sex offender
A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crim ...
social democratic
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
was named interim leader.
On June 19, 2022, Boisclair pled guilty to two counts of sexual assault in separate episodes involving two young men. On July 18, 2022, the Quebec Court accepted a joint sentence recommendation from the Crown prosecutor and defence counsel, and imposed a sentence of imprisonment for two years less a day."Ex-PQ leader Andre Boisclair gets jail term for sex assaults", ''CTV News Montreal'', July 18, 2022. /ref>
. He grew up in the affluent francophone Montreal neighbourhood of
Outremont
Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by fran ...
, a record he held until Simon-Pierre Diamond was elected in 2007. He also quickly garnered a reputation as a party animal in Quebec City's night-life scene.
He served as a
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
habit.
Doray pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and during court testimony it was learned that Boisclair authorized some of the expenses. The ensuing investigation cleared Boisclair of any wrongdoing - he was never accused nor charged with any crime. However, in September 2005, Boisclair admitted to personally using cocaine between 1996 and 2003 while serving as a member of the Quebec legislature.
Boisclair continued to serve as a Member of the National Assembly until he resigned in August 2004 to attend
Harvard Kennedy School
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. At the time of his resignation, Boisclair held the position of opposition parliamentary (house) leader. Boisclair completed the Master's in Public Administration program at Harvard Kennedy School, a program that does not require students to hold a previous university degree. While at Harvard, Boisclair attended lectures by
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...
and kept a
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Party of
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...
.
Boisclair was the first
openly gay
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
politician in Canada to win the leadership of a party with legislative representation. (Previous openly gay Canadian political party leaders included
Chris Lea
Chris Lea is a designer, politician and political activist in Canada. He was the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 1990 to 1996. Lea is notable for being the first openly gay political party leader in Canadian history.
Biography
Lea is a ...
of the
Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics.
The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...
and
Allison Brewer Allison Brewer (born July 15, 1954) is a Canadian social activist and politician, and the former leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party. She has been particularly active in areas of lesbian and gay rights and access to abortion. She is o ...
.)
After his election as party leader, Boisclair delivered a speech promising a sovereignty referendum within two years of a PQ victory in the next Quebec general election. During a joint press conference with
as unacceptable. He stated that if elected Premier, he would ignore the ruling of the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
on referendum question clarity.
Upon taking the reins of the PQ, Boisclair's actions quickly created political controversy within his own party. After a questionable appearance in a comedy sketch featuring a homosexual depiction of
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, ...
and
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, and an attempt to distance the PQ from its traditional union base, a push to oust Boisclair developed. Purportedly led by Boisclair's predecessor, Bernard Landry (which he denied), the plan failed and no real threat to Boisclair's leadership emerged. Pundits speculated that the proximity of the Quebec general election contributed to the putsch's failure.
On August 14, 2006, Boisclair was elected to the provincial legislative assembly in a by-election for the Montreal-area riding of
Pointe-aux-Trembles
Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization.
On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood a ...
. He was re-elected in the general election of March 26, 2007.
composed this team. On February 21, 2007, the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec,
Lise Thibault
Lise Thibault DStJ (; born 2 April 1939) is a Canadian politician who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from 1997 to 2007. She later spent six months in jail for misuse of public funds, which she was ordered to repay the governme ...
Louis Champagne
Louis Champagne is a Canadian talk radio personality, who is hosts a morning daily program on CKGS-FM in La Baie, Quebec. He was the longtime host of another daily program on CKRS-FM until November 2008. He is best known for controversial remark ...
made
homophobic
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
Alexandre Cloutier
Alexandre Cloutier (born September 1, 1977) is a Canadians, Canadian politician and lawyer. He was a member of National Assembly of Quebec for the Riding (division), riding of Lac-Saint-Jean (provincial electoral district), Lac-Saint-Jean in the S ...
, asking him if the fact that his party was led by a gay man — and was running an openly gay candidate,
Corus Group
Corus may refer to:
Places
*Çörüş, Gazipaşa, a village in Antalya Province, Turkey
Facilities and structures
* Corus Quay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; an office tower
Fictional locations
* Corus, a fictional world that is the setting for the ...
, suspended Champagne.
Most observers ruled the 2007 leaders' debate a draw. Critics felt that Boisclair appeared the most aggressive, repeatedly asking the
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
. However, at least one prominent political journalist in Quebec, ''
The Gazette
The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...
s Don Macpherson, has asserted that some other criticism of Boisclair — particularly a persistent notion among some voters that he was too
cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
, Boisclair had confirmed rumours that Duceppe had been scheming for his post. Duceppe denied these rumours but many political observers still believed Boisclair had gone too far in this denunciation.
Boisclair remained the MNA for Pointe-aux-Trembles, but on October 15, 2007, he announced he was resigning from his seat and quitting politics on November 15, 2007. He also accused leader Bernard Landry of undermining his support as party head by referring to the PQ's loss of public support under Boisclair's reign, and for hinting he wanted to return to the party's leadership himself.
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
-based energy company, in 2011 as a consultant due to his sociopolitical knowledge of Quebec. In September 2012, Boisclair criticized the newly elected PQ government's position on the shale (more commonly known as fracking) industry in Quebec.
In November 2012, he was named as the new provincial delegate-general in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. During his time in this office, he was accused of organizing
orgies
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex.
Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...
and consuming
drugs
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
, his application for early release was denied on his first parole hearing. In its decision, the province's parole board explained that Boisclair has shown an "arrogant attitude" towards correctional officers and has refused to participate in group therapy for sexual delinquency because of concerns that his words would be leaked to the media. Therefore, the parole board said that Boisclair has not rehabilitated himself and that he is still dangerous. "Considering all the elements in the file, the commission considers that the risk of recidivism that you present is currently unacceptable and that the process must continue within the security context of incarceration," the commission wrote in a summary made public.
On December 2, 2022, his request for parole was again denied.
Politics of Quebec
The politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of Quebec is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, P ...
*
List of leaders of the Official Opposition (Quebec)
This is a list of the leaders of the opposition party of Quebec, Canada since Confederation (1867).
Note that the leader of the Opposition is not always the leader of the political party with the second-largest number of seats, in cases where the ...