François Legault

François Legault (born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018.

François Legault was born on May 26, 1957, at the Lachine Hospital and grew up in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec.

His father, Lucien Legault, was a postmaster.

His mother, Pauline Schetagne, was a housewife who also worked as a cashier at the local A&P grocery store.

Legault has a bachelor's and master's degree in business administration from HEC Montréal.

He is also a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Legault worked as an administrator for Provigo and an auditor for Ernst & Young until 1984.

In 1985, Legault became the director of finance and administration at Nationair Canada and then marketing director at Quebecair.

He then co-founded Air Transat in 1986, and was until 1997 its chief executive officer.

The airline quickly became one of the largest airline companies in Canada offering charter flights.

From 1995 to 1998, Legault sat on the boards of various companies, including Provigo Inc., Culinar, Sico, Technilab Inc. and Bestar Inc., and the Marc-Aurèle Fortin private museum.

He was a MNA from 1998 to 2009—serving in the governments of former premiers Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry—as the minister of education from 1998 to 2002 and as the minister of health from 2002 to 2003.

He was a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), first elected in the 1998 Quebec election in the riding of Rousseau.

After his 1998 election, Legault was appointed by Lucien Bouchard as minister for industry and commerce.

He was later named the minister of education.

When Bouchard resigned, Legault supported Bernard Landry.

Landry appointed Legault as minister of education and later as minister of health and social services.

He was re-elected in 2003 while the PQ lost to the Quebec Liberal Party.

He remained on the PQ front bench as the critic for economics, economic development, and finances.

Legault endorsed Richard Legendre in the 2005 PQ leadership election, which was won by André Boisclair.

After his re-election in 2007, Legault was renamed the PQ critic for economic development and finances.

He was re-elected in 2003, 2007, and 2008 but resigned his seat on June 25, 2009.

Legault was re-elected in the 2008 election but announced on June 25, 2009, that he would retire from politics.

He was seen by some political analysts at the time as a potential contender in a future leadership election.

However, some Liberals thought that he could replace Jean Charest, then premier.

A founding member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since it began in 2011.

Legault sits as a member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the Lanaudière region riding of L'Assomption.

In February 2011, Legault co-founded with Charles Sirois a new political movement called the "Coalition pour l'avenir du Québec" ("Coalition for the Future of Quebec").

In November 2011 it became an official party under the name Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

The CAQ aims to bring together like-minded voters in a single party regardless of their views on Quebec nationalism, Quebec federalism and Quebec autonomism.

In a break with his sovereigntist past, Legault promised that a CAQ government would never hold a referendum on sovereignty.

Soon after retiring from politics, he became disenchanted with sovereigntism and resigned from the PQ.

He concluded that Quebec belongs within Canada but has vowed that a CAQ government would "explore all options" to defend Quebec's interests and demand greater power.

Legault's ongoing tenure of 24 years, 49 days as premier is the ninth-longest in Quebec history and the longest of any Quebec premier since 2012.

Prior to entering politics, he was the co-founder of the Canadian airline Air Transat.

He returned to the legislature following his victory in the 2012 Quebec provincial election as the MNA for L'Assomption, a suburb of Montreal.

The party finished third in the 2012 general election, winning 19 seats and 27.05 percent of the vote.

He was reelected in 2014.

In the 2014 general election, the CAQ finished third again, but increased their seat count to 22.

He led the CAQ to majority governments in the 2018 and 2022 provincial elections; the first government not of the Quebec Liberal Party or the Parti Québécois (PQ) since Jean-Jacques Bertrand's 1970 Union Nationale government.