Gérald Tremblay

After graduating in law (cum laude) from the University of Ottawa in 1969, Mr. Tremblay was admitted to the Québec bar in 1970. He earned an MBA degree, with distinction honours from the Harvard Business School in 1972.

He worked as a financial and credit analyst, then sales representative with Dun & Bradstreet between 1963 and 1966 and as a professor and instructor at the École des hautes études commerciales from 1974 to 1977. He also became a turnaround manager for businesses as well as an owner and manager of companies in the hotel and retail sales sectors from 1974 to 1986. He was senior partner and general manager of a consulting firm under the Sobeco Ernst & Young Group from 1977 to 1981, executive vice president of the Fédération des caisses d’entraide économique du Québec in 1981 and 1982, and president and CEO of the Société de développement industriel (SDI) until 1989. During this period he also served as the governor of the Association des MBA du Québec (1991), member of the board of directors of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (1988–1989) and member of the board of directors and the executive committee of Hydro-Québec (1988–1989).

Mr. Tremblay was elected to the National Assembly in the riding of Outremont for the first time in 1989. He was appointed minister of industry, commerce, science and technology for Québec, a position which he occupied until September 1994. Re-elected as a member of the National Assembly in the September 1994 general election, he was appointed chairman of the Commission de l’économie et du travail du Québec (1994–1996).

From 1996 to 1998, he worked as advisor to the Monitor Company, an international company specializing in strategic planning. Governor of the Montréal Exchange from 1996 to 2000 and Chairman of the Centre de perfectionnement of the École des hautes études commerciales (HEC), from 1996 to 2001, he founded the Institute for Socio-Economic Progress in October 1999, with the mandate to participate in the development of a socio-economic model better suited to new realities and to accelerate its implementation. In 2000, he was appointed chairman of the consultative commission on the public consultation policy concerning derogations to the master plan and planning regulations for Montréal.

He was the founding leader of the Montréal Island Citizens Union (MICU) in 2001. He was elected mayor of the new City of Montréal on November 4, 2001 and was re-elected in 2005. As Mayor, he became de facto chairman of the Montréal Metropolitan Community and member of the board of directors of the Fondation du maire de Montréal pour la jeunesse.
He has also served as a member of the board of directors of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), and of the Big City Mayors Caucus since 2002.

As Mayor of Montréal, Gérald Tremblay has roles in several international organizations: executive vice-president, treasurer, and chairman of the commission on the financing of services and infrastructure of Metropolis since 2002, member of Mayors for Peace since 2004, vice chairman of the commission on water and the commission on local water management of Metropolis, director of the St.-Lawrence/Québec region of the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, vice president of the Association internationale des maires francophones (AIMF) and founding member of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change since 2005.

In 2006, he was appointed vice president for North America of United Cities and Local Governments and re-elected vice president of the International Association of Francophone Mayors. He also became vice chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change in 2007.

Concerned about democracy and citizen participation in municipal life, in 2002 he created the position of ombudsman and the Office of Public Consultations. He also has promoted the Montréal Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was introduced on January 1st 2006.

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