On December 2, 2006, at one of the most exciting Liberal leadership conventions in party history, Stéphane Dion was elected as the 11th leader of the Liberal Party of Canada on the fourth ballot.

First elected in a 1996 by-election, Stéphane Dion was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006 in the riding of Saint-Laurent - Cartierville.

Mr. Dion became Intergovernmental Affairs Minister in January 1996 under former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, where he worked to improve our federation.

In July 2004, under former Prime Minister Paul Martin, Mr. Dion was appointed Environment Minister. In that position, he helped prepare Canada for the challenges of a sustainable economy and played a key role in developing the greenest budget since Confederation.

Before entering the race to become Liberal leader, Mr. Dion served as Foreign Affairs Critic in Interim Leader Bill Graham's shadow cabinet.

Mr. Dion graduated from Université Laval with a B.A. in 1977 and an M.A. in 1979, both in political science. In 1986 he received his doctorate in sociology from the Institut d'études politiques in Paris.

Before entering politics, Mr. Dion taught public administration and political science at the Université de Montréal from 1984 to 1996 and authored numerous books and scientific articles. He lectured at the Université de Moncton in 1984, was a visiting professor at the Brookings Institution in Washington, at the Laboratoire d'économie politique in Paris and at the Canadian Centre for Management Development in Ottawa. In 1999, McGill Queen's University Press published Straight Talk: Speeches and Writings on Canadian Unity, which was short-listed for the Donner Prize that year. In 2002 he received an honourary doctorate from the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Mr. Dion was born on September 28, 1955 in Quebec City. He is married to Janine Krieber, and has one daughter, Jeanne.