnon-Tremblay (interim) Succeeded by Jean-Marc Fournier (interim) Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada In office December 14, 1993 – April 2, 1998 Interim: December 14, 1993 – April 29, 1995 Preceded by Kim Campbell Succeeded by Elsie Wayne (interim)
Canadian cabinet Minister of Industry In office June 25, 1993 – November 4, 1993 Prime Minister Kim Campbell Preceded by Pierre H. Vincent (Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs; Registrar General of Canada) Michael Wilson (Minister of Industry, Science and Technology) Succeeded by John Manley Minister of the Environment In office April 21, 1991 – June 24, 1993 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Preceded by Robert de Cotret Succeeded by Pierre H. Vincent Minister of State (Fitness and Amateur Sport) In office March 31, 1988 – January 23, 1990 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Minister Jake Epp Perrin Beatty Preceded by Otto Jelinek Succeeded by Marcel Danis Minister of State (Youth) In office June 30, 1986 – January 23, 1990 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Minister David Crombie Lucien Bouchard Gerry Weiner Preceded by Andrée Champagne Succeeded by Marcel Danis
House of Commons roles Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Assistant Deputy Chair of the Committees of the Whole In office October 31, 1984 – June 29, 1986 Speaker John Bosley Preceded by Jacques Guilbault Succeeded by Andrée Champagne
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Sherbrooke In office November 30, 1998 – September 4, 2012 Preceded by Marie Malavoy Succeeded by Serge Cardin Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke In office September 4, 1984 – April 30, 1998 Preceded by Irénée Pelletier Succeeded by Serge Cardin
Personal details
Born	John James Charest (1958-06-24) June 24, 1958 (age 66) Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Conservative (federal) Quebec Liberal (provincial)
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative (before 2003)
Spouse	Michèle Dionne ​ (m. 1980)​
Residence(s)	Westmount, Quebec, Canada
Alma mater	Université de Sherbrooke
Website	www.jeancharest.ca

John James "Jean" Charest PC (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ ʃɑʁɛ]; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding several Cabinet posts from 1986 to 1990 and from 1991 to 1993, he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998.

Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Charest worked as a lawyer before becoming an MP following the 1984 federal election. In 1986 he joined Brian Mulroney's government as a minister of state, but resigned from cabinet in 1990 after improperly speaking to a judge about an active court case. He returned to cabinet in 1991 as the minister of the environment. Charest ran to succeed Mulroney as party leader and prime minister in the PCs' 1993 leadership election, but placed second to Kim Campbell. Charest served as Campbell's industry minister and deputy prime minister. After the PCs' defeat in the 1993 election, Charest succeeded Campbell as party leader. He led the PCs to a minor recovery in the 1997 election.

Charest left federal politics in 1998 and was elected to lead the Quebec Liberal Party, the province's main federalist political party. He became premier of Quebec after the Liberals won the 2003 provincial election. He won two more elections until he lost the 2012 election to the sovereigntist Parti Quebecois (PQ) and resigned as premier. After politics, Charest worked as a consultant, including for Huawei on the Meng Wanzhou case and for its 5G network plans in Canada, and joined McCarthy Tétrault LLP as a partner. Charest was a candidate in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, finishing a distant second to Pierre Poilievre.