Philippe Couillard

On October 4, 2018, Couillard resigned as MNA for Roberval and leader of the Quebec Liberal Party after his party was defeated on October 1, 2018.

Couillard's government was ousted after only one term by the Coalition Avenir Québec at the October 1, 2018 provincial election. Couillard himself easily won reelection in Roberval. However, he was the only Liberal elected from Saguenay, and one of only seven Liberals elected from outside Montreal and Laval. He resigned as party leader and MNA on October 4, and the CAQ won the ensuing by-election.

In October 2017 a Quebec ban on face covering made headlines. Couillard supported the law, saying "We are in a free and democratic society. You speak to me, I should see your face, and you should see mine. It's as simple as that."

On March 5, 2014, amid weeks of speculation that the Parti Québécois would call a snap election, Lieutenant Governor Pierre Duchesne dropped the writs for a general election at the request of Premier Pauline Marois. Couillard opted to run in the riding of Roberval, where he now lives, handing Outremont to star candidate Hélène David.

Returning the Liberal Party of Quebec back to a majority government, after an eighteen-month stint led by Pauline Marois and the Parti Quebecois, Couillard assumed office on April 23, 2014, naming 26 ministers to his cabinet.

On March 17, 2013, Couillard became the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, beating ex-cabinet ministers Raymond Bachand and Pierre Moreau. On December 9, 2013, he was elected MNA for the safe Liberal seat of Outremont after Bachand stood down from the seat in his favour.

On October 3, 2012, Couillard became the third person to enter the race to succeed Jean Charest as leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. When asked why he was re-entering politics, he said, "I feel the need to serve."

On June 23, 2010, Couillard was appointed to the Security Intelligence Review Committee, and consequently was appointed to the Privy Council.

On June 25, 2008, Couillard officially announced his resignation as Minister and MNA. He was succeeded as Minister and Jean-Talon MNA by locally-known Alma doctor Yves Bolduc.

In 2007, Couillard transferred to the riding of Jean-Talon in the Quebec City area, replacing Margaret Delisle who did not seek re-election due to health reasons. Couillard won his seat in the 2007 election despite the Action démocratique du Québec's (ADQ) strong performance in the region in which the party gained the majority of the seats. Pierre Arcand succeeded Couillard in the Mont-Royal riding. Couillard was reappointed Health and Social Services Minister as well as the minister responsible for the provincial Capitale-Nationale (Quebec) region.

Couillard was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Canadian-born Joseph Alfred Jean Pierre Couillard de Lespinay, and French-born Hélène Yvonne Pardé. He holds a medical degree and a certification in neurosurgery from the Université de Montréal. He was the head of the department of neurosurgery at Hôpital Saint-Luc from 1989 to 1992 and again at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke from 1996 to 2003. From 1992 to 1996, he practised in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In 2003, he left the medical profession to run for the Montreal-area seat of Mont-Royal in the National Assembly representing the Quebec Liberal Party. He was elected in the 2003 election and was appointed Minister of Health and Social Services on April 29, 2003.

Philippe Couillard (French: [filɪp kujɑːʁ] ; born June 26, 1957) was the 31st Premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018, leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018 and a former university professor and neurosurgeon in Quebec, Canada. In the 2014 election he moved to the riding of Roberval where he resides. Until June 25, 2008, he served as the Quebec Minister for Health and Social Services and was also MNA of Mont-Royal until he resigned in 2008 under Jean Charest's Liberal government. He resigned as Liberal leader and MNA, on October 4, 2018.