page_title: Lawrence Cannon
section_title: Federal politics
hierarchical_section_title: Lawrence Cannon / Life and career / Federal politics
caption_attribution_description: Secretary Clinton in group photo for attendees of meetings regarding the Haiti Earthquake hosted by the Government of Canada, in Montreal, Canada, Jan. 25, 2010. Embassy Photo/ Public Domain
context_page_description: Lawrence Cannon, PC is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. In early 2006, he was made the Minister of Transport. On October 30, 2008, he relinquished oversight of Transport and was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was defeated in the 2011 federal election by the NDP's Mathieu Ravignat. He was appointed as Canadian Ambassador to France in May 2012, and he served in that position until September 2017.
context_section_description: Although Cannon and his family have historically supported the federal Liberals, he switched to the Conservative Party of Canada in the early 2000s. At the time, his switch to the Conservative Party raised eyebrows among the political class and the media, which generally attributed the move to his inability to make an impression with the Liberal Party. On September 16, 2005, he was named deputy chief of staff and deputy executive director of the Conservative Party. He was also named as Quebec lieutenant to party leader Stephen Harper.
  He successfully ran as a Conservative candidate in the riding of Pontiac in the 2006 federal election, beating incumbent Liberal M.P. David Smith.  Winning with 33.68% of the vote, Cannon gained support from traditional Liberal voters.  The Liberals had held the riding and its predecessors for all but nine years since 1935, and the Conservative candidate had finished a distant third in 2004 with 22.15% of the vote.
  On February 6, 2006, he was sworn in as Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.  This portfolio includes Transport Canada, Infrastructure Canada, the Canadian Transportation Agency, the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada and 16 Crown corporations.
  Many pundits had predicted that Cannon would also be named Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, but Harper chose not to retain that office.  However, Cannon was first on the list of ministers designated to fill in for Harper if he was unable to perform his duties, making him Deputy Prime Minister in practice if not in name.  This was further emphasized when Cannon seconded the pro forma bill to start the first session of the 39th Canadian Parliament; the bill is introduced before the House takes the Speech from the Throne under consideration to maintain the right of the House to consider matters other than those directed to it by the crown.  This bill is normally proposed by the Prime Minister and seconded by either the Deputy Prime Minister or the Government House Leader.
  Following the 2008 federal election, Cannon was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Cannon was one of the higher-ranking Red Tories in the Harper cabinet. In 2009, he denied diplomat Richard Colvin's claim that Afghan prisoners transferred from the Canadian forces to the Afghan police were tortured.
  Cannon was defeated in the 2011 election by NDP challenger Mathieu Ravignat, winning only 29.5 percent of the vote. His place as Minister of Foreign Affairs was taken by John Baird.
caption: Cannon standing next to Haitian　Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive (left) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Montreal at an emergency relief summit on the 2010 Haiti earthquake
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