Francis Fox (born December 2 1939, Montreal, Quebec) is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and is the former Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office and thus was a senior aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin.
A lawyer by training, Fox was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1972 Canadian election as a Liberal MP for the riding of Argenteuil-Deux-Montagnes, Quebec. He was re-elected in the 1974 Canadian election from the same constituency. In the 1979 and 1980 elections he was returned as MP for Blainville-Deux-Montagnes before being defeated in that riding in the 1984 Canadian election.
Fox was elevated to the Cabinet of Pierre Trudeau in 1976 when he became Solicitor General of Canada. He was forced to resign on January 27 1978 when it became known that he had forged the signature of his girlfriend's husband on a form granting permission for her to have an abortion (at the time the husband's consent was needed for the procedure). He returned to Cabinet after the 1980 election when Trudeau appointed him to the position of Secretary of State for Canada and Minister of Communications. He then served as Minister of International Trade in 1984 in the short-lived government of Trudeau's successor, John Turner.
With the defeat of the Turner government and the loss of his own seat, Fox returned to the private sector, first as senior partner in the law firm of Martineau Walker and later as an executive at Rogers AT&T.
In 2003 he became a senior member of Paul Martin's transition team as he prepared to succeed Jean Chretien as Prime Minister. In 2004 Fox became Martin's Principal Secretary but it was announced on August 18 that he would be leaving the position on October 1 in order to return to private life.
| Preceded by: Riding renamed in 1970 from Argenteuil |
Members of Parliament from Argenteuil--Deux-Montagnes | Succeeded by: Riding abolished in 1976 |
| Preceded by: Riding created in 1976 |
Members of Parliament from Blainville--Deux-Montagnes | Succeeded by: Monique Landry, P.C. |