Claude Lachance (born October 3, 1945) 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. He was a three-term Member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

Early life

Claude Lachance was born in the town of

Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester, Quebec Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester is a parish municipality of 400 people in the Bellechasse Regional County Municipality, Quebec, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches administrative region. It is the least populous municipality in Bellechasse. Demograp ...

in 1945 to Leopold Lachance, a local mechanic, and Cécile Turgeon. He was educated at local schools in Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester before finishing his studies at Collège de Lévis. He later graduated with two degrees from

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Lux ...

, becoming a certified secondary school teacher. Lachance taught at Polyvalente St-Damien from 1970-1974, moving up the ranks to become school board president, and later head of the social studies department and assistant principal, a position he held until 1981. During this time, he served as a board member of the Lac-Etchemin Health and Social Services Center, later becoming chairman of the board for the organization. Lachance ran for Mayor of Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester from 1973-1981. During this time he also served as Deputy Prefect (1973-1979) and Prefect of

Dorchester County, Quebec Dorchester may refer to: Geography England *Dorchester, Dorset, the county town of Dorset ** Dorchester (UK Parliament constituency), a former parliamentary constituency in Dorset **HM Prison Dorchester, a men's prison located in Dorchester in Do ...

(1979-1981).

Member of the National Assembly

Claude Lachance was first elected to the National Assembly in the 1981 election, in which the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

formed the government. He was defeated, however, four year later in the 1985 election. Following his loss, he returned to municipal politics, being reelected as mayor of Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester from 1978-1993. In 1989, Lachance tried to win back his seat in the National Assembly, but was again beaten by Louise Begin. Lachance also returned to his loves of education and history, returning to the school board and serving as president of the Bellechasse Historical Society from 1986-1987. He served as principal for the primary schools in both St-Damien and St-Nazaire from 1986-1994. He returned to politics in the 1994 election, and was reelected in the 1998 election. During the 35th Quebec Legislature, Lachance served as Deputy Government Whip. Lachance was again defeated in the 2003 election.

Later life

After his defeat in 2003, Lachance was again elected Mayor of Saint-Nazaire-de-Dorchester, later serving as Deputy Prefect of

Bellechasse Regional County Municipality Bellechasse Regional County Municipality is a regional county municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec. The county seat is Saint-Lazare-de-Bellechasse. Saint-Lazare was chosen as the county seat because of its central location ...

until 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lachance, Claude 1945 births Living people Parti Québécois MNAs Université Laval alumni Mayors of places in Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians