Joseph Facal

Joseph Facal
Joseph Facal in 2011
President of the Treasury Board, Minister of state for Administration and the Public Service, and Minister responsible for Administration and the Public Service
In office 30 January 2002 – 29 April 2003
Preceded by	Sylvain Simard
Succeeded by	Monique Jérôme-Forget
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
In office 8 March 2001 – 30 January 2002
Preceded by	Sylvain Simard
Succeeded by	Rémy Trudel
Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Also styled as Minister responsible for relations with Francophone and Acadian Communities after 8 March 2001
In office 23 September 1998 – 30 January 2002
Preceded by	Jacques Brassard
Succeeded by	Jean-Pierre Charbonneau
Minister responsible for the Outaouais
In office 15 December 1998 – 8 March 2001
Preceded by	Sylvain Simard
Succeeded by	Sylvain Simard
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Fabre
In office 1994–2003
Preceded by	Jean-A. Joly
Succeeded by	Michelle Courchesne
Personal details
Born	(1961-03-12) 12 March 1961 (age 55) Montevideo, Uruguay
Political party	Parti Québécois
Profession	journalist, author

Joseph Facal (born 12 March 1961) is a Canadian politician, academic, and journalist in the province of Quebec. He was a Parti Québécois member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2003 and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry.

Facal was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and moved with his family to Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1970. His father, a surgeon with leftist political views, moved to Canada to escape Uruguay's political turmoil. Facal attended a bilingual French/Spanish school in Uruguay and was fluent in both languages before arriving in Quebec; he later became fluent in English. His sister, Carole Facal, is a noted singer-songwriter in Quebec.

Facal has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Université du Québec à Montréal (1983), a Masters of Arts degree in Political Science from the Université de Montréal (1986), and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the Sorbonne (1993). He lectured at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Montréal and Concordia University before starting his career as an elected official. He joined the Parti Québécois in 1980 and was the party's youth leader in 1990–91.