Career
He is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada. Carignan was the mayor of Saint-Eustache, Quebec from 2000 to 2009. He ran for the Conservatives in the 2008 federal election in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, but lost.
On August 27, 2009, he was named to the Senate of Canada as a Conservative.
On May 24, 2011, Carignan was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. He was appointed Leader of the Government in the Senate on August 20, 2013 but, unlike most of his predecessors, was not appointed to Cabinet.
Carignan was admitted to the Bar of Quebec in 1988 and specializes in labour and public law. He was a law professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal and at the Université de Montréal.
Senator Carignan was created Government Leader in the Senate on 30 August 2013 by virtue of his caucus leadership, upon the resignation of his predecessor as Leader, Senator Marjory LeBreton.
