François Legault

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.

Education

The Legault government passed Bill 40 on February 8, 2020. This expropriated the province's 60 French school boards, turning them into school service centres.

Bill 40 was passed to expropriate school boards that have been running in English style for 175 years. This did not include nine English school boards. But the move is seen as further undermining English-language education in the province.

In 2020, it was reported that the (CAQ) government was going to replace the (Ethics and religious culture (ERC) with a new curriculum which would shift the focus from religion toward culture and citizenship. It would be replaced by 2024 with a new course, Culture et citoyenneté québécoise.

In April 2022, following a controversy over academic freedom at the University of Ottawa, the Legault government tabled Bill 32, a bill on Academic freedom in universities. The bill passed in June 2022.

In December 2023, half a million public sector workers went on strike. This included the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement teachers' union, which impacted over 350,000 students; they later reached an agreement.

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.

Legault married Isabelle Brais on March 7, 1992, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. They have two children, Xavier and Victor. During Legault's tenure as premier, Brais regularly accompanied him to political and international events and she also carries out official engagements without him, a rare practice among her predecessors.

Legault is baptised Catholic, but non-practising.

Parti Québécois

Legault was recruited to politics by Lucien Bouchard, and was elected to the National Assembly at the 1998 election for the off-island suburban riding of Rousseau. He was immediately promoted to cabinet 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.

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.