Claude Charron

Claude Charron (born October 22, 1946 in L'Île-Bizard, Quebec) is a former CEGEP teacher, provincial politician, writer and broadcaster. He graduated from the Université de Montréal with a degree in political science. During 1969 and 1970 he taught at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit and the Cégep du Vieux Montréal.

In 1970, Claude Charron entered provincial politics. He was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec as the Parti Québécois candidate in the riding of Saint-Jacques (now part of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques) and was reelected in 1973, 1976, and 1981. Following the election of his party to power in 1976 he was appointed Minister responsible for High Commission on Youth, Recreation and Sports and in 1979 was named the Government House Leader and Minister responsible for Parliamentary Affairs.

In February 1982 Charron resigned his cabinet position after pleading guilty to a charge of shoplifting a fur coat from the Eaton's Montreal department store. Charron was found by a security guard wearing the coat with the price tag still attached. He later described the act as a form of political suicide after the PQ's failures in the 1980 referendum and constitutional negotiations.

In November of that year he was charged with drunk driving and resigned his seat in the Quebec National Assembly. The following year Charron published his memoir in the French language under the title Désobéir. In this book he confirmed his homosexuality.

Since leaving politics Charron has worked in radio and television, notably with the TVA network and Radio-Canada, and has contributed to the news magazine L'actualité. He is currently the correspondent for TVA in Paris but had worked alongside Pierre Bruneau during the special televised program for the 2007 Quebec elections.

Electoral record (incomplete)

Quebec general election, 1981: Saint-Jacques
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Parti Québécois	Claude Charron	15,727	63.44
	Liberal	Marcel Tremblay	8,142	32.84
	Union Nationale	Denis Simard	443	1.79
	Workers Communist	Suzanne Lortie	204	0.82
	Workers	Johanne Perreault	100	0.40
	United Social Credit	André Poulin	62	0.25
	N/A (Revolutionary Workers League)	Michel Dugré	62	0.25
	Marxist–Leninist	Arnold August	51	0.21
Total valid votes			24,791	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			340
Turnout			25,131	72.45
Electors on the lists			34,687
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

References

• New York Times report on Claude Charron's resignation from Cabinet
• CBC electoral report on the Sainte-Marie-Saint Jacques riding