Jacques Saada

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Jacques Saada is a Canadian politician and former cabinet minister. A teacher and linguist by training, he also led a translation company and worked as a consultant and lecturer before entering politics.

He was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Brossard—La Prairie in 1997 and served as Deputy Government Whip from 2001 to 2003. When Paul Martin became prime minister in 2003, Saada joined the Cabinet as Minister Responsible for Democratic Reform and Government House Leader. After the 2004 election, he became Minister for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for La Francophonie.

Saada was born in Tunis, Tunisia, to a Jewish family. His 2004 campaign faced anti-Semitic graffiti and threats. He lost his seat in the 2006 federal election to Marcel Lussier of the Bloc Québécois; his former aide Alexandra Mendès later defeated Lussier in 2008.

He served as Quebec Chair for the Liberal leadership campaign of Bob Rae. In 2007 he became president and CEO of the Quebec Aerospace Association, a position he held until resigning in December 2011.