Editing Jacques Parizeau (section)

==Early life and career==
Parizeau was born in [[Montreal]], Quebec, the son of Germaine ({{nee}} Biron) and Gérard Parizeau, from a family of wealth. Gérard Parizeau built one of Quebec’s great fortunes and one of the province’s largest financial firms from a brokerage he established in the 1930s. Jacques' great-grandfather was a founder of the Montreal ''Chambre de Commerce'' and his grandfather was a doctor of renown and a ''Chevalier'' of the ''Légion d’honneur.''<ref name=MtlGaz_Obit>{{cite news |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/jacques-parizeau-obit |title=Former PQ leader Jacques Parizeau dies at 84 |date=June 2, 2015 |work=[[Montreal Gazette]]|access-date=June 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602144843/http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/jacques-parizeau-obit |archive-date=June 2, 2015 |url-status=live |first=Hubert |last=Bauch}}</ref>

As a teenager, Parizeau had radical views and distributed leaflets for Communist [[Fred Rose (politician)|Fred Rose]]'s election campaigns. While sympathetic to the [[Labor-Progressive Party]] he never joined.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Tx01YC8VMcC&pg=PA157|title=René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois in Power|first=Graham |last=Fraser|date=November 21, 2001 |publisher=[[McGill-Queen's University Press]]|isbn=9780773523104}}</ref>

His parents supported bilingualism and sent him to English summer camp.  He attended [[Collège Stanislas (Quebec)|Collège Stanislas]], a [[Roman Catholic]] [[private school]]. He went on to graduate with a [[PhD]] from the [[London School of Economics]] in [[London]], [[England]], as well as degrees at [[HEC Montréal]], [[Paris Institute of Political Studies]] and [[Faculté de droit de Paris]]. Because of a prior commitment to return to instruct at HEC, he left England, where career opportunities were offered in British academia.  He served an internship with the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, and directed his brightest students to [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]] in Kingston, Ontario for postgraduate studies.<ref name=MtlGaz_Obit />

A firm believer in [[economic interventionism]], he was one of the most important advisors to the provincial government during the 1960s, playing an important behind-the-scenes role in the [[Quiet Revolution]]. He was especially instrumental in the [[nationalization]] of [[Hydro-Québec]] (a hydro-electric utility) in 1962-1963, the nationalization of the [[Asbestos Corporation Limited]] mines in 1982, and worked with [[Eric Kierans]] to create the [[Quebec Pension Plan]] in 1963-1966.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1084227010836&call_pageid=968332188492 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929211043/http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1&c=Article&cid=1084227010836&call_pageid=968332188492 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |location=Toronto |work=The Star }}</ref>

He joked that the Quiet Revolution was essentially carried out by three or four cabinet ministers, two dozen civil servants and 50 chansonniers.<ref name=MtlGaz_Obit /> (At the end of his career, he said that he would like to be remembered most for his contributions to the reformation of Quebec.)

Parizeau gradually became a committed [[Quebec sovereignty movement|sovereigntist]], and officially joined the ''[[Parti Québécois]]'' (PQ) on September 19, 1969. In 1970, he became the president of the PQ’s executive council until 1973. He ran for office in the Montreal districts of [[Ahuntsic (provincial electoral district)|Ahuntsic]] in 1970 and [[Crémazie (electoral district)|Crémazie]] in 1973, but lost in both.<ref name="montrealgazette.com">{{Cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/timeline-of-jacques-parizeaus-life |first=Catherine |last=Solyom |date=June 2, 2015 |publisher=[[Postmedia Network]]|website=[[Montreal Gazette]]|title=Timeline of Jacques Parizeau's life}}</ref>

After the PQ was elected to office in the [[1976 Quebec general election|1976 provincial election]], which saw Parizeau elected in the district of [[L'Assomption (provincial electoral district)|L'Assomption]], the new premier, [[René Lévesque]], appointed him as Minister of Finance.<ref name=MtlGaz_Obit />  Parizeau played an important role in the [[1980 Quebec referendum]] campaign in favour of the government's proposals for [[sovereignty-association]].

[[File:Jacques Parizeau ministre 2.jpg|thumb |Parizeau at a 1981 conference at [[Laval University]]]]

As Minister of Finance in Quebec, he was responsible for a number of innovative economic proposals, including the [[Quebec Stock Savings Plan]] ("QSSP") and the Fonds de solidarité (Solidarity Fund) FTQ in 1983.<ref name="montrealgazette.com" /> As of May 2020, the latter's net assets were $13.8 billion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fonds FTQ {{!}} Company vision and mission statement {{!}}Who we are |url=https://www.fondsftq.com/en/a-propos/qui-sommes-nous.aspx |website=Fonds de solidarité FTQ |access-date=November 3, 2020}}</ref>

Parizeau was married to [[Poland|Polish]] immigrant [[Alice Parizeau|Alice Poznanska]] (1930–1990). He was criticized for supporting the [[Charter of the French Language]]. This law limits access to English-language public schools to children whose parents didn't receive their education in English in Canada, and was generally opposed by the English-speaking minority.

In 1984, he had a falling out with Lévesque. Lévesque had moved away from pursuing [[sovereignty association|sovereignty]] to accept a negotiation with the [[Government of Canada|Federal Government]], called ''[[Beau Risque]]''. Parizeau opposed this shift, resigned from Cabinet along with many other members, and temporarily retired from politics. Lévesque was taken by surprise with all these retirements and retired soon after. He was replaced by [[Pierre-Marc Johnson]].

In 1987, Johnson also left the PQ leadership after losing the [[1985 Quebec general election|1985 election]].  Parizeau, still a widely liked figure, was elected to replace him as party leader on March 19, 1988.

It was revealed in 2013 that federal [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Brian Mulroney]] offered in 1987 to appoint Parizeau as an independent [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] in his attempt to secure passage of the [[Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement]] through the upper house as well as part of his strategy to achieve reconciliation with Quebec sovereigntists which led to the [[Meech Lake Accord]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Brian Mulroney offered Senate seat to Jacques Parizeau |url=http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/brian-mulroney-offered-senate-seat-jacques-parizeau-151550996.html |access-date=September 13, 2013 |author=Andy Radia |publisher=[[Yahoo News]] |date=September 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602134544/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/brian-mulroney-offered-senate-seat-jacques-parizeau-151550996.html |archive-date=June 2, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mulroney once offered a Senate seat to Jacques Parizeau |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/mulroney-once-offered-a-senate-seat-to-jacques-parizeau-1.1699201 |access-date=September 13, 2013 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=September 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602134601/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/mulroney-once-offered-a-senate-seat-to-jacques-parizeau-1.1699201 |archive-date=June 2, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Parizeau rejected the offer and went on to become PQ leader and premier.