Francis Fox named to Communications

Francis Fox, the new Minister of Communications and Secretary of State, was named to the Cabinet on March 3, 1980.

Mr. Fox, a 40-year old lawyer, was elected to the House of Commons for the first time in the 1972 general election and was re-elected Member of Parliament for the Quebec riding of Argenteuil/Deux­Montagnes in 1974. In 1979 and 1980 he was re-elected in the riding of Blainville/Deux-Montagnes, which was set up following redistribution.

A graduate of Jean-de-Brébeuf College in Montreal, Mr. Fox took degrees in law at the University of Montreal and Harvard University before attending Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He is a member of the Bar of the Province of Quebec and the Province of Ontario. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in December 1976.

Appointed special assistant to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs in October 1968, Mr. Fox became special assistant to the Prime Minister of Canada in December 1969, a position he held until August 1972.

In January 1975, the Prime Minister and the National President of the Liberal Party appointed Francis Fox, Co-Chairman of the 1975 National Convention of the Liberal Party of Canada. In October 1975, Mr. Fox assumed the duties of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Mr. Fox served as Solicitor General of Canada from September 1976 to January 1978. Following the General Election of May 22, 1979, Mr. Fox was co­chairman of the Parliamentary Advisory Group on Labour and Employment and employment critic for the Official Opposition.