Born in Montreal, Jacques Chagnon was President and CEO of the Quebec Federation of Catholic School Boards from 1982 to 1985 before his election as MNA for Saint-Louis in 1985.  Re-elected six times since, in a riding now rechristened Westmount-Saint-Louis, Mr. Chagnon has held a number of Parliamentary and Ministerial functions during his political career.

He served as member or President of a number of National Assembly Commissions over the years, and was Minister of Education and President of the Council of Education Ministers of Canada in 1994.  From April 2003 to February 2005, he was Minister of Public Security. In April of 2007, Jacques Chagnon became Second Vice-President of the National Assembly. Four years later, on April 5 th 2011, Mr Chagnon was elected President of the National Assembly. Consequently, he now Chairs the Office of the National Assembly, the Committee on the National Assembly and the Subcommittee on Parliamentary Reform.

Jacques Chagnon holds a B.A. in political science (public administration) from Concordia University and pursued graduate studies in Law and political science at the University of Montreal.  He is married to Sylvie Bélisle and the father of three daughters, Marie-Claude, Sophie and Stéphanie.