Some have claimed that Charest downplays his legal first name "John" by presenting himself in French as "Jean" so as to appeal more to francophone Quebecers. For example, in the 1997 federal election, Bloc Québécois MP Suzanne Tremblay attacked Charest by saying, "First, let's recall who Jean Charest really is ... his real name is John, that's what's on his birth certificate, not Jean." Charest responded that, his mother being an Irish Quebecer, it was the Irish priest who baptized him that wrote John on the baptism certificate, but that he was always known as Jean in his family and with his peers as well. He also went to French schools.