Robert Dean (Canadian politician)

Dean became a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ) in 1969.^[6] He was one of the few Anglophone Quebecers to join the separatist party.^[1][6] However, he initially declined to run for politics, after René Lévesque requested that he stand in the 1976 Quebec general election.^[3] Dean subsequently ran for the PQ in the 1981 election and was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec as member for the district of Prévost. He sponsored the Act creating the Fonds de solidarité FTQ in June 1983.^[7] On 5 March 1984, he joined the Executive Council of Quebec and served as Minister of Revenue. He later became the Minister of Employment and Consultation during a reshuffle on 20 December 1984. He retained that position when Pierre-Marc Johnson became premier on 3 October 1985. However, Dean lost his seat during the 1985 provincial election. He ran again in the election four years later in Groulx but was defeated.^[2]

After his defeat in 1985, Dean rejoined the United Auto Workers and retired in 1989.^[8]

After retiring from politics, Dean became a human resources consultant. He was named a member of the Council for the Elderly on 27 June 2001.^[2] He joined the SPQ Libre, the left-wing faction of the PQ, when it formed in February 2004.^[9] Dean died on 4 February 2021 at the age of 93.^[3][6]