Career
A pharmacist by occupation, Jean-Michel Bertrand was elected mayor of Bourg-en-Bresse on 25 March 2001, then Member of Parliament on 16 June 2002, for the twelfth legislature (2002–2007). Foreign health reasons, Jean-Michel Bertrand was not a candidate re-election in 2007. Xavier Breton, 1st assistant to the mayor of Bourg-en-Bresse, was elected Member of Parliament on 17 June 2007.
Sometimes nicknamed "the bulldozer of the Dombes" for municipal action, Jean-Michel Bertrand died on 19 February 2008 aged 64.
He was suffering from a Myelodysplastic syndrome.