André Bellavance (born June 3, 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who served in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 2004 to 2015 and was the mayor of

Victoriaville Victoriaville is a town in central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of Arthabask ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

from 2016 to 2021. Born in

, Bellavance was the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Richmond—Arthabaska Richmond—Arthabaska is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The riding, north of the city of Sherbrooke, straddles the Quebec regions of Centre-du- ...

from 2004 until his resignation from the party on August 25, 2014, continuing in the House of Commons of Canada as an Independent until the 2015 election. representing the riding of

since 2004. Before being elected, he was the parliamentary assistant to Pierre Paquette. Bellavance was interim parliamentary leader of the Bloc from December 16, 2013, to February 25, 2014. On February 25, 2014, Bellavance resigned from that position to become a candidate in the Bloc Québécois leadership election. Bellavance's candidacy for leadership was endorsed by the other three BQ MPs, however he was defeated in the leadership election by

Mario Beaulieu Mario A. Beaulieu (; born February 1, 1959) is a Canadian politician. An advocate for nationalism in Quebec, he served as Party leader, leader (2014–2015), Interim leader (Canada), interim leader (2018–2019) and president (2014–2018) o ...

, the former president of the sovereigntist Société-Saint-Jean-Baptiste, who was viewed as a "hardline" (''

pur et dur Pur et dur (a common expression in French literally meaning "pure and hard") is a term used in Quebec politics to refer to hardliners of the Parti Québécois and the Quebec independence movement. It is most commonly used in the media, where it ...

'') sovereigntist in comparison to Bellavance who had campaigned on broadening the party so that it would become more than a coalition of sovereigntists. On his reasons for leaving the Bloc, Bellavance told a press conference: " eaulieu'svision and orientation for the Bloc are diametrically opposed to mine. Mr. Beaulieu says he can unite the party; for me it's not the case." Bellavance also announced that he will not seek re-election as an MP. Bellavance was elected as mayor of Victoriaville on February 21, 2016, following the election of previous mayor

Alain Rayes Alain Rayes (born December 11, 1971) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 Canadian federal election, and reelected in the 2019 and 2021 electi ...

to the House of Commons.

Flag flap

Bellavance gained national attention early in his first term as an MP, when he initially refused to provide Canadian flags to a

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization (veterans' organization) founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal ...

hall in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. Bellavance, a

Quebec sovereigntist The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...

, had said he felt uncomfortable promoting Canada by providing a flag through his own office, and instead provided a toll-free phone number for the

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...

, which might provide such a flag. Other Bloc MPs had given their constituents Canadian flags on request in the past. A short national scandal ensued at what critics perceived a slight against veterans and against the country. Many politicians quickly sent the Legion flags;

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

sent a flag that had flown atop the

Peace Tower The Peace Tower (french: link=no, Tour de la Paix) is a focal bell and clock tower sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the Victoria Tower af ...

, and

Opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

personally delivered a dozen flags.

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years and ...

, then leader of the Bloc Québécois, announced that the Bloc

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

would send the legion several flags.
/ref>

References

External links

How'd They Vote?: André Bellavance's voting history and quotes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellavance, Andre 1964 births Bloc Québécois MPs Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons French Quebecers Living people Mayors of Victoriaville Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians Université Laval alumni