Michael Fortier has the unique distinction of being one of the very few people in Canadian history to land a cabinet post without ever having run in the election.
On February 6, 2006, the day the Conservative minority government took office, Prime Minister Stephen Harper handed Fortier a Senate seat and the title of Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
The Conservatives saw it as a way to give their party visibility in Montreal after failing to win a single seat there. Some voters saw it as a blow to democracy.
When asked by reporters why he didn't run in the election, Fortier's answer was simple: He didn't want to.
But Fortier promised he would run in this election. And he's campaigning in the riding of Montreal-area riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges on a platform of transparency and accountability.
The Conservatives have high hopes for him.
This millionaire financier and lawyer was born in 1962 in Quebec City to a Irish mother and French father.
He's held senior-level positions in securities, mergers and acquisitions at Credit Suisse First Boston and TD Securities.
As 2006 campaign co-chair, Fortier helped the Conservatives win 10 seats in Quebec.
To win a majority, however, they need even more support in la belle province. And Fortier – a former colleague of Brian Mulroney's at leading Montreal law firm Ogilvy Renault, flawlessly bilingual, and left-leaning – clearly has the right credentials and connections to make him a major power broker in this province.
With support for sovereignty at its lowest point in years and recent polls placing the Bloc Quebecois and the Conservatives neck-and-neck, it should be a tight race between Fortier and Bloc incumbent Meili Faille. In 2006, Faille trounced the Liberals' star candidate Marc Garneau and won 43 per cent of the vote.
But if Fortier fails to win a seat, it won't be the first time. He ran in the riding of Laval in 2000 and came fourth. And he came in dead last when he vied for leadership of the Progressive Conservatives in 1998, losing out to Joe Clark.