Professional Affiliation

Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP; Former Premier of Québec

Expert Bio

As Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Premier of Québec, Jean Charest is one of Canada’s best known political figures.

He was notably the initiator of the negotiation for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). Furthermore, the Charest government initiated an unprecedented labour mobility agreement between France and Québec.

As Minister of the Environment, he led his country’s delegation at the 1992 Earth Summit on the economy and the environment in Rio and  was praised for his leadership role among G7 countries on climate change and biodiversity.

The Charest government has been a world leader on the environment and climate change, and best known for a major initiative for the sustainable development of Northern Québec called “Plan Nord”.

Under his leadership, Québec experienced a sustained period of economic prosperity with stronger economic growth from 2008 to 2012 than the US, Europe, Canada and Ontario, despite a global financial and economic crisis.

Jean Charest is a Partner at McCarthy Tétrault.