#munipoli Matters SIDEPLATE - The municipal candidates in Quebec's election (PART 1)
Here's a list of candidates running in the 2022 Quebec general election who have municipal experiences or backgrounds
Welcome to another edition of #munipoil Matters, where we go all in on covering the often under-reported area of municipal politics and local government. September is election month in Quebec, as a provincial election has been called for October 3.
Four years ago in the 2018 election, the province witnessed a historical breakthrough as a third place party, the Coalition Avenir Quebec, won a massive landslide election, ousting the incumbent Liberal government and reducing the Parti Quebecois into a dismal third place.
Since then, the CAQ government under Premier François Legault has maintained unusually high polling numbers amongst the Quebecois public. Even during the height of the pandemic when Quebecers were forced into lockdowns and curfews, Legault maintained stratospheric levels of support.
The Quebec National Assembly has 125 seats. The party standings upon dissolution of the provincial legislature are 76 CAQ, 27 QLP, 10 Quebec Solidaire (a left wing separatist party), 7 PQ, 1 Conservative and 4 Independents.
As with what I did with the Ontario election, I will profile each of the five major parties’ candidates from a municipal background, such as being a former or current councillor from a city, town or ‘warden’ of a Regional County Municipality (RCM).
With this list, I will expand my range to include current MNAs as well. My knowledge of the Quebec political scene isn’t as in-depth, so if I missed anyone who did run municipally before, I apologize.
Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)
Much of the current polling has shown that the CAQ could increase their majority from the 74 seats they won in 2018 to perhaps even up to 100 seats.
But with the steady climb of the Quebec Conservatives in recent weeks, that might put that goal for the CAQ in jeopardy, but not likely out of range of reelection to government.
It’s not surprising that a party comprised of former Liberals, PQ and Conservative leaning types attracted municipal politicians to run for them in 2018 and 2022, given the coalitional nature of the party.
Here’s a list of those who are running under the CAQ banner this year.
Anjou-Louis-Riel: Karine Boivin Roy spent eight years as a Montreal city councillor in the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough for Louis-Riel ward.
Arthabaska: Current MNA Éric Lefebvre was first elected in a 2016 by-election. Prior to that, he was a city councillor from Victoriaville from 2001 to 2009.
Beauce-Nord: Luc Provençal was first elected to the National Assembly four years ago and prior to that he was the mayor of Beauceville from 2009 to 2018. He also served as Warden of the Beauce-Centre (formerly Robert-Cliche) RCM.
Beauharnois: Claude Reid is the MNA for this riding, first elected in 2018. He worked at the Caisse Desjardins de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield as director of communications and business strategies. From 1999 to 2007, he served as a councillor for Salaberry-de-Valleyfield in the Georges-Leduc district.
Blainville: Mario Laframboise is a former BQ MP for Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel from 2000 to 2011. He was mayor for Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix and Warden for the Papineau RCM before getting into federal and provincial politics.
Laframboise joined the CAQ after losing his federal seat in 2011 and ran in a 2012 by-election in Argenteuil, coming third place. He got elected in Blainville in the 2014 provincial election.
Charlesbourg: Jonatan Julien was a Quebec City councillor representing Les Rivières borough. First elected municipally in 2013, Julien was reelected in 2017 prior to his election as a CAQ MNA in 2018.
Dubuc: François Tremblay is a former city councillor from Saguenay, where he also served as the chair of the La Baie borough. He was elected as a CAQ MNA in 2018. Tremblay’s bio from the National Assembly website listed him as a ‘co-founder’ of the Bloc Quebecois and head of the PQ national youth committee.
Gatineau: The former mayor of La Pêche, Robert Bussière, was elected as MNA here in 2018. Bussière was in municipal politics for over two decades, first as councillor from 1989 to 1997 then mayor from 1997 to 2017. During that time, he also served as Warden of the Collines-de-l’Outaouais RCM.
Îles-de-la-Madeleine: Jonathan Lapierre has been the Mayor of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine (one of the two municipalities on the Magdalen Islands) since 2013. Before that, he was councillor from 2005 to 2013.
Laporte: Isabelle Poulet has been a councillor for Sainte-Julie since 2005. She will be on the CAQ candidate slate alongside former mayor Suzanne Roy.
Matane-Matapédia: Jean-Sébastien Barriault is the former mayor of Méchins from 2011 to 2013, when he went off to work in the Verreault shipyard.
Mégantic: François Jacques is an undertaker and former municipal councillor for the Town of Lac-Mégantic, who was first elected as a CAQ MNA in 2018.
Mirabel: Sylvie D’Amours served as a former councillor from the Town of Saint-Joseph-du-Lac. She was elected to the National Assembly in 2014 and reelected in 2018.
Pointe-aux-Trembles: Chantal Rouleau was previously on the Montreal City Council from 2010 to 2018, as the borough mayor of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles. She was elected MNA in 2018 and serves as the Legault government’s Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montréal Region.
René-Lévesque: Yves Montigny is the Mayor of Baie-Comeau, having served that role since 2017. Before that, he was elected to town council in May 2016.
Richmond: André Bachand’s name has been around conservative political circles in Quebec for decades. He was a former mayor of Asbestos (now known as Val-des-Sources) from 1986-1997 and warden of the Le Sources (formerly known as Asbestos) RCM in 1987-1997.
In 1997, Bachard was elected as a Progressive Conservative MP for the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska, reelected in 2000. In 2003, after the Tories merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the new Conservative Party of Canada, Bachard opted not to join the new party and sat as an Independent for the remainder of his term.
By 2008, Bachand returned to the Conservative fold, running in Sherbrooke but coming in third. He became part of Stephen Harper’s inner circle to try improving Conservative fortunes in Quebec. In 2018, he ran and won as a CAQ candidate in Richmond.
Rivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata: Former municipal councillor from Rivière-du-Loup Amélie Dionne is running for the CAQ. An entrepreneur, Dionne served as councillor from 2009 until 2013 when she ran for mayor and lost by 1,000 votes. She will attempt to hold this seat for the CAQ as incumbent Denis Tardif is not reoffering this election.
Roberval: Nancy Guillemette is the CAQ incumbent seeking a second term. She was a former municipal councillor in Roberval from 2009 to 2017.
Rousseau: Louis-Charles Thouin was first elected in 2018 as a CAQ MNA. He is a former financial security advisor for National Bank. From 2009-2017, Thouin was the mayor of Saint-Calixte and also served a term as Warden of the Montcalm RCM.
Rouyn-Noranda—Témiscamingue: Daniel Bernard is currently a City Councillor from Rouyn-Noranda, but he’s no stranger to the National Assembly. Bernard was the Liberal MNA for the same riding from 2003-2007 and 2008-2012.
Sherbrooke: Caroline St-Hilaire was elected in 1997 as the youngest woman in the House of Commons at the time as a Bloc MP for Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher. She was elected the first woman mayor of Longueuil in 2009, staying in that office until 2017 to pursue a media career.
Verchères: As previously mentioned the former mayor of Sainte-Julie, Suzanne Roy, is running as the CAQ candidate as incumbent Suzanne Dansereau is not running for a second term. Roy served as mayor from 2005 to 2021, adding stints as President of the Union des Municipalités du Québec (UMQ) from 2014 to 2016 and 2019-2021.
Verdun: Montreal City Councillor Veronique Tremblay will run for the CAQ in the election in this riding. Tremblay was elected in 2017 and reelected in 2021 under the Projet Montreal banner.
As you can see, when you became the party in power it’s easier to recruit from the municipal political sphere, as elected officials in that realm prefer to enter politics provincially so they can get things done.
It’s also interesting to see the wide spectrum of political ideology the CAQ has attracted. There are former Bloc, PQ, Conservative, Liberal and municipal progressive (Projet Montreal) candidates running for Legault’s party.
PART 2 will feature what the Quebec premier has labeled as ‘the oppositions’.
Cover photo from CAQ official website.
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