Place of birth: Haïfa, Palestine of Lebanese parents

Education: Collège St-Alexandre; Séminaire de Trois-Rivières; Université de Laval (Faculties of Law and Social Sciences); University of Ottawa. Called to the Bar, June 1964. Appointed Queen's Counsel, January, 1985.
Profession: Lawyer.
Parliamentary Service: First Canadian of Arab descent elected to the House of Commons in 1968; re-elected in 1972, 1974, 1979, 1980. Appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State for External Affairs, December 1972; Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, January 1974; Minister of Urban Affairs, September 1974. Appointed to Senate June 29, 1984 representing the region of De la Vallière, Quebec; and elected president of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), Canadian section, on July 9, 2005; elected president of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), Canadian section, 2005-2006; and elected president of the Commission des affaires parlementaire de l’APF, May 2006.
Ministerial Appointments: Sworn to the Queen's Privy Council when appointed Minister of Supply and Services and Receiver General for Canada, November 24, 1978; Minister of Regional Economic Expansion, March 3, 1980; Minister for External Relations, January 12, 1982; and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, September 30, 1982.
Marital Status: Married, 1980.
Spouse's Name: Elisabeth Nadeau.
Child: Jean-Manuel and five grandchildren.

Parliamentary Address: The Senate of Canada, Ottawa, Ont. KlA 0A4.