Hon. Josée Verner
Member of Parliament for Louis-Saint-Laurent
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006 Federal Election
Preceded by	Bernard Cleary
Personal details
Born	(1959-12-30) December 30, 1959 (age 65) Gatineau, Quebec
Political party	Conservative
Profession	political staffer, executive assistant
Cabinet	Minister for International Cooperation, Minister responsible for Official Languages & Minister responsible for La Francophonie

Josée Verner, PC, MP (born December 30, 1959 in Gatineau, Québec) is a Canadian politician. She represents the electoral district of Louis-Saint-Laurent in the Canadian House of Commons and is a minister in the Conservative cabinet.

On February 6, 2006, she was been as the Minister of International Co-operation and Minister responsible for La Francophonie and Official Languages in Prime Minister Harper’s cabinet. She was subsequently moved from International Cooperation to Heritage.

A member of the provincial Action démocratique du Québec and the federal Conservative Party of Canada, Verner also once worked as a political staffer in Quebec City in the Robert Bourassa government. Verner has spent almost 20 years in the communications and public service fields.

She was a candidate for the Conservatives in the 2004 federal election and finished second with 31% of the vote, the party's best Quebec showing, in a three-way race that was won by the Bloc Québécois's Bernard Cleary. This was contrasted with her victory in a two-way race in 2006.

Looking to boost the party's profile in Quebec, and hoping to make Verner a viable candidate in future elections, Conservative leader Stephen Harper took the unusual step of naming Verner to the opposition shadow cabinet even though she was not a Member of Parliament. She served as critic for the Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and the Minister responsible for La Francophonie, both posts then held by fellow Quebecker Jacques Saada. She was also appointed chair of the Quebec Conservative caucus which at the time was made up of herself and Conservative senators.

She is also one of the most socially liberal members of the Conservative caucus. For example, she supports same-sex marriage.

Running again in the 2006 election, she was elected with 57.68% of the vote in Louis-Saint-Laurent, defeating Bernard Cleary, and heading a wave of Conservative victories that swept the Quebec City area.

On February 6 2006, she was sworn into Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet as Minister of International Co-operation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages.

Her parliamentary secretary is Ted Menzies, who received some criticism for having La Francophonie as his portfolio while he does not speak French. It was subsequently specified that he was appointed parliamentary secretary to Josée Verner for his experience as opposition critic for International Co-operation rather than for La Francophonie.

• Parliamentary profile
• Verner's website
  
• Verner's Bio in CIDA's web site