Gerry Sklavounos

Gerry Sklavounos, B.C.L., LL.B., (born December 16, 1974) is a Quebec politician. He is the current Member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of Laurier-Dorion. He was Deputy Government House Leader for the provincial Liberals. In October 2016, he left the Liberal caucus over allegations of sexual assault and now sits as an independent.

Sklavounos was born on December 16, 1974 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He moved into Laurier-Dorion when he was six years old. He went to Vanier College for CEGEP and graduated in 1994. He earned bachelor's degrees in civil and common law from the McGill University Faculty of Law in 1998.

Sklavounos was called to the Quebec bar in 1999, and articled that year at the federal Department of Justice, working on criminal prosecutions. He practiced criminal law for seven years before becoming a politician, working as legal aid layer for the Community Legal Centre of Montreal from 2000–2004 and in private practice with Silver Sandiford Attorneys from 2004–2007.

Sklavounos is a member of Montreal's Greek community and has served in executive positions with the Hellenic Canadian Congress and the Hellenic Scholarships Foundation. He was an adviser to the Hellenic Congress of Quebec from 2003–2007, the Vice President of public relations for the Hellenic Canadian Congress from 2006–2007, and a member of the board of directors for the Hellenic Scholarships Foundation in 2007.

38th Quebec Legislature

Sklavounos was first elected to the Quebec National Assembly in the riding of Laurier-Dorion in the provincial general elections of March 26, 2007. Sklavounos defeated the then-incumbent Member of the Parti Québécois, Elsie Lefebvre, earning 39,66% of the vote versus Lefebvre's 36,06%.

Sklavounos was named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Line Beauchamp, by Quebec Premier Jean Charest. Sklavounos was also named Vice-Chair of the Committee on Economy and Labour.

He was also Quebec’s executive member of the U.S.-based National Conference of State Legislatures (N.C.S.L.) and Quebec’s representative at the 9th meeting of the parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity held in Bonn, Germany in May 2008.

39th Quebec Legislature

Sklavounos was re-elected as Member of the Quebec National Assembly for the riding of Laurier-Dorion in the provincial general elections of December 8, 2008, garnering 42.90% of the vote to defeat his Parti Québécois challenger Badiona Bazin who earned 33.82% of the vote.

In January 2009 Jean Charest appointed Sklavounos Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Yves Bolduc. Since May 2009, Sklavounos has also been a member of the Quebec section of the Francophone and Commonwealth Parliamentary Associations. In February 2011, Sklavounos was elected Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Health and Social Services, and gave up his parliamentary assistant position.

40th Quebec Legislature

Sklavounos was re-elected as Member of the Quebec National Assembly for Laurier-Dorion in the provincial elections of September 4, 2012, garnering 34.04% of the vote. He was named the Official Opposition critic for Higher Education on September 26, 2012, a position he held until he was named Liberal critic for Sustainable Development and the Environment on September 16, 2013. He also served as Official Opposition critic for sustainable development and the environment from September 16, 2013 to March 5, 2014.

Le Devoir columnist, Michel David, in his Opposition Report Card referred to Sklavounos in December 2012 as "without a doubt the most efficient member of the new Liberal rat pack".

41st Quebec Legislature and departure from the Liberal caucus

Sklavounos was re-elected in the provincial election held on April 7, 2014, garnering 46.2% of the vote representing 15 566 votes. He defeated Québec Solidaire's Andrés Fontecilla and the Parti Québécois' Pierre Céré who had 27.7% and 15.9% of the vote respectively.

Upon forming his new government, Philippe Couillard named Sklavounos Deputy Government House Leader on April 14. Since June 2014, Sklavounos has also been a Member of the Québec Branch, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, a Member of the National Assembly Delegation for Relations with the United States (DANREU), the Vice-Chair of the Québec Branch, Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas, and Representative of the Québec Secretariat and Executive Committee of COPA.

On October 20, 2016, Sklavonunos was asked to leave the Liberal caucus by Premier Couillard the day after a woman from Quebec City accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2014. Couillard announced an internal party investigation into the allegation led by the party whip, Stéphane Billette. Quebec City police confirmed that an investigation into the allegations had been launched back in March 2016.

Le Devoir then reported that Sklavounos has behaved in an inappropriate manner with female employees, pages, and political staffers in the National Assembly. The paper also reported that between 2012–2014, the Liberal party whip was told about an allegation Sklavounos had acted inappropriately with a staffer working for Pauline Marois's government. Sklavounos has stated that he is innocent and will act to protect his reputation.

A week after the incident was first reported on, Sklavounos took indefinite medical leave from the National Assembly, citing medical reasons.

Sklavounos married and has two children. In June 2010, Sklavounos was selected as one of North America's Top 40 Greek Leaders under 40 Years of Age by the Greek America Foundation.