Career
He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada to represent the riding of Ottawa East in the 1972 election as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament. He remained its representative for several decades winning by large majorities each time in the safe Liberal seat. His highest profile came during his time as official languages critic for the Liberal caucus, in which Gauthier was a strident defender of official bilingualism.
Locally, he was known for campaigning to have an aquarium built in Ottawa.
With the Liberal victory in the 1993 election, he ran for Speaker of the House, but lost by one vote to Gilbert Parent. In 1994, he was appointed to the Senate, where he fought for the rights of French-speaking Canadians.
He retired on his 75th birthday in 2004. In the Senate, he listed his Senate division as "Ontario" from November 23, 1994 to December 3, 2001, and as "Ottawa – Vanier" from December 4, 2001 until his retirement.
In September 2006, Jean-Robert Gauthier Catholic Elementary School opened in Barrhaven.
