Jacques Saada

The Honourable Jacques Saada PC
Member of Parliament for Brossard—La Prairie
In office 2 June 1997 – 23 January 2006
Preceded by	first member
Succeeded by	Marcel Lussier
Personal details
Born	22 November 1947 (75 years old) Tunis, Tunisia
Political party	Liberal
Residence(s)	Brossard, Quebec, Canada
Profession	Teacher, businessman

Jacques Saada, PC (Arabic: جاك سعادة; born 22 November 1947) is a Canadian politician and former cabinet minister.

Saada is a teacher and linguist by profession and was Chief Executive Officer of a translation firm, a consultant and a lecturer in translation prior to entering politics.

He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) from the Quebec riding of Brossard—La Prairie in the 1997 federal election. He served as Deputy Government Whip from 2001 to 2003. When Paul Martin became Prime Minister of Canada on 12 December 2003, he had Saada appointed as a privy councillor(giving him the prenominal "The Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life) and to the Cabinet as Minister Responsible for Democratic Reform and Government House Leader.

Following the 2004 election with the election of a Liberal minority government, Saada was transferred to the positions of Minister for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for La Francophonie.

Saada was born in Tunis, the main city of Tunisia, to a Jewish family. In the 2004 election his campaign was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti, letters, and phone calls.

Saada was defeated in the 2006 election, losing his seat in Brossard—La Prairie to Bloc Québécois candidate Marcel Lussier. His former constituency assistant, Alexandra Mendès, defeated Lussier in the 2008 election.

He was the Quebec Chair for the Rae campaign for the leadership of the Liberal Party. In September 2007, Saada was named president and chief executive officer of the Quebec Aerospace Association (AQA). He resigned from that position in December 2011.

Electoral record (partial)

2000 Canadian federal election: Brossard—La Prairie
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Jacques Saada	26,806	52.69	–	$63,331
	Bloc Québécois	Nicolas Tétrault	16,758	32.94		$66,058
	Alliance	Richard Bélisle	2,973	5.84		$8,956
	Progressive Conservative	Sylvain St-Louis	2,783	5.47		$50
	New Democratic	Clémence Provencher	852	1.67		none listed
	Natural Law	Sylvia Larrass	528	1.04		none listed
	Marxist–Leninist	Normand Chouinard	172	0.34		$10
Total valid votes/expenditures limit			50,872	100.00		$69,269
Total rejected ballots			1,067
Turnout			51,939	66.13
Electors on the lists			78,535
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

External links

• Jacques Saada – Parliament of Canada biography
• Background
• Statement in the Canadian Parliament, 9 April 2002
• Quebec Aerospace Association